Day 160 Question 160:

What are the things in life that allow you to keep the faith/give you faith?

Faith is one of those concepts that I always related to religion.  I always put those two things hand in hand.  I am so undecided about my thoughts and feelings on religion.  I am slowly teaching myself about as much as I can out there and opening up my eyes to the spiritual world.  I am working on finding my spiritual self and finding what I truly believe in.  I sometimes feel a disconnect to the religious world and to the church and even sometimes to God.  I just am unsure.  Faith, though, is so much bigger than all of these thoughts of mine.  Faith does not just go hand in hand with religion.  Faith goes hand in hand with humanity and the belief that people can and are ultimately good.

There is so much violence and so many horrible events occurring in the world every single day.  All of these things can make it very easy to give up hope.  I refuse to.  I refuse to because I have faith in humanity.  I believe that many of the people that perform horrible/unkind/violent/ actions (some not all) ultimately have goodness in them but many of these people are just lost in life.  Many of these people have been lead to believe that they are not good or that violence or bullying or just having an unpleasant nature is the acceptable way to live.  I truly believe that every soul that walks this Earth has goodness in them…unfortunately some of these people are unable to get in touch with this goodness.  Some of these people have been brainwashed.  I have faith though that people are ultimately good.  The reason I have such faith is because of the good deeds I see performed everyday….even if they are miniscule in size.  As much as my heart hurts because of some of the awful things that are happening in this world, I do not want to give up.  I do not want to stop trying to help whenever and wherever I can.  I want to give people the benefit of the doubt because I believe in this goodness that I speak of.  This is what gives me faith.

I found a website that shows several pictures of good deeds done by the “average human being”.  These pictures touched me and I saw them on a day that I needed that boost…I felt like my faith in humanity was dwindling.  Through all of the bad I had been seeing and reading about, I knew that there was still SO MUCH GOOD out there.  I don’t ever want to forget about that.  I also wanted to include a video clip from a wonderful documentary that I watched called Saint of 9/11.  This documentary touched me and it moved me and it restored my faith in humanity.  No matter what my beliefs are or may be and through my confusion of trying to figure it out, faith is the necessary tool to lead a happy life.  The video clip is only 2 minutes long but through youtube it can be rented for $1.99 and I ABSOLUTELY recommend it.  It is a story of goodness and selflessness and faith in humanity.  It was the pick me up that I needed.  I hope you enjoy both the pictures as well as the article.  :0)  I hope you have a lovely Sunday filled with laughter, family, friends and love!

Pictures That Will Restore Your Faith In Humanity

1. This picture of Chicago Christians who showed up at a gay pride parade to apologize for homophobia in the Church.

 … and the reaction from the parade.

2. This sign at an awesome bookshop.

3. The moment in which this Ohio athlete stopped to help an injured competitor across the finish line during a track meet.

4. This exchange between a 3-year-old girl and a shopping center.

5. This note that was handed to a waiter along with a $20 bill by an elderly lady in his restaurant. (This is MY favorite)

6. This sign at an awesome Subway restaurant.

7. This picture of a villager carrying stranded kittens to dry land during floods in Cuttack City, India.

8. This sign at an awesome drycleaner’s.

9. This photograph of a man giving his shoes to a homeless girl in Rio de Janeiro. (This is my 2^nd favorite)

10. This picture of a firefighter administering oxygen to a cat rescued from a house fire.

11. This interaction between a Guatemalan girl and a tourist she just met.

12. This gesture from a neighbor.

13. These photos of two children collaborating to rescue a dog who had fallen into a ravine.

14. This note on a young family’s check.

15. This exchange between a protester and a soldier during a protest in Brazil.

This last photo is of  Father Mychal Judge, chaplain to the New York City Fire Department, is best remembered as the faithful Franciscan priest who was killed on 9/11. The beloved friar lived a fulfilling life helping the needy and wasn’t your ordinary man of the cloth: he battled alcoholism and was a privately gay man. Through interviews, archival footage and Sir Ian McKellen’s narration, Glenn Holsten documents this extraordinary man’s life until his untimely death.  He served his purpose and died doing exactly what he wanted to be doing.  The picture is sad but so very beautiful at the same time. (If you get a chance please check out the documentary or just learn about this extraordinary man’s life…he was a saint and didn’t even know it).