Faith of the heart

I’ve always struggled with the seemingly simple concept of faith.

To me, it has always stood for the belief in something that you can’t see, or as dictionary.com puts it, “belief that does not rest on logical proof or material evidence.”

Most often, I find myself questioning faith when it comes to religion. It just seems like there are too many unanswered questions that just don’t make sense to me.

An example of this would be the concept of the soul and it’s ascendance to heaven or descent to hell. As far as I know, I’ve never heard of a person tell me their soul is broken and they have to go have surgery to fix it. If the soul truly exists, where is it? Does it sit somewhere near your stomach and flare up every time you have gas?

Despite my attempt at humor, the soul is merely a concept. It is not a physical part of my body and no one can truly prove that it exists. Sticking to my original point, it takes faith to believe in the soul.

Another example of something I question, as broad as it may be, is God himself. Other than the select few who have seen him burned in their toast, how can someone truly prove that God exists? The common belief is that he lives in heaven somewhere in the clouds above us, but people have gone far, far into space, yet haven’t run into this place. Once again, it takes a great deal of faith to believe in God, and religion in general for that matter.

I guess the whole point I’m trying to get to is that no matter how much I’ve questioned faith in the past, it seems there is finally something I can honestly apply the concept to.

While most of you reading this know my situation, others might not know that my girlfriend is heading back home to Alabama, for good, leaving us in a long distance relationship. I will see her during spring break in March and when I move there in May. Other than that, we will only be able to talk on the phone, text each other and see each other on video chats. No hugs. No hand holding. No kisses.

As much as I earlier showed I don’t really believe in faith, I find myself on the opposite side of the spectrum when it comes to this relationship. There is no real material evidence I can point to in order to prove it will work out, but I just have a feeling about it. I know that I love her, and in turn, she loves me just as much. It is in this intense understanding of our love that I have faith this long distance adventure will end up being something that will only strengthen our already rock-steady relationship.

As someone who is easily set in his ways, it is weird to think that something can sway my ideology concerning faith. Who knew it would be love?