Faith, what is faith? Is faith the belief in the words in a book. Is it the acceptance of cultural norms or is it an understanding of the unimaginable power, majesty, timelessness and infinity reality of that which we call The Almighty, Tian, Shandgi, God, the Tao, Buddha and a hundred other names? Is it one identifiable entity or is it a spirit form. Is it singular or as some believe a collection of forces personalized to make them understandable?
Clearly this God is an unimaginably power, one we cannot even begin to understand!
For me, faith is accepting I can never appreciate that which is so infinite as to be beyond knowledge. It is to accept how each one of us builds our own understanding of that which we cannot conceive.
When we human kind claim to know; be it as a tribe, a society, a civilization or a religion. It is at this moment we create division. These human constructs become the imprinted beliefs we give our children. As these tribes grow larger, they seek to expand. To expand they come in contact with others different than their own.
In this difference springs animosity. In this animosity emerges fear. From fear comes the temptation to be right. Being right means those who do not believe and think as the tribe does must be wrong. If the tribe is wrong, then, surely they should be vanquished.
War and violence. Man again man is the greatest of sins. We in all faiths are taught to embrace our enemy, to encourage discourse, to share in the joy and happiness of others and most importantly to love each other as we seek to love ourselves. Be it the Christian youth ministry or the religious textbooks of other religions – love and respect for humankind is what is taught everywhere. It is this one requirement, common to so many, we most often ignore.
How can we find the common bond to heal the hurt, fix the wrong, right the balance and discover the peace; we so all desire?
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