Faith has played an important role in my life.
I don’t just mean spiritual faith like believing in God or following a specific religion, although I think that kind of faith is important. Simply believing in something or someone is an act of faith.
We believe the sun will rise in the East tomorrow morning. That’s faith in the sun. I believe the school bus will drive by my house every weekday. That’s faith in the bus driver. I believe that when I sit down to write, words will flow from my fingertips through the keyboard and onto the computer screen. That’s faith in myself.
Knitters and crocheters are faith masters. So are housebuilders and bakers. Anyone who follows a pattern, recipe or blueprint has this faith thing down.
Just Keep Going
I knitted a bunny once that had to be felted. If you’ve ever shrunk a sweater in the laundry, you know all about felting. We yarn-o-philes do that on purpose. This bunny was knitted in one piece. The only sewing needed was attaching the bunny’s ears to the top of its head.
I remember following the pattern and thinking, “This doesn’t look like bunny.”
But I kept going, following the pattern. Even after the bunny’s body was finished, it still didn’t look like a bunny. But after I threw it in the washing machine and subjected it to hot water and detergent, the piece shrank – felted – and lo and behold, I had a bunny!
I heard someone say once that the difference between those who succeed and those who fail is that the person who succeeded didn’t give up. That’s faith.
Faith In Humanity
Throughout this past year of dealing with COVID, family health scares, and general uncertainty, I’ve needed to exercise my faith muscle.
It hasn’t been easy, but the things in life that matter rarely come to us easily, right?
Some may think that believing in something or someone else is a weakness. I find it takes great strength to hold on to my faith despite my circumstances.
I think faith gives me freedom to try new things, to feel more confident, and to not worry quite so much (although worrying is one of my superpowers).
The creator of Peter Pan, Sir James Matthew Barrie, once said, “The reason birds can fly and we can’t is simply because they have perfect faith, for to have faith is to have wings.”
I believe our faith in our fellow humans is what can give us wings. I’ve been somewhat disappointed in humanity lately. The snap decisions, the racial generalizations, the violence, the vandalism. That’s why I choose to not watch the news much these days.
When I do watch, I hear ABC’s David Muir recount attacks on elderly people, party politics that does nothing but continue to divide us, record COVID deaths in India, heartbreaking stories of suffering and loss.
There is so much sadness in the world. It would be easy to succumb to the gloom and the feeling that we individuals can do nothing. It’s almost enough to push me into despair.
Almost. Yes Almost
Thank Goodness For YouTube?
I’m embarrassed to say I can waste hours scrolling through YouTube or Facebook. But what I get through all that “time-wasting” are many looks at how we humans treat each other with compassion and respect.
I find myself binging TEDtalk videos, which I really like because I learn so much about other people and cultures. Or I watch tens of military family reunions, or animal rescues, or stories about good Samaritans, or cute cat videos (There’s really no redeeming value in the cat videos – other than they make me smile, which I guess is redeeming enough).
The cool thing about YouTube is that once I start watching a certain type of video, YouTube finds all kinds of other videos that relate to the same topic, so I never run out of feel-good stories that lift my spirits.
And re-enforce my faith in humanity.
The world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket (as Gran. E would say). We each have our own baskets to carry, but wouldn’t it be awesome if we’d stop and help each other carry them?
I believe that our purpose on earth is to help each other, to see the good in people, to protect each other.
There is one prayer I pray every day (well, there are quite a few more than just one, but this one pretty much helps with all the others). “Lord, give me your eyes of love. Help me see people as you see them, as deserving of love and respect, as individuals just trying to make it through the day.”
I don’t always succeed. In fact, I probably fail more than I get it right, but I keep trying.
Just recently, it hit me that if I look at others with God’s eyes, that means I should look at myself from the same perspective. Huh.
To have faith is to move beyond fear. Believing in something or someone bigger than ourselves gives us the hope and direction to face our fears and prevail.
Here’s another quote about faith from Bob Proctor, Canadian self-help author and motivational speaker: “Faith and fear both demand you believe in something you cannot see. You choose.”
May our faith be limitless as we all work together to make our world a better place.
Until next week,
Susie from Stix-N-Stonez
1 thought on “Faith Helps Us Move Past Fear”
I love this post! The idea of so much sadness and a seemingly simple solution of joy from youtube!!
Thank you for sharing!
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