Quite a few years back, my Mother gave us all a little pamphlet with her words of wisdom. She called it Tips from Mother for a Healthy Beautiful Life. She had categories like Body, Face and Hands. Mother’s wisdom was mostly practical things like “Use Moisturizer Every Day” and “Limit Fat.” She went on to say “fat is butter, chocolate, cream cheese and all things good!” But the gem, the true gem was under the category of Spirit, she said “Have Faith in something.”
Faith in self or a higher power
At the time, I didn’t have faith in anything. Neither faith in myself nor faith in a higher power. I also wasn’t avoiding Fat, but that is not the focus here. My Mother’s faith was strong. She raised us Presbyterian. My Father was Catholic but did not practice. My sisters and myself went to church, sang in the choir and got confirmed. Yet, even though I went through the steps, the whole religion thing didn’t work for me. I was stuck on the literal interpretations and couldn’t get past things like a virgin birth and creation in 6 days. I couldn’t rectify the angry God of the Old Testament with the loving God of the New. I couldn’t understand how God could condemn a person for believing a different faith even if they lived a good life. I don’t struggle with those issues now, but at the time, those conflicts turned me into a devout atheist.
The Door opens
Yet those four little words, Have Faith in Something, opened a door for me. Those four words gave me permission to have a belief different from my Mother’s. I began a search for something I could believe in. Joseph Campbell helped me to look at the stories of my religion symbolically and started a search of many religious traditions. Studying Tarot opened my eyes to a higher wisdom that I knew didn’t come from me. A three-year metaphysical teacher training program opened my eyes to a spirituality that wasn’t religious yet was still compatible to most I learned in church. A four-year healing school introduced me to energy, another unseen world that I could touch and connect with.
Over the years
Over a number of years, I came to understand that I could have faith in something unseen and unexplainable. I could have faith in the insight coming through my Tarot Cards. I could have faith in the spiritual, metaphysical world. I could have faith in a symbolic description of Christianity. I came to understand, through experience, that God was not an angry God. Although I did go through a year or so expecting to get struck by lightning for all the negative things I had said when an atheist.
Most of all, I could have faith in myself and my own discernment. I now have a very strong faith in a higher power, a Universal Mind of sorts. It isn’t blind faith; it is one gained through exploration and experience. It works for me; it supports me in times of joy and in times of need.
Not all Faith is the same
I also have faith that you have discernment. I think faith looks different for different people. Where and how I access my faith may not resonate with you. Yours may not resonate with me and that is okay. Your faith may be in yourself, in friendships, in love, in science or in something ineffable. I trust that you have found faith in a way that works for you. I am strong enough in my faith that your being different doesn’t challenge mine. I believe we are stronger in our diversity of faith and in our acceptance and tolerance of that diversity. I just hope, like my Mother does, that you find Faith in something.
Just in case you are wondering what my Mother’s other life tips are, I have included a copy of her pamphlet.
