I am just now reading Ronna Detrick‘s e-newsletter and, as always, she has me thinking.  She has me thinking about faith and what it is and, definitely more importantly, what it is not.

Faith is not going to church or worship every week.  This act may be inspired by your faith in a higher being but more than likely, it is inspired by childhood guilt, parental guilt or some other force.  I have been the – pardon the intended pun – religious church goer, never missing a Sunday.  I have been the not-so-religious church goer, letting my life take me to commune with God while hiking or running or hunting.  I know that neither says I have faith unless there is a belief in the act in something that is not there physically with me at the time.

Faith is not being a _________ (you fill in the blank) – Catholic, Protestant, Jew, Christian.  Faith goes beyond the labels of a particular religion or religious point of view.  Faith goes to knowing that there is something, someone there when all else fails – a safety net of sorts.  Faith does not go to a certain denomination church or non-denominational church.  See, this makes me happy because I am not a label person.  I hate having to label almost anything, including my faith.

Faith is belief – belief in yourself, belief in others, belief in goodness, belief in God or a higher being, belief in just about any and everything in our world.  Faith is hard to put in words because faith is personal.  My faith is different from your faith.  Your faith is different from your child’s faith.

What is faith to you?  Or, almost as importantly, what is faith not to you?