My definition of “faith” (in a spiritual/religious sense), has been evolving for as long as I can remember. In some ways I hesitate to even speculate on a definition because this sort of implies permanence on a certain level. But nevertheless, I’m feeling particularly lead to reinterpret and flesh out how I think about the conception of faith.

The more I think about faith, the more I think that it is a mistake to relate it to “belief.” Beliefs as we all know, can come and go. One minute they’re here, the next minute they’re not. One minute I believe in Santa Clause, and the next minute I do not. For me, having faith no longer means getting all my ducks in a row and affirming a set of propositions about an unmovable mover that lives in the clouds. That kind of faith is quickly becoming extinct.

I will however venture to say that faith is something that we all still need. I’ll explain.

In my opinion, a better word to associate with faith would be the word trust. In fact the etymology of the word is extremely helpful here: “faith” can be traced from the root word fidere, meaning “to trust.” Faith as Trust begins to look a lot like something we really do need in our lives. Michael Dowd puts it like this: faith means that you have trust when you look to the future (rather than having fear), gratitude when you look to the past (rather than having resentment or guilt), inspiration in the moment to take action (no matter what challenge you may be dealing with) and of course, finding comfort in times of sorrow.

It follows then that having faith in God (or reality), is simply to trust in God. For me specifically, it is to trust in the Way of Jesus, and his proclamation that a new way of life is possible in here and now–A wonderful, deep, meaningful life of abundance.

Painting:  Fuel Source by Will Shea, Gouache, enamel, acrylic and resin on panel.

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