Today's
quotation:
When you come to the edge of all the light you know, and are
about
to step off into the darkness of the unknown, faith is
knowing one of two things will happen: There will be
something
solid to stand on, or you will be taught how to
fly.
Barbara J. Winter
|
Today's
Meditation:
Faith.
I used to have a pretty adversarial relationship with this
word and concept--it was something that no matter how hard
I tried to get a hold of it, always seemed to elude
me. I didn't have faith that life would turn out
well in any way for me, and that lack of faith made it
harder to develop the faith I needed and wanted.
I've
come to learn, though, that faith is a decision on my
part, not a reaction to how the world treats me. My
faith is a result of looking at my life and the world
around me and realizing that things are fine, and time
after time life has been very good to me, even when it
seems that it hasn't been--many things in my life have
turned out much better than they would have otherwise when
the plans that I've made haven't worked out.
I
think that much of my problem with the word has come from
short-sighted, insecure religious people that I've known
who tried to teach me that the only true faith is the
faith that they believe in. As I've come to know
more mature spiritually aware people, they've taught me
that my road to faith is my unique road, and it may
diverge from the paths that other people take.
Our
faith is tried all the time. When we lose the job,
do we have faith that something better will be
there? When a loved one leaves us, do we trust that
eventually the relationship would have become toxic to us
(if it wasn't already)? When we awake in the
morning, do we have faith that God (whatever we conceive
God to be) is all around and that
God is goodness and love, and that if I live my day
knowing that, I'll spread some of that goodness and love
myself?
Faith
allows us to explore, to risk, to take great joy in life
and living. It doesn't just sneak up on us and
become a part of us, though--faith is a decision to trust.
|