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One of the struggles of having faith and keeping it is hanging onto any sense of grace or Goodness or the presence of God. Yes, when something wonderful happens or there is some moment of serendipity in our lives, we can say AHA! There it is! God (or Good) is with me now! I had moments of real universal power in my life, over and over again, until faith became undeniable.
And then there are other days, when I am just wandering around in life, shopping for groceries, getting work done, spending time with friends or family, doing laundry, paying bills, and I can become quite out of touch with my spiritual life. Nothing is quite wrong, per se, and actually much of my life could be going right, but its often the day-to-day goings-on that puts our faith at risk the most if we are not actively maintaining it.
So, what does faith maintenance look like?
Well, gratitude is useful for starters. Sometimes, I look around at the dreams I had in my twenties, and lo and behold, I am living them now. It’s actually quite a shock whenever that occurs to me. It’s easy to forget about that younger self and those dreams when I am preoccupied with the achievements or life circumstances I hope for next.
Remembering all the ways in which things worked out in my favor (which includes some pretty massive failures) is also quite useful. Lawd, if all my prayers had been answered, I would probably be pretty miserable now. And the circumstances that have come after those incredible missteps or lessons learned are much sweeter now.
The other thing is, if I am really paying attention, there are signs of alignment everywhere when I am living with faith. I can’t really explain it, other than to say:
Always remember to keep your spiritual eye out.
Whether it’s a painful symbol from my childhood held in the hands of the person I love, a strange turn of events with someone who caused me a great deal of pain, or just a happy accident that reframes something hurtful from my past, Good (or God) is all around us (and can even get a little cheeky).
All I can say is if you feel a flash of something that brings meaning to your life, a little harken back to another time reimagined in the now, just let it be special and important. Let it feed the flame of faith, rather than fighting against it or calling it meaningless.
Life is far too short. There is nothing wrong with allowing ourselves a little magic, especially when there is always laundry to do or bills to pay.