“Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.”
- - Hebrews 11:1
What is faith? How do we define it? Everyone has their own
take, but I guess that’s because, in many ways, faith is deeply personal. This
is my attempt at defining faith. It was
originally written to be more “spoken word” than prose, but I just felt like
sharing it.
What is
faith? Faith is…. Belief. Faith is…. Trust.
Faith is…. Surrender. Faith is setting
an alarm to wake you up in the morning.
Faith is telling someone “I’ll see you soon.” Faith is leaping, whether
you look first or not. Faith is opening your eyes, expecting to see; and having
the confidence to say what will be will be. Kites have faith, and footballs; as
do ships of the sea and the flowers out of bloom. Faith to soar, to score, to
weather the storm, to once again embrace the sun. Because creation knows this
ancient truth of faith: That though the night be long or the weather cold,
faith is knowing the light of life again will shine, and all things have a
purpose in their time. Faith is knowing that life is good and well worth
living, even when the evidence says it isn't. Because faith is not evidence. Faith spans the gap to
truth that evidence never can. Faith is inhale, it is exhale, it is your left
foot following your right foot. Faith is believing in that which you have not
experienced. It is believing in that
which experience tells you you shouldn't. Faith is falling down and getting
back up, faith is falling down and getting back up, faith is falling down and
getting back up as many times as it takes because faith does not believe in defeat. Faith is replacing the sands of doubt
with the seed of the mustard plant and shouting I believe into the heart of those who would have you not; into the
heart of this world and its mountains that refuse to move; into God’s heart and
into your own and into a glorious union of the two that you might be given the
strength crucial, nay the strength necessary, to the opening of your eyes to
yet another day. Not hoping, not contemplating, not postulating but knowing your life has meaning today and it will having meaning tomorrow and
the next day and the next day and a thousand years from now even as your name
has passed from all memory and all history and it is only faith that can confirm your purpose and meaning for living. Without it you can do nothing. With it you can do anything. For faith is confidence and it is assurance and those who lack it miss
out on the fullness of life.
"In faith there is enough light for those who want to believe and enough shadows to blind those who don't."
-Blaise Pascal
