In thinking about what to reflect on today, my thoughts were circling around the concept of Faith.
The trouble is – this is a concept that is most often correlated to religion – and that’s not what I wanted to reflect on.
So
What is faith?
In a religious context Faith is a strong belief in the doctrines of a religion, based on spiritual conviction rather than proof.
The closest that the Bible comes to offering an exact definition is:
Hebrews 11:1 – “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, and the conviction of things not seen”
From this particular passage we see that the central feature of faith is confidence or trust. In the Bible, the object of faith is God.
But we live in a multi denominational world, and not everyone is a believer. So, I set searching to redefine the concept, without the religious connection.
The dictionary tells me faith is a complete trust or confidence in someone or something.
But my curiosity questions; is that enough?
Faith encompasses emotions and reason.
We can have complete trust in ourselves, our families, teachers, even politicians.
And we can also question these, however:
Faith is important is important to our lives because faith frames who we are, our existence, our values, our hopes and our dreams.
Faith can make you happy.
Faith gives you confidence.
For good food and good company let’s keep our faith in Rotary.
Barbara Yerondais
Thank you to Barbara Yerondais for providing this reflection on 15 May 24.
