The Difference Between Faith and Belief

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Spiritwind
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The Difference Between Faith and Belief

Post by Spiritwind »

The difference between faith and belief

We are collectively in a crossover period, from one age to the other, between the “I believe” of Pisces, and the “I know” of Aquarius. Being an Aquarian myself in this lifetime, and knowing a ridiculously large number of fellow Aquarians, I ponder these concepts frequently, as it seems since birth I have yearned for something that feels often just out of reach. Something has felt off in this reality, as in, out of balance, not right.

Could it be that our long journey away from center has led us through some very dark murky territory of consciousness, that does many things, but clarity and truth are not the hallmarks of this passage? It does seem that we have embodied both sides of the Piscean spectrum, from entertainment, beauty, wild imagination and creativity, but all done in a rather dim light, where what we are creating cannot be seen clearly, or even our motives clearly understood. It’s a place where anything goes, and yet it’s as if we have been busy assembling our reality in a dark room, with the lights off. Much can be learned from this experience, it’s true. But when the light of a new dawn begins to manifest itself in our consciousness, many of us may begin to wipe the sleepy out of our eyes, and wonder why nothing we thought we were creating looks quite like we intended.

For those, especially of the piscean persuasion, who kept in close contact with their intuition and ability to feel “truth” during this passage, they may have been able to maintain, or at least move increasingly towards, a better level of integration and understanding of this passage, and come out the better for it. Not that they, too, haven’t suffered during this epoch that is coming to an end. No one embodied gets out unscathed. But it does seem as though we are at a crossroad, where everything now is coming up for examination. Since the sun has not crept up over the horizon, yet, we still cannot see with full clarity, but many can sense the heightened state of consciousness that is coming our way.

And with it comes truth, a desire being rekindled to know what is real, and what is false. In the meantime, though, things are going to get rocky. As we fell deeper and deeper into a state of unconsciousness, we fell victim to self appointed puppet masters who just had to take this opportunity to enslave our consciousness. They use us to do their bidding, and we provide them with endless entertainment, as well as the fruits of our labor, and even our blood. Addiction to gore (and pedophilia) seems to be an issue as well. A short trip through history bears that fact out. They seem to derive some unfathomable pleasure from our pain and suffering, as well as our ignorance. They stole all the knowledge of what is really true, twisted it to meet their own ends, while spinning tales designed to further enmesh in their web of lies.

Religion, his-story, war, and public education have been their tools, as well as the idea that culture, laws (I’d rather go with agreed upon guidelines that are regularly discussed amongst a community as a whole), and governance are necessary ingredients to living a good life here. And manipulating our beliefs is their number one favorite tool, using all of the above. The thing with belief is that by its very definition, you take someone else’s word on what is true, rather than testing these beliefs to see if they stand up to scrutiny. Since it’s been so collectively dark for so long, we don’t even remember what it was like, when we could easily see with clarity what is, and isn’t true. And they, of course, don’t want us to see clearly. They also actively discourage questioning what they have manufactured for us as an acceptable interpretation of what our reality is really all about.

Being the usual quirky independent Aquarian that I am, I couldn’t help but stand out, because even early on I didn’t accept what I was told as the final word on almost everything, though I was slow to question certain concepts that it didn’t even occur to me to question until much later in life. I’m still doing it.

But what is this thing called faith? What makes it different from belief? Some beliefs can be proven or disproven, over time, but some beliefs, and faith as well, cannot be proven, for their action occurs in the unseen realms.

Faith for me has grown exponentially over the course of my lifetime, not through belief, but through experience. When I take a chance, after deep meditation, prayer, and energy work, I don’t believe the outcome will better than it would have been, I KNOW it will be. And the reason I know it will be, is after watching how that works in my life, time after time. I could almost write a book about the many times I’ve run up against seemingly insurmountable odds, yet watching miraculous results manifest that have come through getting out of my own way, realizing this “little me” is not in charge, and can not control the outcome, and then asking for forces that I know exist, but cannot physically see, to assist, and help create the best possible outcome.

Maybe a few examples will help illustrate better what I am talking about. Back in 2013, my husband and I were experiencing great difficulties, and almost unbearable challenges. I was determined to get out of a job that was causing my life force to slowly ebb away, as well as getting us out of the city, and in to a rural environment. The new job I thought was going to be so great didn’t give me enough hours to live on, and my friends living space attached to their shop that we had moved in to, ended up only lasting a month due to their marriage falling apart. Then another couple offered to let us stay on their rural property in an old RV that I had previously given away and borrowed back. We moved in to that, bringing our goats and chickens with us. Within two months, that too fell apart. The woman ended up showing her true nature, which was very unstable and, frankly, crazy, after less than two months. It turns out I had walked in on her one morning while she was physically abusing her young son, and that was pretty much the end of it there.

So there we were, having moved twice in two months, and knowing we needed to move again. The new job, though I liked it, was not going to cut it either. I was beside myself one morning, and after sobbing for an extensive amount of time, and allowing myself to move into a feeling of deep despair and hopelessness, I decided to go for a drive. I drove down to a heavily wooded area, and just pulled off on to the logging road, and sat, and cried, and prayed. I talked out loud to the big kahuna, and admitted I was powerless over my current situation, and could use some divine intervention. Slowly, as I sat there, I began to feel better, more empowered, and somehow knew an answer to our situation was forthcoming.

Then I drove back to the little RV we were staying in, got on the internet, and looked at job listings. After a short time, I saw a job listing that grabbed my attention. I quickly crafted an email and sent it out, inquiring about the position, and within a fairly short amount of time I heard back. We went the next day to meet with her, and not only landed a job for the two of us, care-taking an elderly woman with Alzheimer’s, but it also included a place to live where I could bring our animals. This job lasted one full year, and gave us the opportunity we needed to transition to a rural living lifestyle.

I could tell story after story of this same procedure, of bumping up against a situation that seems impossible, yet when I finally remember, what I seem to frequently forget, to ask for help, admit I cannot do it by myself, the answer ALWAYS comes!

There is something that responds to us, when we create the right space for it to manifest, and it is indeed benevolent. The more I engage this something, the more palpable and real it has become for me. What exactly is it? I believe this spiritual power, this essence, is like the spice in the movie Dune. It is in everything. Throughout time it has been called by many names, and yet, to me it is nameless. It simply is.

I will end this, and come back to it later. It seems there is more I want to say, but have run out of time for now. The reason I am writing about this at all, is because we are entering a time, where having unshakable faith is going to be a requirement to moving through some rather tough passages that lie ahead. Especially for those who do not believe in this unseen energy, nor have the experience that takes one beyond belief into knowing. It took me a long time to get over my doubting Thomas syndrome, and maybe, just maybe, my words will inspire others to start developing those muscles of faith. Once you do know, you can’t go back to unknowing, and that is a good thing.
I see your love shining out from my furry friends faces, when I look into their eyes. I see you in the flower’s smile, the rainbow, and the wind in the trees....
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Re: The Difference Between Faith and Belief

Post by Spiritwind »

Faith without works is dead.

I know I got off to a bumpy start on this topic, and my first post was kind of all over the place. For me, though, there is a deeper reason I feel compelled to write about this.

It’s kind of a very personal story, but what the heck. I have no idea who reads what I write, maybe mostly bots, but, whatever. I write for myself anyway. I remember back when I was in my 30’s, pregnant with my youngest child, and attending Skagit Valley College, working towards a degree in social services. After finally getting my bachelors in psychology in 2010, many years later, I realized I couldn’t work within the system, as it would actually inhibit me from doing the work I envisioned anyway. I wanted to help others, who were likewise struggling through life, having started out at a great disadvantage from the get go.

In this class the discussion was something to do with the clients we might presumably have upon getting our degree, and the various way services were provided, and the topic of self esteem came up. Being a person who started out life with almost zippo of that ingredient, I pressed hard about how you actually help someone “get some” self esteem going for themselves. The class, and even the instructor, acted like I was asking a taboo question, especially when I kept pushing for a real answer. No one could tell me. My life has, in many ways. been that journey of discovery, and I find even now, the words are difficult to come by. But faith definitely has something to do with it.

It’s been a dance, if you will, between myself, and spiritual forces that do not neatly fit in a box, and cannot easily be named or pinned down. There is no old man sitting off in some cloud hidden abode in the sky, that holds the fate of each of our lives. At least for me, it is something, and yet nothing, at the same time. Like a wisp of smoke, if you don’t at least hold out the possibility, that something very real, and very conscious, intelligent, and aware, as well as BENEVOLENT, even can exist, you may miss the boat entirely. It is, by its very nature, hard to prove, to someone who hasn’t undertaken their own personal journey of discovery, to prove by their own unexplainable, but very real, experiences of an almost seemingly miraculous and steady improvement of life that has taken place.

I remember being in the car with my adoptive parents when I was about maybe 8-9 years old, and they were talking about me as if I wasn’t there. They were discussing the fact that someone at the Kingdom Hall had approached them, and inquired if I was retarded. My adoptive parents were previously Catholic, but became Jehovah’s Witnesses around the time they had lost their oldest son in a farm accident. I’ve never forgotten this experience. I also remember being put out in the hallway in second grade, and later being informed by a classmate that the teacher had proceeded to tell the rest of the class that I was basically mentally handicapped. Really?

I definitely was different from every one else, and admittedly, for a very long time I believed there was something seriously wrong with me. Everyone treated me as though I had no real future to look forward to, as though my life was meaningless, and should never have happened. This is one of the reasons I tell this story. It is because I know I am not the only one who got off to a rough, and less than desirable start. Everything I witnessed, and took in about myself as a child, was a lie. What everyone believed about me, was a lie.

I’ve told the story several times over the last years I’ve been writing here, about when I was about six years old, standing on the dirt driveway on the farm, and having an experience that even now I can’t fully explain. But, it was so powerful, and so all encompassing, that it truly was the beginning of my journey, even though I didn’t know it at the time. In fact, it didn’t come back around for me until I was in my 30’s when I finally gave voice to this memory out loud to someone when recalling our individual spiritual experiences on a hike one day. I had never felt safe even telling anyone, until that day.

Being here in this physical body, in this strange reality construct, has become much less painful for me over time. One of the first things I had to grapple with with was bringing the fact the I didn’t want to be here, and I mean, REALLY didn’t want to be here, to the surface, to be addressed. Acceptance of where I am, and what I am really experiencing, was a vital component. I needed to make a commitment to that something, that one only becomes aware of as they develop faith, that I would stay the course, and over time I completely changed the path I was on, to where the terrain doesn’t even look the same. I have actually ended up in another reality, even while I didn’t know I was going anywhere. Funny that.

It has been a two fold experience, where something early on alerted me that it, whatever it really was, had faith in me. This it was not human, or even truly tangible in any physical way, yet it has been my guide ever since. It taught me to have faith in myself, and, especially when I take the time to tune in, and ask, then sit and allow a sort of inner dialogue to occur, I always found great wisdom, and when following this inner guidance, my quality of life has done nothing but improve. So it is very real to me, and has become increasingly so over time. As I see my capacity for joy, and a state of inner peace becoming my normal experience most of the time, and then I look around at the majority of people in the world who have not made this same discovery as I have, it seems as though I have discovered gold, something of great value.

And yet, this whole last two years has been an experience of the outer world trying to strip of us this capacity to not only think, but feel, and exercise our faith in something not of this world. Follow the science has become the strange slogan of our time, in complete opposition to my own inner knowing and truth. And not just any science, either, but only the government sanctioned science, that is anything but scientific in nature. Sorry, but my bullshit meter went off over two years ago on this one. It sounds more like any unquestionable dogmatic belief system, whether it be religious in nature or otherwise. It does not make it true.

But I digress. Sort of. It is because of my deep inner faith in something unseen and more powerful than any earthly government that I also have faith that we can, and will, create something different, as the truth continues to unveil itself. Unshakable faith in yourself, and in this unseen force is an asset, a valuable tool of protection as well. I do feel we will go through a rather long period of challenge as much gets revealed, so I will probably keep writing my way through this. I may be an anomaly in this world, but I am here, and I will keep on trucking in support of freedom, freedom to think, feel, and yes, even believe as one chooses. Just do no harm. And, for those who wish to harm, we have every right to defend ourselves, and many of us will. You just can’t beat, shame, threaten, or guilt trip us into compliance, and the more you try, the more it allows others to wake up. In the end, you will lose.
I see your love shining out from my furry friends faces, when I look into their eyes. I see you in the flower’s smile, the rainbow, and the wind in the trees....
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