Welcome to the Wisdom Wheel Law of Faith # 07

To have Faith and to be faithful come from the same place. The heart knows with a wisdom beyond all rational comprehension… If we remember who we really are Faith will fill us again.

Welcome to Law # 7, the Law of Faith.  We’ll be looking at Faith through the mind, heart, body and spirit over the next four weeks. There are many kinds of Faith; Faith in yourself and your abilities, Faith in others, Faith in Nature, the Universe and Spirit. While carrying this Law, vary your focus to look at Faith from all angles and all degrees. There 36 Natural/Universal/Spiritual Laws on the Wisdom Wheel also inspire us to consider the relationship between what’s natural, what’s universal and what’s spiritual about Faith.

-What can we learn about Faith by watching Nature? 

-What have you put your Faith in?  People? Ideas?  Dreams?  The unseen world?                         

-What has happened to your Faith over the years?  Has it grown or shrunk? What’s affected it?

Use this month and your Journey round the Wheel to reconsider the history of Faith in your own life.  And, look at Faith in the world at large too. The 8 Great Powers Wheel reminds us of the many Faith paths religions have created on this crowded little planet of ours. Faith is about our beliefs and the belief systems that bind or separate cultures.  Spend some time thinking about your beliefs and values and those of other people

-What are some of the similarities and differences between Faith-based traditions?                         

-Why is it that more people have died fighting over religion than any thing else?   

Going out alone into the wilderness, to seek a firsthand to the Divine, by fasting and praying, is a well-known method for those seeking to strengthen their Faith. Jesus, Mohamed and other prophets left the man-made environment to strengthen their felt connection to something greater by spending time in Nature. We have many famous stories about their experiences and visions. It is good to learn them and be aware of their similarities. There is a great deal of activity these days in the interfaith movement and if you haven’t looked into it, this might be a good time to do that. 

When we look at what happened after the seekers return from the desert or the mountains, we can see that their revelations were used by others to create religions and belief systems. But the stories of these seekers always keep us one step removed from the actual experience that provided the original Faith. In the Process, the followers of different seekers have often fought with each other over second-hand information. Relying on received Faith is not the same as having your own firsthand experience. It’s the participant versus observer dilemma. The Faith that comes from reading a book will never be as strong as a felt connection.   

Take your Faith questions to take to the Wheel for the next 28 days. Some try to understand Faith using their minds. They look for explanations. Some want to ‘love’ God with the Faith of the heart.  Some seek to ‘embody’ God(s or Goddesses) and may devote themselves to the physical, daily ‘service’ of ministering to the poor, the sick and so on. And then there are those who seek Pure Spirit which comes in many forms, as the mystic knows. As the saying goes, spirituality is about questions, and religion is about the answers some have found.

You can see that I’ve just taken you around the Wheel to consider variations on the theme of Faith.  Look at your Self and your place on the Wheel of Life to see if this reveals anything about your Faith preferences? I was born in the East, where the mind rules. Maybe this is why I’m comfortable with the idea of Creator as Divine Intelligence. Monotheism was quite a departure from the old belief that everything had life and spirit and putting ‘God’ up in the sky, abstract and far away affected our experiences with Faith.

As human beings return to a more balanced view of Faith, hopefully the killing will cease. We may arrive back at the idea that there is Spirit in everything.  The Divine isn’t only ‘in man’s image’ it is everywhere.  If we could see God and know God quite clearly how would that affect us?  What if there was no more mystery? Something in us loves the unanswered question.  Maybe it’s what we need to keep us from getting bored and complacent. It is good for us to have something larger, greater and wiser than our little ego selves to aspire to, to motivate us. Put your Faith questions on the Wheel and make this month a quest. How do you seek to ‘know’ God, Great Spirit, or whatever name we give to the ineffable?