For me,
faith is confidence that
I will get where I need to go and do what I need to do
Others will get where they need to go and do what they need to do
It’s not magic. I’m not expecting a superbeing to come bail me out. I have a sign above my desk that says, ‘Do the work’. It’s not exactly science either. I fully expect help to show up when I need it. (Although science has something to say about that.)
It’s big enough and stretchy enough to remain intact when things go badly wrong. I’ve lived through enough shit to know that sometimes things will go badly wrong. And I’ve lived long enough to know that at some point things will go goodly right again. In the meantime, there are important things to learn.
For me,
faith is the opposite of anxiety.
(Not the attack kind. The opposite of attacking anxiety is not being attacked by anxiety.)
It’s living without the base-level fretting about my life and their lives and all the things that could go to hell any minute because faith keeps insisting that I will get where I need to go and do what I need to do what I need to do, and so will the others. So it’s okay to live life to the full, to throw myself all the way in and enjoy the ride.
The Cure sounding as good as ever. If you have access to BBC iPlayer, this whole concert is worth watching. I haven’t listened to their new album yet. It’s on my list for today.
I wrote this post in 2022, a year in which things in the Gill family went catastrophically wrong. Two years later, we are not fully recovered but we are doing well, and I’m confident we are where we need to be, doing what we need to do.
Grow slowly
Jeff
I never tire of your insight, Jeff. My heart gets better when I read your stuff.
I’m relieved you came out of 2022 in tact. There’s been a lot of “don’t borrow trouble” being uttered around my life these days (especially days like today). That and the very helpful “is something actually wrong right this moment?” Anyway, the new Cure album is just outstanding. I can’t believe Robert’s voice sounds exactly the same. Happy listening!