What is faith??

Faith involves one's beliefs ...and is based upon confidence, trust, and one's experiences.

Faith can be as simple as believing with confidence that an acorn will become an oak tree.  Or that select labeled seeds will produce the designated plants pictured on the package ...for your garden.

For many years, I helped my dad plant a huge garden ...so, if any seed was mislabeled, I would likely know there was an error.  I know what a bean seed looks like, corn is even easier to identify, and peas likewise are just peas somewhat shriveled up. And each seed was to be planted at a certain depth in the soil, and specified inches apart ...most all in rows, and some planted in hills (not on a hill, but multiple seeds in a shallow hole. Carrots were to be planted delicately ...and were one of my favorites.

We didn't consider it as faith ...we just sort of took it for granted and understood it for what it would be.

Some people would say that an experienced gardener does not rely so much on faith, as he does on know-how and experience. 

After I left home, I went to college ...then got a position as a direct care worker in a Mental Institution.  It seemed that many of the patients struggling with the more severe illnesses, had an extra measure of a kind of faith I had not seen before. One patient jumped from a fifth story window ...and ran away. And another patient ran right through a heavy wooden door. Those of us who consider ourselves sane, would never even attempt to do those sort of things.

Would we say those mentally ill patients had great faith??  They had a measure of confidence that I don't have ...to choose to do what they did.  And they experienced success in doing rather unbelievable things.

There are some societies which have considered the mentally ill among them ...as gifted.  But, most countries privileged with the label of 'advanced', merely consider them mentally ill.

There is another group of people who believe in the Bible ...and no need to plead the fifth, as I also believe in the Bible, and I'm going to quote the fifth Chapter of Mark.  There was a certain man that it says, could not be restrained by even chains ...and he also broke the irons on his feet.  No person (or persons) was able to subdue him.  The description of him was not one of a person who was gifted.

What does the Bible say about faith ---in Hebrews 11:1??

"Now faith is the substance the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

Some people hope they will win at the gambling facilities ...and though they have no evidence that they will, they believe they will see the winnings.

After working in the Mental Institution, I worked in a prison ...a designated mental health prison.  Some of the prisoners wanted to have a Bible study, and I elected to supervise it.  It was going quite well, until the word got around ...and then it began to get away from the Word.  As the group grew, some of the prisoners began telling of their experiences ...and the stories they told were rather wild.  And the stories captivated the attention of the other prisoners in the group.  The group become less about the Bible stories ...and the main focus was on wild stories, one story feeding another, becoming wilder and wilder. 

So, if the central focus cannot be faith, confidence, or experience ...then what should our focus be??

Isn't it less about faith ...and more about the character of whom we place our faith in??

No, it's not about an acorn, aardvark, or eggplant.  Yes, they are all living ...and they have characteristics, but not that of a person.  And yes, we may trust our dog, or trust our horse ...and label them faithful and trustworthy, but though they may bring happiness and comfort to our lives, something is missing.

Yes, we may say our dogs bring meaning to our lives ...but, there are few people who seek out their pets for wisdom or counsel for the problems facing us in this world.

For those kind of answers, we formulate systems of belief that correspond and provide the best explanations for why things are as they are.

Faith does not have to be sensible ...but, neither should it be nonsense.  For anything to make sense, it is best to be clearly communicated.  And I believe the Bible best fits that criteria.  It doesn't have to ...but, it does.

At least to me.

And that is my belief.

I have confidence in my faith.  My faith is not about me so much, but about He whom I have faith in.  That faith develops trust.  And it also helps me understand my experiences ...not having my experiences rule me.

God is love.

And I'd prefer that love rules.  

It will. 

Yet, for now, it struggles.  I can experience it, if I allow it within me.

But, not just me ...you too.