Faith: Yours, Mine and Theirs
“To one who has faith, no explanation is necessary. To one without faith, no explanation is possible.” St. Thomas Aquinas
I was thinking today about the many faiths there are in our world and how they affect us. They bring us hope and mysteries and love – and they bring us war and havoc and hatred. Our choice.
My family was neither religious nor attended church regularly. On the other hand, like a small tree with seeking roots, my yearnings went out to a faith my family would never have understood — my best friend’s faith, Catholicism.
As years went on, I made up for lost time, as they say. I first attended Catholic masses with my best friend, Joan. Christmas Eve was spent with her family at Midnight mass, then at her house for family breakfast.
In the Navy, I attended services with friends at the base’s Mormon (Latter Day Saints) services . . . and for long years after, did the same in various cities. I had the pleasure of visiting the Mormon Tabernacle in Washington, DC with a special Mormon friend.
Latter, I fell in love with the Quaker faith and happily attended Friends’ Meeting House in Washington, DC for over 13 years.
My roommates through the years have been Christian, Jewish, Buddhist, non denominational faiths and in-between. Acquaintances include all of the above plus two female Muslims.
What I’ve learned is that all faiths have similarities that outweigh their differences. Each world faith has within it the seeds of love, compassion, justice, and trust. Each faith leads us to who we become. And each faith can be misinterpreted, or worse, used to justify prejudice, narrowness, injustices and hatred. If we attend services, faithfully read the Bible of our faith, whatever it may be, then go into the world and cheat, lie, steal and slander other faiths, are we being faithful to our own?
Just thinking aloud.
Meditation for the Day
“Faith is not without proof, but [it is] trust without reservation.”
Action for the Day
Today, I’ll Google a few sites based on different faiths, take a deep breathe and compare my own faith with theirs – always seeking for similarities, not differences. Knowing more may expand my understanding – and tolerance of others’ faiths.
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