Faith

I have always been restless. I have always liked moving around outdoors. Once upon a time I was a cross country runner. I always liked running around and thinking or walking around and thinking. I do some of my best thinking when my mouth is still and my feet are moving me forward, moving me toward the horizon.

From the outside each religion involves many obtuse beliefs and traditions. Depending on how religion is approached there are all types of rankings and classifications which can be applied to formal worship. But faith is a serious issue which defies easy definition. It is always important to consider how faith influences each one of us as we live our daily lives.

I am peripatetic. I sometimes feel the most spiritual when outside, walking between here and there. If I am not too preoccupied or otherwise resistant, different sensations are discovered by my eyes and ears. I have on occasion felt the presence of God.

Faith is not static. Faith can displace established ways of thinking, talking, and relating to the world. Faith is fundamentally simplistic in its approach to us and specifically spiritual in its interactions with our minds, bodies, and souls. Faith can and does touch different parts of our beings.

The origin of love and hope somehow intersects with faith.

For me faith asks many questions, inspires many answers, sparks creativity. Surprisingly faith makes me restless as it encourages continual growth by creating successive series of thoughts and deeds which challenge the moral and ethical laxity of our current society. Interestingly faith is the greatest architect of all goodness, compassion, and mercy within our lives.

Admittedly, faith offers evidence to support and nourish our love of God. I believe that it is an argument for all that which is beautiful, all that which is innocence, all that which is inspirational. Faith asks me to not be conventional, to not be traditional, to dare to sacrifice myself, my life for the glory and the love of God.

It is obvious that each person’s faith creates its own private idioms. There is no question that we should all follow the Ten Commandments, live our lives according to the Church’s doctrines and rules, and above include a love and respect for everyone. I admit that it might be difficult to do but it is essential to create and maintain a good relationship with God.

In the process of examining my faith, there is an explicit desire to find a personal relationship with God, to find the origins of my hope, my love, my mercy.

Faith offers us a chance for continual discernment, continual improvement as we learn about and approach our own holiness.