Hearing Our Hearts: Faith and Action

Faith — a powerful quality, emotion. It denotes a strong trust, an unquestioning belief in someone or something. When exercised by anyone, the object of that faith cannot be physically seen, because it’s in a concept, an abstract, something so powerful that it is supernatural in its aspect.

In what do we place our faith? Most folks who are spiritual or religious would say that they exercise faith in God. Non-spiritual types might still exercise faith in seemingly immutable laws of science, but that doesn’t change lives or give guidance; it’s not supernatural. I’m talking life-changing, directing, guiding type faith here. I don’t mean the sort of thing where people say they believe in someone else or put faith in another human, because that is not the same and there are no guarantees. The type of faith I’m considering implies an unequivocally positive outcome, even if the exact means there is not necessarily known.

When that sort of faith is operative, we order our lives around it. The degree to which we do that says something about the strength of our faith. If our strong expression of belief called faith affects our lives, then it is our belief that is the operative, functioning factor — not the beliefs of others. This belief in something external to self, though, determines behaviors and words, but it doesn’t create.

We are, indeed, co-creators with the Infinite — God, Universe, Spirit — and we must exercise just as much faith in ourselves, our own hearts if we wish to create something, manifest our core Self to the world, i.e., we must have faith in our own hearts if we are to discover and create the reality of our life purpose. True and personal creation does not occur without this faith in ourselves.

Faith, though, in both Self and the Spirit means that we do something, otherwise it is not true faith. If we don’t live our faith, then we haven’t truly believed, and that is exactly what distinguishes faith from common “I believe that” scenario. In the Book of James in the New American Standard Bible, James says “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself. But someone may well say, “You have faith, and I have works; show me your faith without the works, and I will show you my faith by my works” (2:17, 18).

If we come to know Self and wish to create the vision that we hold of living core Self, then we will make decisions and take actions that carry us in that flow. Example? That which I am doing right here, right now. Starting five years ago, I wrote a rudimentary volume of poetry, which I have refined and expanded. Then, about two years ago I wrote a novel. This past November, I wrote about 50,000 words of the second novel in the series. But you know what? I worked in spurts, and did not work daily. Doing this daily writing, while continuing my other writing, makes me a writer.
I have faith that as a writer I continue to help people discover, just as I helped students to discover in the classroom in years past. I needed to exercise a more intense faith and commit to a course of action that declares what my vision is. Most of my days are taken up with writing now, because that’s what a writer does. I am not sure where it is all going, but that is part of faith, too. I’m working towards it: I am showing my faith by my works.

How about you? You can say you trust in God, but that will make for an incomplete life if you have not come to know and trust your heart. God wants you to trust; the Spirit roots for us to know; our own hearts expect us to hear.

What would you do if you have begun to awaken to self? How about a few lines from my novel, The Fellowship of the Heart?

Eric: “Now you sound like my heart…What are we to do with this awakening?”
Alaun: “What you are doing now. Go to work and seek to follow your heart. Whatever grief or joy you encounter will only lead you forward, if your vision is clear and you have the strength…”

​Such strength only comes from sure faith, so move in the sphere that you have created to this point. If you hear your heart, speak to that Self day by day. Get that vision of your purpose and how you will live it clear, and just keep going forward, making decisions based on that truth and that reality. It has been a process for me, and it is never finished, but it is always fresh and positive when we walk according to faith.

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