Message of Faith

I didn't think I would ever write one, but this Sunday in Newspaper production the Message of Faith needed to be written.
I got assigned to do it quickly.

15 minutes later:

Faith is a interesting word. It has two main ways of being defined. Most popularly or commonly it is understood in the context of religion. Faith in a deity, many deities, or in something similarly supernatural. But it can also be the faith in a person - reliability and trustworthiness – the sincerity of ones intentions.

My message of faith is the message of the latter. I never had a lot of use for faith in a spiritual sense, which I don’t deem as a good, better, or smarter attitude than people who have faith. All I can deem it as is my view and sometimes – especially in times of hardship – I wish I had faith in something spiritual. It seems to be very soothing and comforting for many people.

But I have always been scared of the spiritual faith, because it seems irrational to me. And how some people feel about blasphemy or disrespect towards their g(G)od(s) I feel about irrationally. So, I guess I have a distinct faith in rationality, logic, and science, which consequently is a strong faith in doubt.

Back to the “other” faith. I feel many faithful people to be projecting their faith on a deity because of the lack of being able to have that same faith in a person. When one does not know the sincerity of intentions of people around him/her, they can quickly be led to trusting books and imaginary friends (that are ultimately shaped by the individual) more. Deities just tend to be more reliable.

So, ultimately, I think my message of faith is to have more trust in the person next to you. If you have been hurt a lot and feel driven away from trust and faith in other mortals, try to rethink. No matter whether there is an afterlife or not, right now you are here with the people around you. While this life lasts (and it might be the only one you have) you should try to make it work. And almost any other person tries to do the same.

If we live in a world full of individuals, then we live in a world full of people that reflect on their own actions and that ultimately strive towards happiness. How messed up those ways can sometimes be is indisputable, but I think you can always count the good intentions. No one acts to be unhappy, and if they do, they do in unconsciously.

And that’s where communication and faith comes in. Trust other people like you trust yourself and you might get hurt, but you will be able to tell yourself that you can still trust. Reward of trust by far outweighs the negative of being hurt once in a while. And if you can’t see that, I will dare you to try. We are creatures of habit and mirroring, and if our habit becomes trusting, we will experience that same trust mirrored back to us more and more.


For more stuff that's in our Newspaper (and some more of my articles):
www.thecampusnewspaper.com