Faith is a funny thing. As with all things, it means different things to different people.

Today I was considering the concept of prayer…when one’s “wish is granted” (so to speak), there is celebration and happiness. However, if the result is not as desired, some question their God and wonder why their “prayer” wasn’t answered. There is pain and suffering and a lack of acceptance of reality. Depression is caused by staying in this place and refusing to find peace in the present moment.

Perhaps morbidly, I think this is especially true with death. I believe some try to bargain with God for more time for themselves or loved ones. This is understandable, but unfortunately not how it works. I read this brief quote today:

Life asked Death, “Why do people love me but hate you?”

Death responded, “It is because you are a beautiful lie and I am a painful truth.”

Wow. This struck me very deeply. I believe we are trapped in the bondage of illusion…we see the world not as it is…but from a jaded perspective of how we think it should be. Whether right or wrong (who can really say what is right or wrong?), this creates faulty expectations. I think some people want to believe that we will all live forever. (I decided today that worry is simply a lack of faith.)

So my questions today were:

  • What happens to one’s faith when things do not happen as desired?
  • Why is there hesitation to believe that things are unfolding for the highest good in a way that we may not understand?
  • Why is there a reluctance to accept reality when it does not conform to our expectations?
  • How do we flow through life without becoming attached to every faulty worry and unrealistic expectation we decide is right?

As if the universe sensed my questions, a friend magically shared this solution:

“Peace is the result of retraining your mind to process life as it is, rather than as you think it should be.” – Wayne W. Dyer

Awesome :)

 

Photo source: Jerusalem (beautiful capture!)

(With special thanks to E. for sharing the Dyer quote that reminded me that I needed to create this post! ;)