The Nature of Faith

The nature of faith

• Faith is a set of beliefs in a religion, group, or person
• Faith can also be trust or a good concept of someone or something
• Many people in the world have faith in something or someone
• More than one billion people are Catholic
• Only 13% of the world population identifies as atheist
• Humans have always been more religious than non-religious
• Many scientists are believers and even religious
• Francis Collins, founder of the Human Genome Project, is a believer
• Alexander Fleming, discoverer of penicillin, is a believer
• George Lemaître, creator of the Big Bang Theory, was a priest
• The majority does not mean that something is true
• Faith is not just an institution, a number of people, or set of rules to follow to be saved
• Faith is not just hope to hold on to or a boring tradition we were raised in
• Faith is a feeling, an experience, a way of living
• Faith is greater than Easter, Christmas gifts, priests, bishops, or even the Pope

Faith as a feeling and experience

• Faith is like the letter you wrote to the kings asking for something you couldn’t buy
• Faith is praying before a day because you were lazy
• Faith is knowing that you have not lost something and it continues to exist
• Faith is family dinners, arguments where everyone has their own points of view
• Faith is friends who are family you choose for yourself
• Faith is adventures and stories you don’t know how you survived
• Faith is giving your notes to someone who doesn’t deserve them
• Faith is holding back your anger because someone is unbearable
• Faith is greeting a new student in class and defending those who are insulted
• Faith is nature: like a sunrise on the beach or mountains
• Faith is the right word at the right time in conversation
• Faith is beauty, nature, joy, and emotion you don’t know where it comes from
• Faith is breathing
• Faith is loving, wanting, and deciding to love someone
• Faith is trusting that everything will be fine
• Faith is knowing that if something doesn’t work out, it’s not the end
• Faith is knowing that everything good or bad has a reason
• Faith is knowing that the best lesson is failure and pain
• Faith is knowing that not everything depends on you
• Faith is trusting in something beyond your worries and suffering
• Faith is tranquility, facing life without fear
• Faith is smiling and fighting as much as possible
• Faith is the ability to endure pain

Faith as a relationship

• Faith is not just a belief, it is a lived experience, an encounter
• Christianity is about a person, a person who is with you
• Faith is a father, a friend, a path to follow because of love
• Faith wants to see you happy
• It was the person who cried with you that day you cried
• It was that difficult moment you experienced
• It's the person who laughed with you and your jokes
• Faith is wanting the best for you