To Have Believed Is Enough

Once, having passed through a terrible torture [in a communist prison], I tapped through to a pastor near me: "What can I do? I have lost my faith." He tapped back: "But did you ever believe?" I replied; "Certainly I did." His answer was: "It is written, `Blessed is she that believed.' The verb is in the past tense. To have believed is enough. Rely on this."

[RW, SISC, (c)1969]