Faith Over Fear
For many years, I functioned out of fear. I kept the things I didn’t want to happen in my mind’s eye in order to motivate me to act in ways that would help me avoid them. It was familiar, so it was automatic.
I believed it would keep me safe.
Unfortunately, my (unconscious) choice to function from fear also kept me stuck and repeating the same lacking experiences. Is this all there is?
Faith didn’t mean much to me at the time. It was just a word—a word that seemed carelessly tossed into the middle of a sentence. It felt powerless, devoid of essence. However, I drew on the edges of faith, but I thought of it more as holding on.
Holding on worked, but it only got me so far. It kept me… well… holding on. That way of thinking had me focused on just coping with life instead of my available opportunities to grow and thrive. It limited my experiences and the way in which I saw other people. It kept me looking at my feet to make sure I wouldn’t stumble, instead of lifting my eyes to the heavens and admiring everything around me.
Now I know that faith didn’t mean much to me at that time because it wasn’t mine. Faith must be personal to be powerful. I had to hold it in my hand, examine it critically, toss it aside, and then live without it in order to see what it actually meant to me.
Life eventually brought me home to faith with one of its divine coincidences—the universe showing its brilliance, once again. It gave me a new perspective and the words to express my beliefs. Finally, I found my personal definition of faith.
For me, faith means knowing. It’s the conscious awareness of Grace within my being and as my highest fulfillment. It is knowing that all is well even when the apparent reality—the one I can see—is signaling otherwise.
Thy grace is my sufficiency.
I am more conscious and consistent with my faith today. In some ways, it’s like an invisible bridge of knowing. I am on one side of the bridge, the other is anchored in Love… the kind that doesn’t let go. I won’t fall, not really. I consciously choose this knowing every day, not just in the difficult times but also in the calm. I allow it to flow through me, and when I do, I feel so much more satisfied.
Ernest Holmes, founder of the Science of Mind philosophy, hits the target when he says, “We wish a faith based on the knowledge that there is nothing to fear! […] If one will have faith in himself, faith in his fellowmen, in the Universe, and in God, that faith will light the place in which he finds himself, and by the light of this faith, he will be able to see that ALL IS GOOD. And the light shed by this faith will light the way for others,” (SOM, pg. 157-158).
This statement embodies a fundamental life-changing belief.
My faith has helped me realize my wholeness, allow my light to shine, and recognize that same spark in others. It sheds fear and opens the opportunity for love and all-possibility.