Is Faith Made Up or Is It Real?

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I’ve been thinking about a note that an interested party sent me the other day. To paraphrase and abbreviate a long missive: “Is faith made up, or is it real? I don’t want to fake it.”

What if, since we make it up sometimes to our advantage and sometimes against it, if we realize that the name of the game is to make it up in a way that stacks the deck in our favor. What’s the disadvantage of this approach? None, from what I can tell.

We’re going to make it up some way: God exists/doesn’t exist; compare me with others; dark now, light now; faith or lack thereof (I’ve already said, “There is no such thing as no faith.”); structured inquiry or spontaneous expression or combustion; personified deity or cold law… and so it goes. We’re gonna’ make up something, and no matter what we make up, or what we have convinced ourselves is true, we still made it up and will always be making it up. That’s what we do. We’re designed that way.

Sometimes we convince ourselves we are safe by talking ourselves into believing that we are safe and by assuming that we know what’s going on around us. If this only helps us to feel more creative and at peace, so what? We are by design, automatic, organizing machines that overlay a notion of order into the absolute chaos of creation. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with this approach to calming down. Most of us could use something to calm down; that’s for sure…and there’s no hangover.

Whether we’re boinking or breathing or musing or levitating, we can’t get out of this thing called Life. Even if we attempt escape by so-called suicide, there is no guarantee that we get “out” or avoid suffering. I also think that we make up all of the potential options and outcomes in this one, too.

Instead of is faith real or imagined, I think the real question is, “How are you gonna’ make up your life from now on. You’ve done it the way you’ve done it up to this time, and you always have the option of doing it a little or a lot differently every moment hereafter. What now, Dear Traveler? What choose, Ye? The blue or the red pill?

This time, I choose blue. Why? Because I choose blue.

What are you making up about all of this? You will make what you make up.

BestBlessings,

Rev Donald

Peanut Butter Sandwiches

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(I recently came across this story and it made me chuckle.)

At a construction site, when the lunch whistle blew, all the workers sat down together to eat. And every day Sam would open his lunch pail and start to complain. He’d cry, “Not peanut butter and jelly sandwiches again. I hate peanut butter and jelly!”

This went on day after day until one of the guys said, “Sam, if you hate peanut butter and jelly, so much why not tell your wife to make you something different?”

“What do you mean, my wife?” Sam replied. “I’m not married. I make my own sandwiches.” We all make our own sandwiches.

– By Richard Fisher

What’s on your sandwich?

It’s About Time!

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We are a soul, we are an immortal being, we are the personality of God… To know that one is the personality of God is the beginning of wisdom.
~ Ernest Holmes, 10 Ideas That Make a Difference, 64.3 ~

The question is, “What if you really believed you are the personality of God?” No conceit, no regrets, no more what-iffing—just plain, unadulterated acceptance of that Truth, and then allowed yourself to live in that consciousness? Frankly, In my imaginings, I find the idea of living this way enthralling and exciting, and as I imagine the results of everyone living that way, I get excited beyond belief.

My personality is the same as God’s. It IS the same as God because I live IN God.

Your personality is the same as God’s. It IS the same as God because you live IN God.

At this time, it appears that more lip-service is being paid to the idea of living FROM the Divine and as the Divine, than taking it to heart and actually living this way. What if, from this moment on, more of us go for the whole enchilada, accepting this as true, believing it as viable, living it in every area of our lives, and enjoying the results as we do?

Every longing and yearning we have ever had, every secret desire of our soul, and every constructive ambition we have had is but a whispering of this Power, assuring us that we are One with It, that we are a manifestation or personification of It, that we are a center in It.
~ Ernest Holmes, ibid, 45 ~

From the wings, I can hear God saying, “For heaven’s sake, it’s about time!”

– Reverend Donald Graves

Creating Faith and Possibility from Nothing

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This week during my morning quite time I have been studying faith. What is it, how does one obtain it, increase it and build a life that is reflective of it. In my study I came across this quote from Ernest Holmes in his book Science of Mind; A Philosophy, a Faith a Way of Life.

“In order to have faith we must have the conviction that all is well. In order to keep faith we must allow nothing to enter our thought which will weaken this conviction. Faith is built up from belief acceptance and trust. Whenever anything enters our thought which destroys these attitudes to that extent faith is weakened.” – Ernest Holmes

I love this quote. Let’s dissect it together to uncover what’s there.

In order to have faith we must have the conviction that all is well
To understand faith it is important that we also understand fear and its origin. To experience fear is natural. It was created for survival and to protect us from physical danger. However, fear that results from something other than being attacked by a lion or chased by natives with spears is unnatural. This unnatural form of fear is created by our imagination or the image which we hold within the nation of our mind.

What images are you holding in your mind at this very moment? Do you see images of people that love you, support your growth and encourage openness to new possibilies; of you being thankful for the endless opportunities surrounding you (that you may or may not choose to receive); of how you’ve overcome past obstacles and are now embracing a future worthy of you? OR are you holding images of painful relationships that you have not chosen to accept or forgive, or images of losing a client or a job, of running out of money and sleeping on the street, of a future where you’ve somehow ended your life unfulfilled, settling for memories about dreams of what your life could have become. What images would you like to see? What possibilities would you like to be available? You have the power to choose.

In order to keep faith we must allow nothing to enter our thought which will weaken this conviction.
Having faith is about choosing to see life purely as the symphony it is. It is about giving up the image, opinion or belief that there is something “wrong” with the world, with your life with the people around you. Having faith is finally accepting that ALL truly is well in spite of what you may see with your eyes, hear with your ears or feel as a result of holding disempowering and/or judgment-based images in your mind.

Now, the logical and/or skeptical mind may argue that there is indeed evil and danger in the world and we must protect ourselves. This thinking says that it is short sited and unsafe to live as if “all is well.”

To this thinker, I would suggest that it is short sited and unsafe to live as if “all is not well.” This form of thinking is faith in reverse (fear) and is just as powerful to create and/or destroy one’s life. While there are indeed many forms of danger in the world, danger is not somehow “bad or wrong.” It just is. When we stop seeing life for what it is–neutral yet abundantly generous, and instead choose to assess and cast unfavorable judgment on it, we levy judgment upon ourselves and erode our faith or belief in the abundance and oneness that is.

Faith is built up from belief acceptance and trust. Whenever anything enters our thought which destroys these attitudes to that extent faith is weakened.
What do you believe or hold strongly as an opinion? What is your attitude about this belief? What is your attitude because of this belief? This attitude or way of being can build or destroy your faith and ultimately your life.

How you experience the world is based on your faith. Do you accept life as it is? Do you trust that laws of nature and success will never fail? Do you trust that the laws of love and spirit will never fail? Do you trust yourself to live fully as a part of the all that is? Do you trust that the opportunities and people that are assigned to your life are all there to further your growth and encourage mastery of your thinking and emotions?

You have the power to build your faith? You are building faith at this very moment. What type of faith is it? Does it pull you toward your destiny or drag you in reverse and keeps you in the past?

Bottom line: Building faith and creating new possibility is about choice. Nothing more is required.

By: Michael Tucker

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