My Two Faiths

I need to begin this with the admission that I do not have the time today (or even this week) to fully complete my thoughts on Faith, though I will try to at least pen a few of them here this morning.

The way I see it, there are TWO types or levels of faith, and it is important that we understand this to make the most of and strengthen both. First, there is the universal principle of faith, the concept that anything is possible in our lives if we only believe and then act on that belief. This level of faith is available to anyone, anywhere, of any religious affiliation. People I have spoken to in the past discount stories of healing, of revelation, and of miracles simply because those people are not of their religion or spiritual belief. I have even heard (cringe!) them attribute their miracles to the working of some evil power. Oh! how we all need to be careful of this narrow line of thinking.

To illustrate, and for those of you who are Christian, let me call up the story in Matthew when a Gentile woman comes to Jesus and begs him to heal her child. Jesus is careful to explain to her that he cannot since his mission here on earth is to minister to the Jews and the house of Israel. She then begs him, using the analogy of the dog eating the crumbs that fall from the master's table. Jesus then says, "O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her daughter was made whole from that very hour." Nowhere does it say that Jesus healed her child, in fact, he said before that it wasn't appropriate for him to do so, but that her faith healed her daughter. I believe that faith, as a universal principle, can work miracles regardless of what you have faith in: God, Buddha, Shiva, the Great Spirit, or a tree or mountain you believe can heal you. It is your faith that can heal you, or work other miracles in your life, and this is available to all mankind everywhere. The movie and book entitled "The Secret" calls it the power of manifestation, but I believe that it is just another word for this universal principle of faith--ask and ye shall receive, and all that.

But there is another type of faith, what is called "faith unto salvation." This second type of faith is not just about healing and working miracles, or manifesting events or other things into your life. Faith unto Salvation requires a belief in, and action firmly rooting in this belief and hope, to accomplish your eternal and heavenly goals. This is why the first principle of the gospel is Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith by itself can't save anyone; it must be faith in Christ. Your actions, what you ask for, what you strive for, must be based on the life and teachings of Christ, and it must be upon this "foundation" that you build your life. Where the one faith is universal and general, this faith is specific and with a specific purpose and goal: to bring us back into the presence of our Father in Heaven.

Again, I regret not having the time here to fully explore this idea I've had, but rest assured that it has made my list of book topics that I hope--have faith--I will write in the coming years.

I welcome your comments and thoughts on faith or any other spiritual or gospel centered topic.

God Bless!

In the beginning...(to borrow the phrase)

After some thought about my last blog on So Let it be Written... I have decided to create and contribute to a separate blog focused on spiritual topics, discussions, and insight. Anyone who has been unfortunate enough to start a gospel, scriptural, or other spiritual discussion with me knows that I feel very passionate about my faith and my understanding of the gospel (of Jesus Christ), the church I belong to (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), and the Great Plan which this stretch of mortality is only a small (but so important) part of.

With this said, I need to say that much of what I will include on this site is my understanding and/or interpretation of gospel principles and truth. Some of what I expect to share here will likely end up in some future book on the subject. I do want to remind you and emphasize that the material here (unless specifically noted otherwise) is my own creation, my own production, so to speak, and I don't want anyone quoting what you read here as the absolute truth. You've got to remember, what you may read here comes from the mind of a writer, one who looks for story lines and explanations that may or not actually be there.

I do want to leave you with one of my favorite Christian works of art: Ecce Homo, Behold the Man!, by Antonio Ciseri. This, you will recall, is the point where Pilate presents a beaten and "crowned" King of the Jews to the crowds in an attempt (I believe) to sway the population to release Jesus. I imagine the emotion of this scene: of the desperate Roman Prefect and Procurator to release this innocent man (but not strong enough to take the responsibility to actually release him himself), of the angry crowds, and of Jesus, heartbroken that the people he had come to save where so blinded to who really stood before them, but willing to sacrifice all he had, all he was, to save them. Much of this scene and my thoughts and feelings about it were written with much care in my first novel, Lifted Up. It still gives me reverent pause whenever I think about it. You see, the scriptures are not just a collection of inspiring stories and accounts, but are places in time that I imagine myself in. These things really happened, and they happened to people (largely) like you and me, imperfect and struggling with our own faiths, with our own purposes in life and, like them, we can overcome these challenges and rise triumphant like they did.

On this site, more than my other one, I encourage and welcome thoughts and discussion. I love to share gems of spirituality--Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, it matters not to me. I truly believe that there is truth everywhere if we just look hard enough.

God Bless! and I look forward to chatting with you.

--Guy