I try every day to be thankful. I try every night to pray. I don’t do it because I’m religious, I do it because I believe. I am a strong believer that there is more than we can ever know.
Religion doesn’t have to mean an hour, or whatever time, of praising God. It is the belief that there is a God. Some may argue that you need to know the scriptures or read or study the Bible – I don’t.
Being brought up by good parents, good role models, and supporting family and friends is why I argue that.
Faith is a strong a virtue, but only if you are compassionate, kind, and try to see the good in others. That, to me, is faith. Faith that everyone is as you are.
Understanding your family and friends, sharing kindness, showing vulnerability- these are values of virtue. The definition of virtue is – behavior showing high moral standards.
It boils down to that – behavior. We are human. We make mistakes. We ask for forgiveness and apologize.
I am surely not of “high” moral standards. No one I know is. Judgement day comes to all of us. And I do know this – God forgives all because He is an all forgiving God. I don’t have the religious background to know that.
I can’t recite much of anything, except the prayers learned in religious education. They are all I need – to learn, to remember, to understand. It is enough for me to work on my own “high” moral standards without having to go somewhere to do it or someone telling me how to do it.
I have a home, a sanctuary, to pray in. Asking for forgiveness, receiving guidance, and feeling safe are things I can have wherever I want. To tell you the truth, I drive and thank God for another day. That’s all I know he wants me to tell him – I am thankful for another day.
Think about all the things that you worry about, the people you lost, the words you said, the things you’ve done wrong – just ask for and be grateful for another day.
Faith – strong belief in God – to believe in something that you can’t physically see, hear or touch. You just believe. Just because you can’t see it doesn’t make it untrue. I like knowing that. Knowing that I believe because I just do.