Current Release: September 11th, 2007 | Vol. XXIV Iss. 10

VWC hosts faith and despair event

Amanda kinney

aekinney@vwc.ewdu

On Feb.11, VWC hosted an event titled Nexus: Faith and Despair. It brought about questions of faith like: How does your faith motivate you? How does your faith inspire your compassion for others?

What do you think faith is, and what does that faith mean to you?

I believe faith is what drives us. It makes us believe that every day is just the beginning of something better. James Fry, the highly controversial author of A Million Little Pieces wrote a quote that has stuck with me since the day I read it.

“I think God is something that people use to avoid reality. I think faith allows people to reject what is right in front of our eyes, which is this thing, this life, this existence, this consciousness, or whatever word you want to use for it, is all we have, and all we’ll ever have. I think people have faith because they want and need to believe in something, whatever that something is, because life can be hard and depressing and brutal if you don’t”, wrote Fry.

In a world that is filled with brutal realities, people use their faith to find strength, peace, and happiness. It is hope for betterment in the world. It is hope for commitment from those whom in which you love. Most of all, it is what gets each and every one of us through the day.

Everyone may find a different meaning of faith. However it is all about how you use your faith. Having faith can change your life in an instant. When there are things like cancer in our world we have faith that the person who is battling such a horrible disease will beat it.

I don’t in any way mean that just because you have faith you can change the world, but having that feeling is worth more than anything else in this world. When you have doubts about something remember that faith is what steers you away from those doubts. Religious or not it is important to keep the faith. You don’t have to attend church every Sunday or pray every evening, you just have to believe.

Mary McLeod Bethune once said, “Without faith, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible”.

Never loose sight of your faith for it may be what makes your life worth living.