I have to be honest here, at first glance, one might wonder what all of this has to do with Faith.
It’s a great blog and it’s full of wonderful little tidbits and helpful hints for shifting your perception.
But what does that have to do with Faith?
Everything.
Our perception of our life either leads us to dig deep and find more faith, or causes us to lose Faith. By taking the opportunity to find the blessings in all situations, you step into a deeper, more profound level of Faith.
And in turn, you become more confident in your ability to manage every single road you travel.
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Blessings
This morning a very dear online friend sent this you tube link to a forum to which we both belong. The video is words and images from Pierre Praderand about the gentle art of blessing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WegAgepCYfo
It is absolutely a beautiful way to start your day and it gave me a lot to think about. It also filled me with gratitude that I find myself in the midst of such wise and gentle souls. You may find it surprising that the topic of the thread she was responding to was the riots that have occured in the UK.
And yet…what better place for it? How appropriate that she would have the wisdom to see that when you are faced with the unthinkable; with things that you just can’t even begin to understand, sometimes all you can do is to pour love on it. Sometimes…all you have left…all you can give, is a blessing.
As I watched the video, some of the words jumped out at me….and my theme for today is captured in these:
“Trials are blessings in disguise and hosts of angels follow in their path”
I’ve been playing with this concept today and really considering what it means.
The first thing that struck me is that, years ago, I remember seeing a quote that was similar to that…it said something along the lines of no matter what happens to you, you must thank and praise God for it, for then you turn it into a blessing. I remember at the time, kind of getting it…but at the same time believing that there are some situations in which you simply can not find the blessing.
As I look at this concept today, I believe that is the point. Sometimes we aren’t meant to know why things happen, and sometimes there is no why…there is only what you do with it. Sometimes terrible things happen – atrocious things and yet in those moments, we can find grace, we can find good or else, we can create good.
I remember when I was in college, I took a class with Dr. John Monsma. He became one of my favorite professors and I truly believe he is one of those people who is an angel walking among us. The class was Interpersonal Communication. During our orientation, he told us that we would be asked to share parts of our lives with each other and he knew that some of us might find it difficult.
He said, “We all have things in our past that cause us pain or that we are ashamed of, but you can either choose to be a victim of your past or you can choose to learn from it and move on”
I think of all the classes, with all of the professors that I took back then, that moment is one that stays with me. It is another magical moment that I can recall in great detail, because in that moment I was given a gift. I was given the opportunity to see then…and forever after… that life isn’t about what happens to you, it is about what you do with what happens to you.
Today is one of those days…but then every day is, really….in which I am faced with a choice in how I will react to a seeming trial.
It’s not huge, it’s not earth shattering even…it’s just a situation that doesn’t seem to be going my way. And as I look at it, I realize that maybe it’s just not supposed to go my way. Since there are others involved in this situation, maybe it’s not even my lesson. It is entirely possible that this isn’t even about me (shocker of all shockers!). I’ve come to realize that this simply may be a situation in which I have the opportunity to share a different point of view with another in order to help them with their lesson. It is also a moment in which I have been given the opportunity to bless this other person for his differing point of view. As I write this I feel what an incredible, truly profound, moment this is and shall be and I am blessed to bear witness to it!
And so, it becomes a little easier to see the blessing…wrapped up inside of the lesson…wrapped up inside of the problem.
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Journal Questions:
So…let’s play with your personal definition of Faith once more
Let’s consider that you don’t have to DO anything to have more Faith, you simply need to uncover the Faith that is already there.
- What do you have Faith in? What are the things that you have true confidence in?
- Do you place your faith in people? Why or why not?
- What is your level of Faith in yourself? Can you measure it on a scale of 1-10? Why did you give yourself the score you did…and if it’s lower than you like, what can you do to uncover MORE Faith??
