The Freedom to Exercise our Faith

There are times when I am driving and listening to music that I can actually “see” how I would layout the words of the song. This song appeared in my head as a contemporary piece with each verse in a different size and or colored ink. My process is to create the mat first, then write the words. In the upper left hand corner of the mat, near the inner edge you might be able to see a grey, beige, stripped piece of paper which is actually a portion of a wasp nest. In essence it is paper, just ‘handmade’ by the hive.

My husband and I were watching the movie Ghandi and were reminded of the mess we make over the topic of religion. In this movie the turmoil of India moving towards home rule and the strife between the Muslims and the Hindus was highlighted. Religion was created by man, faith was a gift from God. When we step in and tell people the way they need to believe we trample the greatest gift God gave which was free will. God wants a relationship with us not a bunch of rules that we made up for people to live by to demonstrate their ‘faith’ to us.

For all of us our faith shows up in different ways. For some it is prayer, for others it is meditation. Some people sing and dance and raise the roof with praise, while others celebrate their relationship with God on their knees in the quiet of their own home. However you do it, I hope you have a wonderful relationship with your creator and exercise the freedom we have in this country to worship and demonstrate our faith any way we want.

I may not agree or understand why you do what you do in the name of God, so who am I to judge? As I believe in God I also believe we will all stand before Him and will be be responsible for the things we did and said and our actions while here on earth. With that in mind I encourage you to exercise your faith everyday, it reminds us that life is a gift, that we have choices, and that everyday our job is to make the world a better place for someone else.