Faith In Its Many Forms

faith [feyth] noun : confidence, belief, to trust (Webster 503)

Faith can be shown in a multitude of ways: devotion in another and what they stand for, remembrances of times and places past, a staunch belief in ourselves and what we are capable of. The list goes on. However there is a question held within this: What is faith? Faith can not only be held in many things but can also manifest itself in different ways.

Faith is a foundation that helps one stand tall; that underlying belief that stabilizes everything one does. The firm belief, under everything else, that the sun will rise in the morning gives courage to make plans for tomorrow and the future that is surely waiting just around the bend.

Faith is a support beam to be rested upon in a dark world full of doubt and despair. It lifts the eyes of many to see on to a better place and a better time; to look past and see what may be just because there was a sliver of faith in something more.

Faith is a bond, a rope, that can pull one out of the most depressing holes and darkest pits by the strength of the other party and the faith and belief that one holds in them. However, faith can also crumble, leaving one on an inside ledge of a deep void filled to the brim with hate and sadness, waiting to attach their confidence to another passing figure. I've experienced that: putting every bit of faith into one person and having them sever that rope, kick over the support beam, and jackhammer my foundation until it went back into the dust that it had come from. I was stuck in a hole, almost able to look out.

I had to find something to anchor myself to. And because the last one had been a living object that could make the choice to leave me stranded I decided to attach myself to something more substantial, something that couldn't move or change if it wanted to. I took the remaining rope around me, my faith in myself, and I stretched it to the founding book of my church. Then my faith grew itself and encompassed the chuch buildings and leaders. It stretched so tight that it lifted me out of that dark and depressing hole that I was in and now I have no fear of being pushed in again because I'm held fast to the real world by my faith.

"Hope is built on faith,

Faith on trust,

And trust on understanding."

(Grossman 1)

Sources Cited

Guralnik (editor), Webster's New World Dictionary 2nd College Edition, Simon and Schuster, 1982

Chloe Grossman, 14 June 2011