Focus On: Having Faith

What exactly is "faith" anyway?

faith  (fth) n. 1. Confident belief in the truth, value, or trustworthiness of a person, idea, or thing. 2. Belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence. See Synonyms at belief, trust. 3. Loyalty to a person or thing; allegiance: keeping faith with one's supporters. 4. often Faith Christianity The theological virtue defined as secure belief in God and a trusting acceptance of God's will. 5. The body of dogma of a religion: the Muslim faith. 6. A set of principles or beliefs. Idiom: in faith Indeed; truly. [Middle English, from Anglo-Norman fed, from Latin fids; see bheidh- in Indo-European roots.]

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

When I opened the e-mail containing this week's photo prompt from Sally Russick, I felt that maybe, for the first time since I started participating in her challenge  "Focus on Life,"  I was going to have a little bit of trouble with this one. After all, we are talking about a fairly emotionally charged word. Faith. As in church, and religion, and all those things that I am not involved with. Interested, yes, respectful, I think so, but I am not, as they say, a person of Faith. 

But hold on, back that up, let's look at the small "f" faith. Definitions 1-3 above are completely uninvolved with religion. And last Sunday, I was able to hold in my arms the object of a lot of my faith in the past year.

My son, Michael, home for the first time since he returned from Afghanistan in January. I had a lot of faith that he would return unharmed. And just look a him!

Enjoy the rest of our expressions of faith at The Studio Sublime.