FAITH

Why write about spirituality, belief systems and faith? What's the point; the purpose? Because fighting over religion pushes people to reject it all at best, or causes world wars at worst... any outcome along this continuum is tragic. As soon as we remove the compulsion to be right; to prove someone or something else wrong, we're free. We're free to begin exploring the vastness of the undefinable while moving closer to Truth... the truth and our truth.

The great debate is whether Truth is absolute or relative. And the truth is, that Truth can only be deemed absolute by FAITH, which I'll define as:

Finite Filters
Applied to
Interpret Infinite
Truth &
Higher Power

We all need something to believe in; to belong to; to build a life around. Faith therefore, is a necessity, not a luxury. Even those who claim to have no faith, have faith in that belief... they have faith in their non-belief. Faith is influenced by, and a product of our finite mind’s filtering process. All information that we receive passes through filters affecting how we perceive that information. Since perception is reality, we call this filtered or processed information our “beliefs.” Depending on an individual’s social and cultural filters, perceptions of the same information can result in very different beliefs or truths. As these beliefs are applied to our lives, our behavior is then affected by our interpretations of “truth.” So faith in anything then literally becomes an applied interpretation of filtered information. Regarding infinite principles of spirituality, these interpretations of truth become known as religions, traditions, movements, ideologies and mythologies.

Currently there are approximately 2,500 known religions and over 70 ancient scriptures in existence. All religious traditions teach about the same basic concepts of love, compassion, faith, humility, caring, hope and life, etc. The types of descriptive words and phrases used to define the objects of worship may differ, but the same basic premises exist within each. Man-made words like Allah-Awakening-Being-Buddah-Consciousness-Enlightenment-Eternal Life-God-Heaven-Holy-Jehovah-Jesus-Meditation-Muhammed-Prayer-Salvation-Source-Unity-Worship... these are all adjectives created in an attempt to describe that which is indescribable.

So is God "out there," "in here," or "everywhere?" How is it that some religions can talk of faith in eternal life while so many people are struggling to simply survive in this life? We have to shift our faith's focus from simply avoiding the bad to consistently accessing the good. Make a move toward embracing life vs. escaping reality; fulfilling destiny vs. fighting demons. This will only be possible when we shed tunnel vision religion and replace it with broad-scope spirituality. I’ve heard it said that God is working in our lives all of the time... we just miss most of it. Let's hope we don't miss what's meant for us all in name of "faith."