Heart to Heart

Since I last posted, fate and faith have stepped up to the plate.  As I write this, I am amazed at all that has transpired in 5 short days.  But maybe that’s what happens when you experience a spiritual renewal/awakening – a turning point.  Maybe that’s what happens when you turn down the path most rocky or less traveled. 

Many conversations since my last posting have affirmed my thoughts.  I have spoken with people from various religious backgrounds: Christian, Buddhist, Atheist, Pagan, Hindu, Jewish and Muslim.  They all have said the same thing:  Faith means believing - just like in the Voltaire quote.  But they took it a step further.  They told me I have to not just believe, but I must know.  I have to act as if everything I want is happening right now.  For instance, if I were an attorney and I wanted to be the best attorney in a certain region, then I would act as if I am that person right now – even though I may not be - yet.

What really got to me was how the same thing has been told to me by people of various religions and cultures.  I am not talking about only Western culture here.  If so, we could blame the similarities on culture only.  No, a recent overseas phone call assured me that this is just not a matter of culture.  When the voice on the other end told me that faith was more than belief – that faith was knowing it to be true right now - seeing it as I want right now – acting as if it is happening right now - I knew this was more than a Western culture belief system.  This was true faith.

I read, in The Purification of the Soul, that “the most beneficial sustenance for the heart is faith.”  If so, by the time this journey is over, I should have a strong heart!  But, not only is it healthy for us, it asserts, faith is what we long to experience.  We long to have such a strong faith – like a marriage to our faith - that no one can put asunder – that no one can shatter.  We long for this.  Yet so many of us are afraid to affirm such strong belief…knowing…faith.

Why should we be afraid?  When some of the most faithful people I have met come from post-conflict societies – people who have lived through atrocities in war, fought to feed their families, fought to survive – how dare I sit here and be afraid to have faith?  When my friends and family and loved ones sit in poverty and real danger on a daily basis, how dare I not believe that I will obtain all that I desire?  How dare I have no faith?

If we long for faith than we should succumb to our longings.  It is at that point that we begin to transform.  I witnessed it this week with so many – some call it “miracles,” others call it “gifts,” and yet others refer to it as “alignment with the universe.”  Whatever you prefer to call it, I witnessed transformation and, possibly, the beginnings or continuation of changing my stars.  These messages told me to continue down this rocky road; continue to succumb to my longings to have unshakeable, unwavering faith that no one can put asunder.  Be good to my heart these gifts told me.  After all, my heart longs to be pure – just like faith.     

Blessings and faith,

Summer