Is Faith Enough?

[jaelpn]

I use to think that faith was enough- that if I had enough faith, I could accomplish anything. Faith is something that I think can lead us into the belief of being able to have a stronghold on life. When the tough gets going, we start to see that cloud of darkness roll in. I have always been known to be a Christian, but the closer I get to thinking I know who I am, or what I am and believe in- things change. One minute I am feeling this complete satisfaction of life as if some light of clarity has suddenly turned on inside of me. The next moment I am wondering how I am able to even survive another day on this earth.

There are nights that I have trouble sleeping; I'm just staring up at the ceiling with my mind going a mile a minute. I'm sure there are many other people who do this as well. I just start thinking about things in life. One thought always crosses my mind: I am going to die. We all know it's coming, there is no escaping the reality of what human life becomes. We exist, we live and we die. It's something no one really wants to talk about, yet we are all swimming in the same ocean of life. I try to wrap my mind around the concept of death but it's hard. I see death often since I work in the medical field. It's not that shocking to be doing the final preparing of a body before the funeral home straps the body to the gurney to be prepared for the last viewing before the body is buried six feet under. Sounds kind of morbid, doesn't it? What happens to our souls after we die? There are so many different religions, so many different beliefs. How do we know that our religion, our belief- is the "right" one?

I grew up going to a Methodist church- so from a young age, I was told I was a Christian because I believed in God and sang all the church hymnals, was baptized and did all the things that a young christian person should do. The older I got, the more I thought about how my faith never really started until I lost my faith. I had gone through the phase of depression and lost what faith I had in life. It was much easier to just stay in that dark depression and not feel anything toward life (like a numbness)- but the deeper I got, the harder it was for me to feel anything toward life. I don't really remember how my faith came back, but I knew that I needed to find some kind of happiness in life.

I'm sure most people know about God and the story of Jesus, Noah's arc, etc. As a kid, I remember reading from the children's bible- seeing all these colorful pictures of the arc, the cross where Jesus had died for our sins, the heavenly angels playing the harps on this big white puffy clouds. The more I think of it as an adult, the more it seems all that stuff was written like a fairy tale. We don't want to think of what is -next- after our death so we want to fill it up with something that seems too good to be true.

I don't believe there are coincidences in life. I believe there is a purpose for everything that happens. We may not know it until after our hindsight of the experience, but I think there is a reason for all the good and bad things of the world. After my father's death at the age of 59, I tried to close my eyes and pray. It was hard...I was angry that my dad had died so young, and maybe I just wasn't in the right state of mind to pray when I was angry. I eventually overcame the anger and was in that accepting stage. A few different times I had dreams of my father- almost like I could touch him. It brought a lot of emotions- knowing that he is only as far away as I let him be. We are stuck in these bodies for a long while- these awful, hard to maintain at times- bodies. My dad had a lot of stuff wrong with his heart and lungs- it just caused him an early death. But death isn't as negative as it sounds- it's kind of like putting a beloved pet down because you don't want to see them suffer anymore. God knows the person is suffering, the person's body isn't responding the way it should so he puts the body to rest and their soul lives on in the dimension of the universe for which we can't see with our humanly eyes. There is not a doubt in my mind that there is something "more" ...there are too many miracles, too many things to think we were all created from some "big bang" ...the simplicities of a blooming flower, the sounds of birds chirping, the way the stars shine brightly in a clear midnight sky. That is where my faith comes in. There is just too many beautiful things in the world to think that we humans could make it all up. The miracle of birth- how we all are so different and yet we all have two eyes, ten toes, ten fingers, etc. How awesome is it to see a child born to this world- and life to begin once again.

I may not be the picture perfect Christian. I know I'm not even a good enough human to deserve this life; to be able to see what life brings forward. I know that I am, however, full of faith. Faith has taught me that no matter how hard life gets, no matter the good from the worse things that happen in life, faith will carry me through. I've heard the saying that someone has faith the size of a mustard seed; althought that's a very small amount of faith- it's something that can carry you through. We all need faith- I hope that wherever the wind may blow, no matter how difficult life comes- faith can reach us all. I have faith there has to be a better tomorrow; why? Because without it, there's no use in living. I'd say faith is enough- enough to give us Hope.

[khminh]

I'm sorry you feel so uncomfortable with Christians. They should not be making you feel uncomfortable. Christ taught that all who are not against us are with us. This is significant for atheists and pagans--whoever is not anti-Christian is under grace as well, and is not counted as an enemy of God.

However, there is no need to try to draw people away from God--if you do not believe in God, that is OK. We Christians need not force our belief on you, and you need not force your beliefs on us. Atheism is OK, but you should not push it on others, just as you would not wish religion of any stripe (I'm assuming) pushed on you.

This is something that many are unwilling to confront--pushing religious beliefs is wrong, but pushing atheism is perfectly OK. Double standards? Be fair. That's all I ask.

I cannot answer for atheists since I'm not one. I am a Buddhist transcendentalist.

I'm selective of what my spiritual practice should be as long as it benefits myself and others. That is just my personal preference. I don't want anyone to follow my footstep just because they perceive what my belief has done for me.

If you ask me "is it possible that dharma doesn't work for everyone?", my answer will be "Yes". There is evidence that mindfulness and meditation help people in healing process. That doesn't mean it works for everyone. I am willing to admit that even though Buddhism is the tradition I grew up with.

Do you think Christians are capable of doing so? If someone tells you "I tried, but I don't think that having faith in Jesus helps me", would you accept that? Many Christians will say it's the person's fault, his faith is not strong enough, he's not sincere,... It's always about blaming people.

No body should force atheism on religious people. I have yet met such an atheist, but I have met many Christians who want to bring me to Jesus. They are not aggressive like street preachers, but they have that ulterior motive when they do things for me.

If that is what Christian nurses think, I don't want to be under their care. If they cannot take care of my well being for my sake but for Jesus' sake, I don't need them.

I personally don't believe the word tolerance in healthcare. I only believe in acceptance. I will accept patients for who they are. I will be willing to do things that are uncomfortable but within my capability to help them achieve their health. I realize that sometimes I have to have courage to put aside my conviction for someone's sake.