I was deliberating on the fact that our next conversation would be our 33rd; and I was pondering whether there was anything relevant in the number….
Might you be wondering if there’s anything special about the number 33?
Well, yes, I might….
And did you come to any conclusion?
Yes, I did. If I believed it was relevant it was; but if I believed it wasn’t relevant, then it wasn’t.
And what was your verdict?
It isn’t.
Hmmm….I would have suggested that everything is relevant.
It’s just a matter of finding its relevance.
And then what?
Trusting your new understanding. Moving forward in line with your new understanding.
Let me think on that….
Whilst you do so maybe we could discuss what ‘faith’ means to you?
Someone once wrote that “faith is believing in something when common sense tells you not to”….
Do you believe that?
Not really, no. Okay, well, Saint Augustine said that “faith is belief in what you do not see”.
Do you believe that?
Not personally. But as he was a saint I assumed his material came direct from You…..
Definitely not from Me! So what does ‘faith’ mean to you?
Well, it’s the bedrock of my life – and my entire existence is predicated on whatever it is that I deeply believe…..so faith is “what I deeply believe”….
How’d I go?
A better answer than Saint Augustine! You’re definitely on the right track……but let’s look a little deeper…..
How do you determine what it is you “deeply believe”?
From the evidence that I see and hear with my own eyes and ears.
Precisely, Les! Does that include what others tell you?
Only if I feel I can trust them…
Aah, that word ”trust”, Les…..does that include everything others say (if you feel you can trust them) ?
No! Only what I feel – using my own common sense – is worthy of being trusted. So I guess I have to both trust the person and separately trust some particular thing they say or do.
So you can trust a person without necessarily trusting everything they say or do?
Yes! I guess it boils down to “do I believe it?”
And you best believe it if you see or hear or feel it yourself?
Absolutely!
And if you believe it do you act upon it?
Not necessarily! I can believe things without having to do anything….
So if you trust in something does that change anything?
I’m more likely to do whatever is in sync with that trusted belief….
Indeed you are, Les. Faith is “trusted belief in action”….
It’s the doing of a knowing with confidence.
A great Teacher swam effortlessly back and forth across a raging river all day. Suddenly he saw a student watching him from the bank.
“Take my hand and I’ll guide you safely across” he said to the student……
The student’s answer showed his faith…….
If I offered you My Hand to cross a raging river with Me, would you, Les……?
Faith is based on evidence you trust.
All the great Teachers showed their evidence.
No-one is ever asked to blindly believe.
But in believing and then trusting that belief through faith you turn ideas into living actions.
Your faith makes your beliefs a living reality.
And your reality forms your very Life!
Ps: What would you have done at the river’s bank?
To be continued next week……
Namaste!
Les