How do you find faith?

[China Cat Sunflower]

First, stop looking for a rational basis. There is always some some initial point of faith that you have to just swallow. Once you believe in that everything else just follows naturally. OTOH, examine your motives. Why do you want to believe? I wish I could believe, but I took that rational approach too far, and when i realized, coming into middle age, that it's all about the fear of death and the resulting loss of identity, it was too late. Do you want to play dress up, or do you just want to live? Identity is made up from diverse elements of shared cultural consciousness. You essentially create your own collage of mythological elements. Something old, something new, something borrowed (usually some eastern hoofdy doofty floof), and something blue.

Chris

 

[Bhaktajan II]

I wish I could believe,

What will these guys do now????:

NYC man plunges 39 stories, lands on car, survives

NEW YORK (AP) — A New York City man who plunged 39 stories from the rooftop of an apartment building has survived after crashing onto a parked car.Witnesses and police say 22-year-old Thomas Magill jumped from the high-rise at West 63rd Street on Tuesday. He landed in the backseat area of a Dodge Charger after crashing through the windshield.He suffered broken legs. Police say he's in critical condition.The car's owner, Guy McCormack, of Old Bridge, N.J., told the Daily News he's convinced that rosary beads he kept inside the Dodge saved Magill's life.Police are investigating why Magill jumped from the building.Magill isn't the only New Yorker to survive a high-rise fall. Window washer Alcides Moreno fell 47 stories from the roof of a skyscraper in December 2007, and doctors expected him to walk again.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100901/ap_on_re_us/us39_story_plunge

 

[Quahom1]

First, stop looking for a rational basis. There is always some some initial point of faith that you have to just swallow. Once you believe in that everything else just follows naturally. OTOH, examine your motives. Why do you want to believe? I wish I could believe, but I took that rational approach too far, and when i realized, coming into middle age, that it's all about the fear of death and the resulting loss of identity, it was too late. Do you want to play dress up, or do you just want to live? Identity is made up from diverse elements of shared cultural consciousness. You essentially create your own collage of mythological elements. Something old, something new, something borrowed (usually some eastern hoofdy doofty floof), and something blue.

Chris

No Chris, I disagree. Faith starts with a little bit of knowledge. Then curiosity comes. When the knowledge starts to flow, then the stuttering starts. But Faith is patient. Questions come, anger comes, rejection comes, but Faith prevails. Then negotiation comes, and exceptions to the rules come, but Faith prevails. Finally, a plea is made, for faith to reveal itself, and God comes...not in a growl or a roar, or in a howling, but in a whisper...

 

[Sam Albion]

How do you find faith?

In my humble opinion... If God wants you, he'll call you. Go looking for Him/Her/Them/It/Something, if you want to, be don't come crying to me when you wind up disappointed/penniless/deluded/drugged-up/dead after drinking the "Kool Aid".

And, if God hasn't called you, how can you be looking for him? You've never met, and you know nothign about him. You don't even have a photograph. He hasn't left indelible internet footprints for you to follow...

And, if you have no real, experiential awareness/proof/insight into the "equation that is God", what do you seek? An idea? A ghost that some people suggest MIGHT exist? A hero from a folk tale who will miraculously save you from misery? Is this God you're looking for the same kind of God other people have, or is your God different? Who is your God? You don't know!

Besides... If there is a God, and if this God is a being more powerful than you, chasing after that God so he can answer your petty, idiotic questions is pointless and, if this God really is as big and powerful as they say he is, then this God may be offended by your needy bleating and chasing. Does your God want another teary-eyed sycophant with the intellectual capacity of an amoeba chasing after Him/Her/Them? (Lots of them seem to, but you might not have a God like them).

So, then, how will you draw the attentions of this God, so that he asks for you by name?

Dazzling others with your talents, good works and bravery. That's how you draw the attention of the Gods.

Apparently...

 

[Quietwoman]

Ok so i've never been one for religion. I'm actually pretty anti-organized religion. But a lot of things have happened in my life and I sometimes find myself envious of those of you out there with faith. I don't want to really go to church, or to be saved or anything like that. But I somtimes kind of feel the need to believe in something, anything. But i have no idea where to start. Any ideas?????

Hi there,

Well, I started with what was around me. My mother was a witch so I started in the occult. She also claimed to be a Christian-but she was a very backslidden one. My mother and step dad never went to church when I was a kid but I started going to the local Baptist church. I had a childlike faith back then and believed everything I heard. I heard the usual, "just call on Jesus and your saved for a million years". By the time I was fourteen I outgrew that hogwash after I called on Jesus over 100 times after that first time and nothing seemed to work. Finaly, after thinking God hated me and rejected me and died for every person on the face of the earth except for me I told God to just kill me and get it over with or show me the real God. Miraculously God put people in my life to help show me the way. I didn't want to hear it at first because it went against everything I was taught, but you must obey God. God put people in my life that told me about God's commandments and the need to keep them AFTER I asked him to show me the real God. "Nothing happens by accident." is what I and my husband started saying. And the more I cried out to God the more he revealed to me, which added to my faith. Over time I began to believe again that God sent his son to die for me too and I began to have faith that God did not hate me or reject me but has been leading me to the Truth all along. So, in conclusion I would like to encourage you to "ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you." This is what I did when I thought I had no hope and God didn't exist for me-just for everyone else.

Rhonda

 

[Quahom1]

Hi there,

Well, I started with what was around me. My mother was a witch so I started in the occult. She also claimed to be a Christian-but she was a very backslidden one. My mother and step dad never went to church when I was a kid but I started going to the local Baptist church. I had a childlike faith back then and believed everything I heard. I heard the usual, "just call on Jesus and your saved for a million years". By the time I was fourteen I outgrew that hogwash after I called on Jesus over 100 times after that first time and nothing seemed to work. Finaly, after thinking God hated me and rejected me and died for every person on the face of the earth except for me I told God to just kill me and get it over with or show me the real God. Miraculously God put people in my life to help show me the way. I didn't want to hear it at first because it went against everything I was taught, but you must obey God. God put people in my life that told me about God's commandments and the need to keep them AFTER I asked him to show me the real God. "Nothing happens by accident." is what I and my husband started saying. And the more I cried out to God the more he revealed to me, which added to my faith. Over time I began to believe again that God sent his son to die for me too and I began to have faith that God did not hate me or reject me but has been leading me to the Truth all along. So, in conclusion I would like to encourage you to "ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you." This is what I did when I thought I had no hope and God didn't exist for me-just for everyone else.

Rhonda

That's a good testimony, and it's personal.

 

[Quietwoman]

That's a good testimony, and it's personal.

Thanks, what is your testimony? It's a journey isn't it?

Rhonda

 

[whitewater]

Faith is the belief that God is real and that God is good. It is a choice to believe that the one who made it all hasn’t left it all and that he still sends light into the shadows and responds to gestures of faith. Faith is the belief that God will do what is right. God says that the more hopeless your circumstances, the more likely your salvation. The greater your cares, the more genuine your prayers. The darker the room, the greater the need for the light. God’s help is near and always available, but it is only given to those who seek it.

Hebrews 11:1,3,6

Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible. And without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Romans 1:17

For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

2 Corinthians 4:8-9, 16-18
We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

 

[Persona]

Ok so i've never been one for religion. I'm actually pretty anti-organized religion. But a lot of things have happened in my life and I sometimes find myself envious of those of you out there with faith. I don't want to really go to church, or to be saved or anything like that. But I somtimes kind of feel the need to believe in something, anything. But i have no idea where to start. Any ideas?????

I'm struggling similarly.
After being raised in a cult, & finally realizing it for what it was, I questioned everything. It seems that we thrive on bates of illusion. Who gets inspired by truth? Yes, some truth is beautiful, but truth to be truth is ALL sides... & some sides of truth are plain ugly - harmful & painful. Also, our awareness is so tiny compared to the TRUTH of what there is to know. So, whatever motivates us... whether it's religion or goals... is illusional - it's based on hope, not current provable fact. So, we need to pick the best illusions - that help us & others (because we tend to be happier by contributing to the happiness of others). Each moment & circumstance varies - sometimes we need to focus on our needs, & sometimes the needs of others. Sometimes we need to learn from the past or prepare for the future & others times we need to just BE in the present moment. I believe faith is not blind, nor is it based on 100% fact... but faith is a mix of intellectual reasoning & spiritual intuition.

As far as routine "rituals" that help me find faith/motivation... dancing to inspiring music, playing piano, singing, playing/laughing, being in nature, writing, meditating/praying, creating things... are some ways I find faith.

When I feel particularly strong (or ticked off about lies & ignor-ance)... I find faith in arguing in behalf of those who have no voice (ie 40 million anually - unborn children killed, almost 1 Billion starving).

 

[Etu Malku]

Ok so i've never been one for religion. I'm actually pretty anti-organized religion. But a lot of things have happened in my life and I sometimes find myself envious of those of you out there with faith. I don't want to really go to church, or to be saved or anything like that. But I somtimes kind of feel the need to believe in something, anything. But i have no idea where to start. Any ideas?????

Faith finds You.

 

[luecy7]

Faith is like a game of chess, where you seek for your opponent to win.

Faith is like a gamble, in the good of an other.

Faith is like a golf swing, where even the wind may be working to help.

Waiting for faith to arrive would be like burrying a life in the sand, hoping that the sand will grow the tree on its own.