Faith

I wanted to post a response to a letter someone sent into Sully, quote:

"I've never had faith, and I've always wanted it. My father is a Baptist minister (the liberal New England kind) and I've seen the joy that belief has brought to people. I've heard stories of 'miracles' from people I know and trust. I've been through stage 3 cancer and a year of debilitating treatment. I actually thought, at the beginning of my cancer odyssey, that the upside might be some sort of revelation. A brush of death might bring my road to Damascus experience. Instead, I just had a lot of uncomfortable feelings about all the people who told me they were praying for me. I've always wanted that peace and sense of security that people who put their trust in God and Christ seem to have. But it's never been there. Ever."

I feel sorry for this person. But what I really feel sorry about is that it seems from this that they feel that faith is something that can only be found in religion or belief in a higher deity. Does faith necessarily have to come from a higher power? I don't believe so. I call myself agnostic (pretty much because I can't deny that there might (stress on might) be a God), but I think I have plenty of faith which guides my life and gives me hope. For instance I have faith that the next episodes of Prison Break and Heroes are going to rock. I have faith that I will live to see the Knicks win an NBA championship. I have faith in myself; a belief that I will publish a novel (even if I have to self-publish and sell my book on the street) and get my PhD, and, even further more, that I am a decent person who has worth. Ihave faith that the world is not going to hell, because I believe that people are primarily decent and not self-destructive. I have faith that good trumps evil. I have faith that AK does beat Ax more times than not no matter now many time people draw out against me. I have faith in the laws of averages, mathematics, physics, and, in general, science. I have faith that the smallest things can be wonderful if you really study them, and it is the appreciation of that beauty that makes life worth living.

Take it for what you will, but that's my faith.