“I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." Matthew 17:20 (New International Version)
--Jesus--
“Faithless is he that says farewell when the road darkens.”
--J. R. R. Tolkien--
Happy New Year! I hope everyone that reads this article had a happy, safe, and fun New Year’s celebration. Last year a good number of my thoughts that were put to paper were critical of something or someone. Well I would like to start the New Year by writing about something positive. This article is about faith.
This article is not about religion. It is about advice. We need more faith in our schools, our work, and lives. We need faith in our futures. If I had the honor of speaking to a group of young brothers and sisters about life and what to do to put themselves in the best position to be successful, the first thing I would tell them was to have faith. I would tell them that in order to achieve something in life they must first have a dream and second they must believe in their ability to achieve that dream. I know that sounds overly simplistic, but sometimes the seemingly simplest truths are the most profound.
I used to teach school before I became a lawyer. When I taught in a junior high school in the Hyde Park neighborhood in Chicago, I had a unique opportunity to interact with pre-teenage and teenage children. I noticed that the children that tended to go onto become successful people years after they graduated tended to have faith in their ability to achieve their goals. I don’t think that was an accident. I think it was directly related.
The truth is that if you believe that you can achieve something then you will act like it. I think the number one reason that too many people get caught up in circumstances that lead to crime, poverty, and despair is due to lack of faith in their future. Why would a brother that feels that he must protect his reputation today hold back from doing something that will land him in jail tomorrow when he does not value tomorrow? Why would a brother or sister delay instant gratification to invest in a future that they do not believe in? The truth is they probably will not.
I am a firm believer that life is a journey. And there are many steps along that journey. Those steps can lead to success, satisfaction, and even happiness. But in order for the average person to get there they must over come many obstacles along the way. That is where faith comes in.
Last weekend I went to see the movie The Pursuit of Happyness. I enjoyed it. The movie was inspiring. It was uplifting. And it was a great example of how a person’s faith in their ability to succeed can lead them past nearly any obstacle that life will throw in their way.
Faith is the vision that gets a person to keep going up the hill when what they are looking for is on the other side. Faith is the energy in your muscles to go the next mile when you were certain that you were too tired to finish the previous block. Faith provides that window in the future for someone that is toiling in the garden today to see, smell, and taste the fruits of their labor tomorrow. If creativity, hard work, and dedication are the components of the engine to success, then faith is its fuel. Maybe we need just a little more faith in our community.
Comments