Monday, February 22, 2010

Trust or Faith

Trust can be thought of as a feeling of confidence that things will unfold in a dependable way that embodies order and integrity. Trust is very much tied to creating, because our level of confidence in how things will turn out affects how they eventually do. Believing ourselves to be capable of living the life we envision requires that we trust ourselves, our ability to reflect on our experiences, to grow and learn from our observations, and to continue to adapt new perspectives as we develop into the people we hope to be.

In this sense trust is something earned; as we gain life experience and make increasingly complex choices, we become more confident in our ability to navigate through this life smoothly. There's a place in creation, though, where we have no previous success to draw from, when we're crossing a bridge we've never crossed before, or when we're still struggling to figure out the graceful way through something, knowing that we can; it's within us, but we haven't found the answer yet. How can we trust, in those times, that we are capable of accomplishing that which we haven't yet succeeded at?

Belief that is not based on proof is the very definition of faith. We all encounter in this life challenges that seem insurmountable; we struggle with issues that we don't feel adequate to resolve. In those moments we have to let the mind quiet, and rest in the knowledge that we are not alone in the business of creating this life. The ego wants to believe it controls everything, but there is a much bigger part of us waiting to create more good than our ego could ever imagine. Not I, but the God within, does the work.

When things feel like more than we can handle, when we have tried repeatedly and our effort seems to be leading nowhere, it is a signal that we are stuck in limited perception. Grace allows that our best will come to pass; we need only remind the ego that there is a higher power at work, and step aside. Have faith!

"We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake by an infinite expectation of the dawn, which does not forsake us, even in our soundest sleep." - Henry David Thoreau

May this tool be a blessing. . .

1 comment:

  1. The definition of "faith" is compelling.

    I agree with you; we have to let the mind quiet and rest in knowledge that we are not alone.

    Yet it is the word faith also that is often used by most people to cling to unproven dogma, which actually limits the scope of their awareness.