Moving On

I believe that faith extends beyond the confinement of religion. It merely creates a guideline for us to follow our lives by�to distinguish the difference between right and wrong and gives up a semi-reasonable explanation for those ethical questions that we�ve been curious about our entire lives.

Regardless of what religion one believes in, I feel that it�s important to have faith in something in life only because it gives us hope when cloudy days comes along when nothing works out the way we planned it. Faith drives us and motivates us when we believe that there is an exterior greater force that guides us and watches over us�.whether it be God, Buddha, or your golden cow�.or even love. Without faith in our lives, we tend to stray from our hopes and dreams for the fear of failure and disappointment�.remain on the ground after falling off our bikes simply because we�re terrified of falling again. We neither have faith in ourselves or that force that keeps us afloat on the high sea of life. In attesting to one�s faith in a particular religion, one is expected to believe in all doctrines taught by the rules of that religion�and yet I�ve always been a drifter�.in every aspect of life. Never completely believing fully in the teachings of the church nor believing that any particular religion is significantly better than another�.just whatever ideals works for me and I feel pushed and driven by that particular teaching�.I live by those ideals. And yet when you take away all the differences of each religion, it all boils down to living a good life in how one deals with oneself and others. Stripping the ornaments off the surface, it basically all are guidelines for one to live one�s life in morally and ethically.

Maybe I�m not the person to teach anyone about faith and especially religion but I feel that so many of us are alluded into believing that our religion is the right one for us simply because we�ve been so comfortable growing up as whatever denomination we are because our parents has set that path for us�and their parents before that�and so we continue a tradition that�s been passed on from generation to generation. It�s true that many of the traditions and rigidity has been relieved over the years to adapt to our way of live. But whatever you chose to believe in, remember that it�s your choice on what you have faith in�and in having such faith, we must live our lives based on what our convictions are�.whether or not we end up being persecuted for it. Even when the only faith we have in is the faith in ourselves, it gives us something to believe in�something to have hope it when we�re on the verge of giving up. No matter how often I go to mass sometimes to please my parents, the only times that matters to me are the ones when I chose to go because I need to show my gratitude for what God has given me or when I need guidance. Most of the other times, I am usually in never, never land and it completely defeats the purpose to even being there. Sometimes, I just feel an urge to go to remind myself that there is some higher being watching out for me�or at least that�s what I like to believe�whether it be God, fate, or just love that keeps me waking up every morning knowing that today might be a better day.

Faith extends beyond religion...it is our hope and our guide in life...it's what keeps us striving for better and pushing ourselves to search for that pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, it's in believing that we are bound to find that ONE person who completes us, it's children's belief that Santa Clause will come down the chimney and bring them their desired wants, it's the guiding star that leads us in our lives. It's faith that drives us and motivates us....