My posts are generally narrative in nature. They are rambling ideas that come from thoughts that rummage my mind. That being said, I think my understanding of faith may differ than someone else's, given that individual experiences tend to shape one's view of the world. This is my disclaimer.
What is faith? Growing up in a Christian household, I always associated the word faith with belief in God and Jesus. I was not yet exposed to many other religions and could not fathom faith outside the Christian context. As I grew older, I struggled with my own belief, but found myself turning to prayer and the Bible for comfort and solace. The quoted scripture of Hebrews 11:1 often made its way to my mind. Hence, why I quoted it. In fact, it was through that one verse that I began to understand that faith goes deeper than religion.
I learned from the book of Hebrews that faith and hope typically work together. I learned that faith is an abstract concept that allows humans to make sense of the unseen in a world held together by the tangible. Faith is essentially believing that something is there, even in the absence of tangible evidence. That is not to say that something is untrue or unreal simply because someone has faith. Nor does it mean that someone's faith is definitive proof that something is real or true. What it does mean is that faith help makes sense of things that our rational brains cannot comprehend. Faith brings to life what our senses cannot.
I think in order to have faith, one must have trust. One must trust the process of belief, trust that not everything in this world can be solved with immediate answers. Trust that things will all come together in due time. In a sense, faith brings forth expectation. It allows humans to have hope that some day, perhaps, it will all work out. It allows for one to see light in the darkest of tunnels. Faith allows one to imagine the impossible as being possible.
Faith does not even have to be religious or metaphysical in nature. For instance, when one makes future plans, it is out of the hope that the plan will come to fruition on that future date. Granted, that level of faith is usually based on a series of prior experiences. However, in life, there are no certain guarantees that what one plans will become an actuality. I think faith is the first step to taking action on any futuristic endeavor. For me, faith is believing in the seemingly impossible. It is believing that I will likely wake up tomorrow. It is believing that whatever fear I feel will be resolved. It is believing that there is a deity somewhere ensuring my safety. It is believing that when I die, I will leave this Earth in peace.
As I stated earlier, faith presents itself differently to different people. There are people who have faith that their loved ones watch over them when they pass on. There are people who have faith that if they offer sacrifices to a deity, that deity will grant their desires. There are people who have faith that an illness will be cured or resolved with one procedure. There are others who believe the cure will come through prayer. Whatever one's belief, whatever one's hope, I think the core ingredient of faith is the expectation that life will continue to go on. That things will get better someday.
As my husband often reminds me: it will all work out. It always does.
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