Having Faith

Since this is the season of the springtime reawakening and the celebration of the Easter bunny I thought I would bring up this word “Faith” again.

Faith is defined as “confidence or trust in a person or thing, or a deity or in the doctrines or teachings of a religion”. Faith may also be a belief that cannot be based on proof.

Faith is one of those feelings that cannot be explained, like hope or love. Faith is one of our personal senses.

Sometimes our faith comes from experiences and sometimes our faith is thrust upon us. We give our time and money to many organizations with the faith we are doing the right thing. Our faith can be shared or our faith can be blind.

Faith often involves accepting a deity, explanation of nature, or the description of our universe. Proponents argue that having faith will answer our concerns that cannot be settled by evidence.

Just so you don’t picture me as some kind of a heathen, I grew up in the organized religion called Christianity. It was the family practice to wake early on Sunday morning, dress in our best attire, and sit in the same pew at the same time to hear some old white guy read out of a book. Then we would all sing songs. I attended Sunday school and even Bible school during the summer. I was taught all the stories. I sang in the choir. I was baptized so I could eat the bread and drink the grape juice that went around. It was like joining a club. I was told the answers were in believing. “Have faith” they would preach.

Organized religion got me to join the scouts, which is like the junior army. I got to find out what poison ivy was all about. I got to swim in a lake with water moccasins. I got to light fires and track animals and get badges for my effort. I got to paddle a canoe, which is the worst form of transportation ever.

As I grew older and started to question what was being taught, I realized the words that were spoken on Sunday morning and the day-to-day lifestyles of all who attended were not the same. In some causes, they are not even close. I guess if you tithe enough you can buy off your daily sins?

But back to faith and what do we do with it? When things are bad, we have faith they will get better. When things are good, we have faith that they won’t go bad. Faith is that intangible explanation to our physic that everything will be OK.

You have to have faith that the girl will like you. You have to have faith that the teacher will not recognize your attempt to forgery your parent’s signature on the report card. You have faith that if you slump down in your seat the teacher will think you are invisible. You have faith that that baby is someone else’s. You have faith the parachute will open. You have faith that even if your mind is telling you that driving this fast is wrong, you will survive. You have faith you can get away before her mom finds you. You have faith that your boss will be fair and give you raises for just showing up.

Getting back to the holiday at hand, you can see what I associated this Sunday with. I don’t know why I got a big blue bunny. I didn’t sleep with it or name it or even remember why I got it, but I guess it was good for a photo shoot. The basket full of sugar, like treats on Halloween and Christmas, was what I wanted. Hollow chocolate rabbits and M&Ms and Jordan almonds were my favorites. I learned what candies I preferred for this holiday. Jellybeans, peeps and creamed filled eggs did not make the cut.

And now that I know that my brother is the Easter bunny that explains a lot of things. Now I just need to find out who the Tooth Fairy and Father Christmas are.

I wandered off again from the subject, but faith is very subjective. You believe what you want to believe and luckily in this area you can believe whatever you want. Shoot it is built into our laws of human rights. I won’t get into the different variations of belief because this is all about faith.

I have faith that the sun will come up every morning and the darkness will arrive every night. I have faith that the world will keep turning and keep us grounded. I have faith if I supply an area of safe shelter and provide enough grub to the critters who live with me, I can wake up to a song that could never be composed. I have faith in myself to take care of myself, and on certain occasions, surprise a few others.

Every special holiday Sunday our family would put flowers on. This may be an Easter shot, but looking at the roses this may have been Mother’s day. I don’t know where my brother was or who that red haired kid is. I think he was a kid from an orphanage. I don’t know why but maybe our family sponsored him for a weekend. That really doesn’t sound like I family. I just thought he was my replacement. 

 

So enjoy your bunny treats or bonnets or just March Madness and have some Faith. Don’t forget her sisters Hope and Charity.