Faith hiding in the leaves

My nestmate corresponds from time to time with a good friend from long ago, from a time when they were fledgelings and life was young and full of promise. With the passage of time their lives moved in different directions and for many years their communication was lost. During this period they both underwent many joyful, positive experiences, as well as many sad changes and trials in their lives, so today they share these events with each other. Now, one of the beautiful things about my nestmate that drew me to him in the first place is his solid faith in God. This is a precious characteristic to have, without which one's life is empty indeed. No matter how bad things have gone or may go, with faith to support a person anything is possible. With this faith goes the belief that God forgives us all sins provided we truely are repentant for them. How bleak life would be if there was no glimmer of light at the end of that long dark tunnel.

So his friend asked the question, "how do you keep your faith?" in the face of all the worst things that are thrown against you: divorce, death of loved ones, substance abuse, ill-health, loss of one's job, children who grow away from you. The list can seem endless and overwhelming if there is no platform of faith to support one and despair is the end result.

These obstacles are not unique to my nestmate or his friend - they are strewn along everyone's path like rocks and boulders for one to dodge or trip over. Everyone has a different means of keeping the faith while treading carefully through the narrow paths. So I asked myself - how do I support my faith and keep it strong as I trip over my rocks and boulders? I had never really thought about it before; I just took this faith for granted, but I realize now that to keep one's faith strong one has to be willing to work to strengthen it. Of course there are many different ways for everyone who looks, but I find that I have come to surround myself with friends who also have a deep abiding faith in God. I have mentioned before that these friends wear different religious labels but share the same conviction that through faith we will all reach that promised light. These friends console me and lift my spirit up when I trip over my rocks; they pray for me and with me, even when I do not reach out and ask them to do so. Though I do not read the bible as I should I am comforted and exhorted by the words of those friends who do read and who share what they learn with me and cause me to think about the teachings that truely matter. Some of these friends do not share their private beliefs with me through conversations but instead they blend their voices with mine to bring life to the beautiful songs that rise up to the heavens; we create a powerful tapestry of faith through song to support and sustain our fellow parishoners as well as ourselves.

Faith is God's gift to us all to sustain us and should not be taken for granted. Just as the most solid of structures will eventually be eroded away by rain and fire and wind so will our faith be eroded away by life's trials and misfortunes unless one continuously works to reinforce this gift. If you look around you and open yourself to those who are filled with faith you will surround yourself with the reinforcement needed to protect your fortress.