Faith, along with acceptance, is the solution to our problems.

I think many of us develop our faith as a result of hind-sight coupled with the practice of prayer and meditation.  I certainly didn’t “come by my faith” naturally.  I didn’t grow up in a family where it was openly practiced or even discussed.  At family gatherings my uncle said grace before eating but he was chosen only because he occasionally sobered up by reading the bible.  No one went to church on a regular basis.  No one.  I was in a church youth group in high school but I was the sole representative for our family at Sunday services.

Fear absolutely ruled my life for more than three decades and my scanty involvement with church didn’t alleviate it.  I think fear ruled the lives of most of the members of my family even longer.  I would venture to say that my dad died still fearful.  He had turned to prayer finally, according to my mother, but I didn’t sense that he was comforted by it. He still seemed agitated most of the time about some thing that wasn’t going according to his liking.

Perhaps my dad’s real problem was lack of acceptance.  He prayed but maybe he was too specific, too willful and didn’t appreciate that God was in charge of the time table.  Praying for God’s will rather than our own opens the door to understanding what faith actually means, I think.  And it’s a far different prayer.  Getting comfortable with “what is,” rather than agitated about “what is not,” makes sense to my simple way of thinking now but I wasn’t always in this place of acceptance.  It has taken decades of work in two 12 step programs to embrace acceptance the way its meant to be embraced.

If I want to experience peace in my life, and I do, then I have to give up creating chaos where none need exist.  God has my life under his control and He has sent the Holy Spirit to guide me quite specifically into and around the curves and road blocks that are common in this world of the ego.  My work is quite simple: let Him be in charge and I will arrive where I need to be.

Understanding what faith is from this perspective and allowing it to work for us makes any of the snags in the day tolerable, even gratefully accepted, knowing they are the threads that are giving color to the stages of our life. Perhaps it’s the coupling of maturity with hind-sight, but I love being able to “revisit” where I was and truly see where I am now.  The growth I observe assures me that what I wake up to tomorrow will likewise be a reflection that is rich in experience.

We are lucky, so lucky to have such a simple blueprint for making progress in life.  And our faith and willingness to accept what is serves as a  great role model for others.