The Mystery of Faith

Faith is the belief in someone or something that is not based on proof or sight. A mystery is something unexplained or unknown. Where does your faith begin? When you take time to consider the source and depth of your faith is it as much a mystery to you as it is to me?

My faith is my source of strength. It is bigger than any fear I can have. It is a work of faith ...meaning I have to work at it! Listen guys, to experience fear is to be human. I feel fear too, I just choose not to stay stuck there for long. I move into my faith quickly. Fear or faith, we get to choose. 

If choosing faith is something you have been struggling with lately try these 4 steps:

1. Isolate the feeling of fear and ask yourself if the fear is based on fact or fiction - logic or emotion.

2. In order for faith to override fear you must determine your source of faith. For me it is God. What is your faith based on? Is it more spiritual or abstract regarding the belief that there is a higher power and you are not alone?

3. Next step, is to immediately change the message in your own head. Pray, meditate, create new mantras and affirmations to not allow fear based or negative self talk in.

4. Finally, change your state. That means move your body, try going for a walk even if it is just up and down your hallway, light a candle, open a window, try tapping or stretching. Changing our state simply means to change our mindset and our mood.

In my opinion, hope is the antidote to fear. What gives me hope is the belief in God and that God has created us in His image. Therefore, I believe in you and me and all of mankind to be more compassionate and loving than not. Now, I am not naive either. I know there is evil in this world and bad things happen. However I also believe that we have more good to see and experience in the world than bad and I also believe when bad things happen the good actually the greatest of all people rise up to meet the challenges and support others.

We have the capacity to love on such a high level. We have the capacity to support one another and do good things for each other. We instinctively do that. We want to do that for each other because we are born with the desire to do so. To me that is the mystery of faith.

There is a lot of fear, doubt and uncertainty right now. Life for many of us seems like a struggle and for some us it could be very overwhelming. All of that can make us feel discouraged if we are not taking care of ourselves mind, body and spirit. What gives you hope? What recharges your battery and fills you back up again? How can you move from fear to faith? 

Among many ideas, I say...keep praying, don't cease. Keep positive, be patient and be faithful. And when it all gets too hard and you just can't seem to find the space to do it. Just breathe. It might be that simple.

Faith does not have to remain a mystery. Even though it seems that our faith is being tested more and more right now. In a world where we tend to feel like we have little control at times we have to remember the things we can control. We can control our thoughts and what we hold true in our hearts. We can also control our prayers. A prayer can be an intention, a question, a conversation or even a song. Prayer is silent or it can be out loud. Prayer is comforting and uplifting. It is a place in time to go inward and talk to God, or the Divine or connect with the Universe. Whatever that means for you, it is right.

I would think, no matter who you are or what you believe in that right now during this time in history we are all a little more thoughtful, a little more prayerful or introspective. Any time we go inward to examine our thoughts and feelings it is a spiritual experience. We have the power to heal ourselves. We have the ability to exercise our faith and to choose that over fear. Don't allow your faith to be a mystery.

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I am writing this today April 11, 2020 which is Easter Eve or Holy Saturday as most Christians call it. According to the Scriptures, Holy Saturday is the day that Jesus laid in his tomb after he was crucified and died on Good Friday. It is a day of vigil and a day of faith.

This is not intended to be a religious post however it is an honest writing of my thoughts and feelings at this moment. I am a Christian and I was sitting in my home office reflecting on my faith. If you are not a Christian, I wonder if you would explain the mystery of faith any differently? Many of us believe that Divine or higher power present in the universe is God, some refer to it as another name such as Spirit, the Divine, the Universe...whatever you call it...I believe it is the same spiritual life force for all of us.