Faith- it is…
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St. John Fisher College
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Tony Gravitte
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"Faith—it is everywhere around us, a part of us, a gift from God. By providing my personal definition of
faith, enunciating pertinent details, and explicating my experiences, I hope to paint an accurate picture of
what faith is. Denotatively, faith is the “theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting
acceptance of God's will” (“Faith”). To be critical, what is meant by “secure?” What is defined as “God’s
will?” These are all good questions and each subject to controversy. Consequently, I have connotatively
come to know faith as simply the belief in a higher power. Allow me to explain."
This article is available in Verbum: https://fisherpub.sjfc.edu/verbum/vol1/iss2/2
Faith—it is everywhere around us, a part of us, a gift from God. By providing my
personal definition of faith, enunciating pertinent details, and explicating my experiences,
I hope to paint an accurate picture of what faith is. Denotatively, faith is the “theological
virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will” (“Faith”).
To be critical, what is meant by “secure?” What is defined as “God’s will?” These are all
good questions and each subject to controversy. Consequently, I have connotatively come
to know faith as simply the belief in a higher power. Allow me to explain.
Faith is internal and directs us beyond our own finite and conditional existence to
something infinite, unconditional, and otherworldly. After all, “faith, in a sense, is always
‘without seeing’” (Hill, Knitter, and Madges 11). If you cannot see something, how can it
be so? That is where faith comes into play. As for the definition of faith, it is indefinitely
subjective due to the fact that we have faith in something that cannot be visually depicted
or proved scientifically. On the other hand, common grounds can be found in each
individual’s faith that can be used to bring us all together and reinforce an important
point. One of these grounds is recognizing that there is something or someone of a higher
state of being than us that we are constantly in search for. The discrepancy arising from
that search is that one faith may rest in a God that is the embodiment of all justice and
goodness, while another faith may be offered to a strictly biblical God. However, we all
share something in common: faith. As Paul Tillich said, faith is “ultimate concern” (Hill,
Knitter, and Madges 36). The infinity we long to reach is the ultimate state of being, the
last and final stage. Christians believe that state of being is in heaven and mastered by the
God revealed through Jesus Christ. Faith can be in a God, in a heaven, or in a religion
itself. Faith takes on many forms.
Faith can be “a commitment on many levels: intellectual, emotional, volitional,
even physical, imaginative, and aesthetic” (Hill, Knitter, and Madges 9). In other words,
faith can be enlivened through the things we do. These activities can range from engaging
in the sacrament of marriage, creating an inspiring piece of artwork, or simply imagining
who God is. It is through these activities that we experience faith and, in a sense,
experience God. Faith is alive everywhere. You have faith that your car brakes will work
at the stoplight. You have faith that you will get to school safely in the morning. Faith is
an inevitable and unavoidable characteristic of humanity. It is something inside of us
yearning to be evoked, and is, thus, given intrinsic value. Faith is also a gift. It is a gift
because “in faith, we are enabled to reach beyond, transcendent to our human capacity”
(Hill, Knitter, and Madges 36). As Brother Roger put it, “let us never forget that this
simple desire for God is already the beginning of faith” (Roger).
My desire to be faithful and understand God has been an ever-changing process
that began at a young age. I was raised in a traditional, Roman Catholic family where
Sunday masses were a given. It was understood that I go to a Catholic school and accept
the tenants of my faith undoubtedly. I was “living my parents faith,” as Father Chase has
put it. Fowler instructs that faith comes in stages. That was simply the beginning of my
faith journey. As I got older and surpassed the intuitive-projective and mythic-literal
stages, I explored more and more into how I felt. By the coming of adulthood, I reached
the synthetic-conventional stage (Conn). I began to put things together and decide what
had meaning in life. Instead of reinforcing my faith, I grew wary about it. I began to
question if there even was a God. I took it that all the suffering around me and all the
hardship I faced was what God threw in my path. As time passed, the day came when my
mother told me a story that altered my pessimistic train of thought and revitalized my
faith. She told (...truncated)