2. Personal faith
New Orleans, 1st September 2008
Residents knew their decision to leave was the right one. The forty or so people boarding the bus were embarking on a journey of pure faith. They did not know how long they would be gone or whether they would have anything to come home to. It would be many hours before they even knew where they were going.
New York Times
Sometimes our journey is unknown to us at the time of making each small decision, we are called upon to make everyday. Eventually the bigger picture manifests itself, and we realize that each decision that lead to this place in our lives, was a combination of all those small decisions made earlier. We didn't know our final stop, but we had to make each of those smaller choices, in the faith that the ultimate result would be the right one for us now.
That's faith and it's all humans have to live by. When fear is overcome, faith stands as the shiny beacon to be used as a tool for change. Ultimately, when all else is lost, it's all there is. You and faith that's everything.
Find faith is yourself and the world and that's the bigger picture of life. There is nothing else.
Faith is a small word that does signify life itself. Without faith in yourself you couldn't exist. You must have faith in your existence before you can function adequately and even commit to living a normal life. Faith is needed to take the smallest step forward in your life, and even start to believe you can lead an abundant and fruitful life.
You must have faith outside yourself, that the world will continue to exist no matter how much it is abused, to continue living and trying to make changes. You even have to have faith to believe these changes can made a difference. Otherwise there would be no positive energy, only despair.
But is that all there is? Just yourself and your world. If that was it there could be no forward movement. Look outside these for a moment. Great forces are at work, both within your world and without. You have never seen your universe but you believe it exists, and that many others do as well. In fact you are told they exist ad infinitum. Existence in fact is infinite.
What faith you must have to believe in something that you have not seen. But that's the greatest faith yet. Knowing you are part of this infinite and yet have a role to play. In fact, the greatest role, as you are Me in a human form. Pure energy and power. This knowledge then leads to total faith and realization that the one is the all, and you consequently do matter and you can make a difference. If everyone had this spark of faith, think of the consequences to the world.
In reality faith is the most positive word in any language. It symbolizes the power of positive thinking. It's the greatest source of energy for change. Faith is the most complete picture of life.
Let's look at how without faith no one could function. Even to get up in the morning you must have faith to just get out of bed. You have to believe that you can lift your body up and function within the context of the day ahead. Without faith you'd be lying in bed all day unsure of any action whatsoever.
Eating breakfast and indeed any food during any meal requires an act of faith. The cereal or eggs are passed by the food authorities and won't kill you. You haven't ever seen the papers verifying proof of this but you've always been taught that it's so and have believed it since childhood. Indeed having to prove everything before you do it would lead to a totally non- functioning life.
Your car starts, you use your legs and walk or catch public transport. Either way you usually get to where you're going. You could be killed or injured on the way, but as you don't know your choices in advance, faith means we assume that we will reach our destination. We will even complete our day's activity and return home through faith.
So our lives continue with every second of every day totally dependent on faith. Otherwise we're agrophobic or clinically depressed and can't function. Even an agrophobic must have some faith that the house they're clinging to won't collapse.
What's happening to human kind? Trapped in a world where everyone feels as though they are unique and special – different from the person standing next to them. They speak different languages, have individual goals and backgrounds and are various skin shades. Surely because of this people really are totally unique and therefore, separation will always be the trend of this world.
This has always been the assumption and each individual and country has acted separately. The world has been run by a group of sleepwalkers, who have forged ahead, regardless of cost to the individual parts or the collective whole. This is only seeing the small picture.
The truth is very different. Yes people all have a unique DNA pattern, but dig deeper than this to find that motivation is the same for all. All are looking for health and wealth which will lead to the mysterious and illusive happiness. To catch this illusive need, means that the earth has to be sacrificed to fulfill each individual's goals. Working longer hours, driving to this work, increasing use of water and power to fuel this work, leads to endless demands and ultimately ends in civilization on the brink.
All of this because we individually sought happiness? It's impossible. It can't be, but it is.
How can this be remedied before it's too late? The earth becoming unlivable because of individual lack of fulfillment and constant need to have what everyone else is having.
How can we act globally when we are all separate and all wanting the same scarce resources to fulfill ourselves?
How can the future be peaceful when no one individual or country can decide on an appropriate course of action?
With this scenario how can individuals not be anxious about the future and suffer depression in their lives?
What can we do and what's the missing ingredient of our lives?
SIMPLY FAITH
Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase. Just the first step.
-Martin Luther King
There's that eureka word again – faith. I suddenly realized that faith was the bridge that linked knowing who you are and attracting what you really want. It's the power to change your life. This was the missing link. You can meditate for years and peace does start to pervade your life. This then leads to gradual changes within you. Physical exercise can also change your outside, which leads to positive mental and physical flow-ons throughout your life.
But nothing happens quickly- except through the sudden realization of faith. Begin to have faith in yourself and who you are, and then this cyclone is unleashed. It lashes every corner of your life. Suddenly friends are ringing up who you haven't seen for years wanting to see you. $10,000 is in your bank account from an investment that seemed so small at the time that you had totally forgotten about it. A huge problem that has been
pressing on your mind is suddenly resolved in the best possible way. That's what you've been waiting for. It's a vindication that through all the years of self doubt, that you were always going the right way. Even though you didn't know it at the time. Often you doubted it, but when faith entered your life no more. That's faith in the power.
“Sometimes people deserve to find faith”. Well you deserve it. You've worked for it and here it is.
In the end there's only faith. You're standing at the crossroads of life. You want to change your life but don't know how. Things aren't going well. You hoped they would go better. The grim economic outlook is affecting you. The stockmarket has crashed and your life savings have gone. The global economic crisis is upon you.
You're trying to be positive but vague fears keep leaping to the surface. “Keep a lid on those thoughts”, you keep thinking. I want the best, I want my life to improve. Why am I in this perpetual cycle of fear and uncertainty? Why can't I break free of these nameless doubts?
You're looking at yourself and your life very objectively. From here you've got to take some positive steps to change. How are you going to do that? What else is left but faith? Faith in yourself, faith in life, faith that things can be turned around.
You've got to use the only keys to change, that you possess. You've got to unlock your faith power. You've got to be able to harness this power and use it to rebuild your life, from the ground up if necessary. From ground zero the only way is up. Unlock that faith from within yourself and use this power, through all the following keys, to make the necessary changes to your life.