Yom Kippur
Today is Yom Kippur, well, actually it began last night, but goes through today.
The kids are home from school today, they call it 'Autumn Recess'.
Here is what Wikepedia has to say about Yom Kippur. I think it is beautiful, a day of atonement, repentance, prayer and fasting. I don't think we do this enough as a people in general. We don't remember our God enough. I respect this most holy day in the Jewish faith.
I love that I live in a country that has freedom. Not only freedom 'from', but freedom 'to'. That, because there are many faithful people in my area that have special tradition and belief and faith and practice, that we can take a day off so they can do that. Why call it fall recess? Why not call it what it is and teach respect for others and what they believe? I wonder if we do each other a dis-service by generalizing things instead of teaching each other what matters most to us. Are we teaching ignorance by generalizing? Anyway.
(google images)
It is a good day to reflect on my own beliefs, my own faith. Truth is eternal and any people, turning to their God, remembering Him, worshiping him...
in principles of truth
... is a beautiful thing and makes the world a more peaceful place.
I've recently been studying/thinking about faith. I taught a lesson on it recently and I spoke of it much at my dad's funeral, which I've recently listened to. I have been thinking of it in my life. The difference between knowledge, belief and faith how they are different and how they compliment each other.
Recently read this passage in Matthew chapter 8
28
¶And when he was come to the other side into the country of the Gergesenes, there met him two possessed with
a
, coming out of the tombs, exceeding fierce, so that no man might pass by that way.
And, behold, they cried out, saying, What have we to do with thee, Jesus, thou Son of God? art thou come hither to torment us before
a
time?
And there was a good way off from them an herd of many swine feeding.
So the devils besought him, saying, If thou cast us out, suffer us to go away into the herd of swine.
And he said unto them, Go. And when they were come out, they went into the herd of swine: and, behold, the whole herd of swine ran violently down a steep place into the sea, and perished in the waters.
My thoughts are of these evil spirits that know who Jesus Christ is. They recognize Him and even believe in Him, they know He can cast them out, that He will. But, do they have
faith
in Him? Well, no.
Why are some of us innately more prone to belief and faith than others? Who knows. I guess all I
can
conclude is for myself. I have faith in Jesus Christ. I have such conviction in Him, and the part that he plays in our Heavenly Father's plan, that it affects how I live my life. I believe in a God that is just, that has set limits and boundaries. I believe that obedience to Him results in happiness. Such obedience includes repentance (which is different than penance for sins), of which I need my Savior for.
James E Talmage said: Knowledge is to wisdom what belief is to faith, one an abstract principle, the other a living application.
He also said: Belief is in a sense passive, an agreement or acceptance only; faith is active and positive, embracing such reliance and confidence as will lead to works.
This is why I live how I do. It fills my soul and heart. Knowledge is to the head what faith is to the heart. I continue to grow in knowledge as I go through life experiences good and bad, gut wrenching and delightful. I believe, even in things I'm not completely faith-filled in or resolute in my knowledge of... I have faith that my Savior lives, that God lives and loves me. I have felt over and again the quickening of my heart, the whispering of the Holy Ghost, the cradle of safety and comfort, the peace, the forgiveness, the hope. I do have faith.
Last I've been thinking a lot about the
power
of faith.
"There are two kinds of faith. One of them functions ordinarily in the life of every soul. It is the kind of faith born by experience; it gives us certainty that a new day will dawn, that spring will come, that growth will take place. It is the kind of faith that relates us with confidence to that which is scheduled to happen. . . . "
There is another kind of faith, rare indeed. This is the kind of faith that causes things to happen. It is the kind of faith that is worthy and prepared and unyielding, and it calls forth things that otherwise would not be. It is the kind of faith that moves people. It is the kind of faith that sometimes moves things. Few men posses it. It comes by gradual growth. It is a marvelous, even a transcendent, power, a power as real and as invisible as electricity. Directed and channeled, it has great effect.
" (Elder Boyd K. Packer, "What is Faith", in Faith, pp. 42-43.)
Surely this is what parted the Red Sea, that healed the blind, that created our earth. This is an area that I want to test and apply in my own life. I see wonderful people around me with this faith, that want something and in faith ask God, and fast and pray, and
know
they will see it happen. Do I have
that
faith? Honestly? I don't know. There is room for growth, increased learning. I think I can develop this. This is where my thoughts are lately.
Is anyone still out there? This is definitely not a post for the world, it's a post for me! This is my heart, this is where I am right now. I hope you are edified in your faith today. However that looks for you, whatever that means to you.