What is faith?
Does someone who thinks they know or someone who doesn’t know have more? Why do faiths evolve? What is faith’s relationship to uncertainty?
Dictionary Definition
faith [ fayth ]
1. belief or trust: belief in, devotion to, or trust in somebody or something, especially without logical proof
2. religion or religious group: a system of religious belief, or the group of people who adhere to it
3. trust in God: belief in and devotion to God
Jullien’s Definition
Faith is being confident in the midst of an uncertain future.
We have such a fear of not knowing. Yet if we had full knowledge of the future we would be bored out of our mind.
Mosts faiths have tried to relieve us of this uncertainty by offering different interpretations of what will occur in the afterlife if we follow their way. Let’s be honest, nobody knows if there is an afterlife. What if I don’t even believe life ends at all, therefore there is no afterlife for me? My physical body may deteriorate but my life force is still present to the extent that I lived/used it.
As the world becomes more unpredictable our faith will be tested. Before the test it can be found in one’s poise, not in their conviction. Conviction is about thinking we know what’s right. Poise is about knowing that things will be alright, without necessarily knowing how they will be alright. Conviction says “this is what it will be.” Faith says “It will be what it is.”
Faith is measured by our trust in our divine source. Is your vision/version of God wrathful, loving, both, or neither? Our vision/version of God shapes our faith in the future. A wrathful God increases convicted action but not faith in God. A loving God increases faith in God but not convicted action.
The second question is what are your expectations of the future? Do we expect the future to turn out our way? Do we anticipate the future working against us? Do we release our expectation of the future entirely and just face what is? Each question requires a different level of faith. Which one do we say “Yes” to?
A faithful person can release expectation knowing that everything that happens happens for a reason beyond their understanding while also staying faithful to who they choose to be despite (fear from) uncertainty. Faith requires trust of a higher source and personal integrity in uncomfortable situations.
Stand in confident uncertainty!
