What It Means To Have Faith

This is my simple religion. No need for temples. No need for complicated philosophy. Your own mind, your own heart is the temple. Your philosophy is simple kindness.” ― Dalai Lama XIV

I heard a stand-up comic say that religion gives people hope in a world torn apart by religion. Funny, right? Most of us are handed our specific faith by our culture and our parents, who were handed their faith by their parents and their culture. But there is a difference between religion and faith.

I was born to parents who were Catholic and Protestant. So, they were both Christians, with the varying beliefs they were assigned. Neither practiced their religion, my sister and I never attended church unless it was required for the sacrament-du-jour. All of that, along with a few years of parochial school (for non-religious reasons) basically left me realizing that religion was not a straightforward part of my fabric. I am happily, for lack of a better label, "without religion." Yet, somehow I practice faith every day.

Each day that I am able, I go to the ocean to watch the sunrise. I know that it rises everywhere, not just at the ocean, but I think it is easiest there to see that miraculous moment when it breaks over the horizon and announces a new day. What strikes me, every single time, is that there is a specific moment when that sun breaks over the edge of the water that is just for me. It is a different time for someone else, based on where they are standing on the earth. It could be a difference of hours, or milliseconds, but that exact moment when I witness it is mine. And, it happens, every single day, no matter what.

Some of my favorite sunrises happen, though, when it goes unseen. There are those mornings that are dull and overcast, or even raining, when the gray of the ocean and the gray of the sky blend onto the same canvas and the horizon isn't even visible. I have to think very hard about what I can't see to accept that sunrise has even happened. Yet, I know that it has. Because I believe.

These events of Mother Nature's that happen, without complete understanding or explanation are like being in love (another idea that requires faith, but I will save that for another day.) They happen to remind us that we are a part of something so much bigger than what we can see. I find my religion in nature because I trust in its guidance as it does exactly what it is supposed to do, at exactly the right time. Just check the sunrise time for tomorrow. Even if it's a rainy day. Trust me, it will happen.

Have faith.