Wrestling with Faith

The question was posed to me today, "how do we keep the faith, and keep going when all the odds are against us - when the world seeks darkness over light?" (Well, that was a paraphrase of the question - but you get the idea). It got me thinking...
This question is what I consider "maturing faith" simply because a person is not allowing her/himself to live with blinders - but instead is wrestling with faith because its who you are and what you know to be true - even though the world is trying to be a road block. Only by wrestling with these type of faith challenges will we actually come out a stronger character with the stronger faith.
People are horrible, I can't explain it other than they were never taught better... those people who did the gang rape, they were looking for something in the wrong place, because no one ever gave them what they needed in the right place. When Jesus cried, "Forgive them father, for they know not what they are doing," he was referring to this very thing.. that people do horrible things and they have no concept of it. Some may not even realize its wrong. They were never taught anything different. It's like the addict mother who is totally oblivious to the fact that her teenage daughter is crying out for her love even as its shouted and screamed in her face.
I have come to believe that some people - because of the way they were taught, because of their circumstances or life expereinces, or because of their profound inability to think with love - are truly incapible of "getting it." So, does that make them innocent? Hell no! In fact, its aggravating and frustrating and burns people to their core.... but yet, they just can't get it.
So, what do we do with that? As hard as it is- we got to keep on keeping on... someday, somewhere, there has to be an end to the cycle. The cycle of hate and abuse and plain stupidity - there has to be an end to the cycle of us "not knowing what we are doing." For me, it all comes down to this: Jesus was here. He lived amongst us - he saw it - he heard it - he slammed tables upside down in anger with it - and yet, he kept his head lifted to the One who knew a better way to life. He kept going for the good, he never gave up hope. Some days are worse than others and we wonder why we keep trying - but then we realize that we keep trying because we too believe in that hope of a better tomorrow.
We have to keep wrestling, keep exploring the things that nag at us, and we have to keep walking the journey together. We need each other, like Jesus needed his disciples, we need to be lifted up at times and we need to celebrate the joys at other times. God is out there... in fact, as easy as it is to see pain in the world, its even more easy to see God - we simply forget where to look - or the pain screams so loud we can't hear anything else. Faithful living, is and always will be, a hard, painful, scary task with little appreciation - but its a mighty task we have been called to and its a mighty God who has called us.