--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Faith includes noticing the mess, the…" description: "\"Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns.\" — Anne Lamott" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/feb/anne-lamott-188_discomfort_faith-includes-noticing-the-mess-the-emp_1522997.jpg" --- # Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and… ![“Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns.” quote by Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/feb/anne-lamott-188_discomfort_faith-includes-noticing-the-mess-the-emp_1522997.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/feb/anne-lamott-188_discomfort_faith-includes-noticing-the-mess-the-emp_1522997.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/feb/anne-lamott-188_discomfort_faith-includes-noticing-the-mess-the-emp_1522997.jpg) > “Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns.” [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Faith involves sitting with discomfort and trusting that hope will eventually return. **In simple terms:** Sit with mess, await light. Key Takeaway Practice patience amid uncertainty. Themes faith hope acceptance Mood contemplative hopeful Type spiritual inspirational When to use this quote - grief counseling - spiritual practice - creative writing Key Concepts Existential patience spiritual resilience Questions to Reflect On - What discomfort are you willing to sit with? - How does waiting change your perspective? A Different Perspective Patience can be passive if not paired with action. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Discomfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discomfort/) [Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness/) [Emptiness Discomfort](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/emptiness-discomfort-5634230/) [Faith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith/) [Faith Includes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/faith-includes-1840318/) [Light](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/light/) [Mess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mess/) [Mess Emptiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mess-emptiness-5634231/) [Noticing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noticing/) [Noticing Mess](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/noticing-mess-5634232/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Return](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/return/) ## Related quotes > [“Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns. Faith also means reaching deeply within,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/faith-includes-noticing-the-mess-the-emptiness-and-discomfort-and-2/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [I have a lot of faith. But I am also afraid a lot, and have no real certainty about anything. 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Faith says "Yes" in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-tillich/faith-includes-both-an-immediate-awareness-of-something-unconditional/) [Paul Tillich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-tillich/) > [Living by faith includes the call to something greater than cowardly self-preservation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/living-by-faith-includes-the-call-to-something-greater-than-cowardly/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Gail Anderson-Dargatz has a noticing eye, a voice as unique as the countryside she writes about, and a heart large enough to love her…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-hodgins/gail-anderson-dargatz-has-a-noticing-eye-a-voice-as-unique-as-the/) [Jack Hodgins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-hodgins/) > [My pen.’ Funny, I wrote that without noticing. ‘The torch’, ‘the paper’, but ‘my pen’. 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D. Jakes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/t-d-jakes/) > [“inescapable physical or mental discomfort is the “first dart” of existence.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-hanson/inescapable-physical-or-mental-discomfort-is-the-first-dart-of/) [Rick Hanson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-hanson/) [Browse all 510 Discomfort quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/discomfort/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light returns.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anne Lamott" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/faith-includes-noticing-the-mess-the-emptiness-and-discomfort-and/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Discomfort" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/faith-includes-noticing-the-mess-the-emptiness-and-discomfort-and/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/feb/anne-lamott-188_discomfort_faith-includes-noticing-the-mess-the-emp_1522997.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/feb/anne-lamott-188_discomfort_faith-includes-noticing-the-mess-the-emp_1522997.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/feb/anne-lamott-188_discomfort_faith-includes-noticing-the-mess-the-emp_1522997.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Faith includes noticing the mess, the emptiness and discomfort, and letting it be there until some light…” — Anne Lamott", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Anne Lamott", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Faith includes noticing the mess, the...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/faith-includes-noticing-the-mess-the-emptiness-and-discomfort-and/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/faith-includes-noticing-the-mess-the-emptiness-and-discomfort-and/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```