F A I T H

Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing.

Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence. See synonyms at belief, trust.

Loyalty to a person or thing; allegiance: keeping faith with one’s supporters.

The theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God’s will.

The body of dogma of a religion: the Muslim faith.

A set of principles or beliefs.

Being a student of human nature and trying to figure out what makes people ‘tick’, I’m always curious as to how one has come to believe what he or she believes. What has led them to this place. The ground they’ve chosen to stand firmly upon. Or perhaps, in some cases, not so firmly.

I’ve been reading a book explaining some fundamental differences in some of the more major religions and to be honest, my brain has just shut down. I can’t comprehend any more of it right now. Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam… my brain is just swimming with all the jargon, the stances, the foundations and their leaders.

Some of them quite different from Christianity, some not as different. But, at least they believe something. What I can’t understand or comprehend is the person who avidly believes … nothing. And with such passion and conviction. This doesn’t make sense to me. How can one be SO empassioned over… nothing?

A while back, in a search for the story Paul Harvey would tell on the radio every year at Christmastime, I googled something along the lines of “Paul Harvey Christmas Story” and it returned several suggestions. One of which being a man who had formed ‘ex-Christian.net’ and put the most horrendous spin on the story you will ever hear.

Last time I saw the page, I just quickly, yet sadly, flipped back on to the other sources, hoping to forget all that he said. But today, I forced myself to linger longer. To try to dig deeper. And, to be quite honest, my heart is just absolutely broken. My soul is heavy and my eyes brimmed with tears, not only for this gentleman and others with the same view, but for the Father Who sees and knows all of our hearts. And in them, all our doubts, anger, fear and unbelief.

And I think that’s what so many miss? The heart knowledge. They spend so much time trying to logically figure out all the head knowledge, they don’t open themselves up to the glory of not having to know it all and have it all figured out. The wonder of experiencing what we call FAITH. For it’s only when you open yourself up to something bigger than yourself, that you even begin to understand why one believes such ‘illogical’ ‘lofty’ views. And I, for one, am proud to be a fool for Jesus.