Any discussion about faith seems to go hand in hand with the word belief.
In fact, the Greek term for faith is the same one often interpreted simply as belief. Certainly one's beliefs help to map out or inform one's faith but I have no doubt that faith and belief are two distinct concepts.
Though many people may share the same set of beliefs, their faith journeys are unique. Let me also add that there is an implicit assumption that people of faith are on the right track.
My intuitive understanding of faith is that it is a gift from above and that it is doled out in equal measure to all under the age of five. After that, something else takes over that discourages faith, quite possibly the appearance of common sense.
Because having faith requires imagination to believe in the unseen and to trust in the unknown, things that come naturally to a young child but which are usually at odds with an older person's perspective.
No doubt Stephen King would call common sense the lead boots that keep one's soul from soaring.
My other thought about faith is that no one has quite enough of it. After all, have you ever heard of someone with enough faith to move a mountain? All of us start out with a little bit of the stuff; some lose it, others hang on to some of it and a few actually grow it.
Growing it is the hard part, the part that fascinates me.
I'd love to hear your thoughts about faith before I go any further.
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