Leap of Faith

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A faith is a necessity to a man. Woe to him who believes in nothing.
– Victor Hugo

Faith. A strong word. It’s a belief. It’s a feeling that we put on ourselves, or something higher than us(read, GOD). Say, what do you put faith on when you have an important task at hand? Yourself, that you can complete it? Or God, that he help you complete? 

Things can fall apart, or threaten to, for many reasons, and then there’s got to be a leap of faith. Ultimately, when you’re at the edge, you have to go forward or backward; if you go forward, you have to jump together. – Yo-Yo Ma

 See, the difference in the two answers pretty much are a map to your entire personality(at least, it’s a start). No no, honestly! In one, you are putting everything on yourself, and believing that you have the strength to do the task. In the other, you believe in a higher power, who will help you at the task at hand. 

I fall into the former’s category. What about you?

A man of courage is also full of faith.
– Marcus Tullius Cicero

Many a times in life, you come under situations, where you have to make a decision, but are not sure of it. It’s when you do take the decision, hoping it pays off, is when it’s called the LEAP OF FAITH. It’s a tough task, and often, even the best crack under the pressure, but those true to themselves, always get through it.

Have you ever been in such a situation? Do share!

I’d like to end the post, with another quote.

Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.
– Mother Teresa

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102 responses to “Leap of Faith”

  5. I believe that God will give me what I need to do what I need to do – does that make me a part of both groups? 🙂 In difficult circumstances, we often are forced to look beyond ourselves for the solution…

  7. I’m struggling with your question as I see faith is the strongest sense of confidence in your own beliefs. I see the two ways as inseparably interwoven. God to me is in the grey of life, or living. You are born, and will die, god is in each moment of it.

    Yesterday or tomorrow fade in the face of right now. This is the leap of faith to me. Hoping that there will be a place to land, and having enough faith in life to jump. God is in the lightning strike, the flash of a flood, the touch of love, the moment of a tear spike.

    Whether your laughing, crying, enjoying or suffering, god is in everything and everywhere. How can you separate god’s help from helping yourself?

    I loved the post. It helped me to define what I have faith in. Your blog being good to read….for me…right now. I liked the structure, and it gives me feelings of admiration for your ability to create on this canvas of internet. The last time I tried to see it, I found nothing but the gravatar. Nice work.

    “Make no little plans; they have no magic to stir men’s blood”- A Dream Builder-

    • It finally boils down to how a person thinks, what the believe in, and to a very large extent, what they were raised to believe in by their Parents.

      For instance, I am one person who considers there is no God, but when I see a person in distress, in some kind of trouble, or some poor man on the road, I send a silent prayer to the very same god who doesn’t exist for me, praying to help the person in need, and that is my prayer.

      I’m happy you like my work. I will always continue to share such posts and content with everyone.

      Having people like you onboard only makes this journey much much better

      Thank you Benjamin

  11. It think it is a mute point because you either believe in God or not, and it is not a question if you have to do something by yourself, or with the help of another.

    I do believe in a Creator (I prefer not to use the word God, because of its Christian and religious connotations). I believe that our Creator gave all of us the means to achieve anything we hope to, and it is not the Creator that pushes us or holds us back, but rather it is ourselves.

    But having said all that, then another question arises, and that is: can someone achieve what they wish in their lives if they do not believe in God? I think yes, but that also depends on your definition of achievement. Has a man worth millions living in New York achieved more than say, a poor man living somewhere in India? Not necessarily, in my opinion. Sorry for the long answer 😉

    • I like your take on God/Creator and the “personal responsibility” I believe this statement holds: “I believe that our Creator gave all of us the means to achieve anything we hope to, and it is not the Creator that pushes us or holds us back, but rather it is ourselves. ”

      I have to say I agree with you.

      • I’m glad someone does JennyO – if we took responsibility for our own action instead of blaming a “non caring God” for all the crappy stuff that happens the world would be a better place and we would be better human beings, not only with ourselves but also each other.

        • Beautiful thoughts Emilio. Very true, we have to own up to what we do, we can’t push it on a “GOD” character that “WE” created.

          • The Creator is not a dictator who forces us into binding agreements against out will but allows us to choose whether or not we will obey His precepts and commands. For all the bad stuff happening in the world and then people think of a God who is supposed to be in control of everything… God still gives a choice… God is good and everything about God is good, everything that God does is good, etc etc… however, if one chooses to move away from a relationship with the Creator one moves further away from light into a lack of light which is called darkness. God provides peace, love, joy, prosperity, liberty and all sorts of things which are good… so any environment which lacks God also lacks the quality and true essence of all these things. It only makes sense that a finite universe with a constant mass and energy emerged as a fragment of infinite energy. If you have half of an apple it came from a whole apple right? The finite comes from the infinite. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, evidence of things not seen. To have faith means to trust in a power higher than oneself… not merely hoping for a particular outcome of an event… you’d have to be placing your trust in probability theory. (I’m not pontificating or accusing anyone… simply presenting another side of the matter) God does not reveal Himself totally to the world, He does not reveal all His plans and strategies, works and blessings… because there would be no need for faith (although such a time will come). Having faith refers to a belief in God’s capacity to intervene and manifest Himself in life, especially that of an individual. It places all things in His trust especially those which we cannot explain and are attempting to understand. [I may have been too long here.. but i’ve presented a view i believe in, not with the intent of accusation or with pride or vanity but to add to what i perceive to be a very interesting discussion]

            • Well said Brisingr Red – it is all about choice. Imagine if our Creator fixed all of our (self-created) problems – the question of choice would be gone – we wouldn’t choose to believe because of faith, but rather because of proof – and that would be no choice at all.

              • 🙂 that’s right. Ever hear of obedience without the choice or chance of disobedience? God wants all of mankind to be reconciled to Himself. We were created to serve and have fellowship with Him and to dominate the Earth… divine purpose in an environment God placed us in… unfortunately sin caused us to be put out of that environment, which is why we have so many problems… we’re out of place.

    • I appreciate the long and comprehensive answer(don’t say sorry :D)

      Has a man worth millions living in New York achieved more than say, a poor man living somewhere in India?

      What you said there, is just beautiful Emilio.

    • No i’m serious, the world needs more people like you, and many others, and I’m proud to say, many of such amazing people are a regular to this blog sharing and conversing with each other(and me!!).

      I feel …

      • You may have misunderstood my thoughts and maybe I should have been clearer in my replies. I believe in reincarnation and I believe in a Creator (God) – that is what all my reasoning is based on. That is the bottom line. My reply to JennyO was about taking responsibility for our actions, instead of blaming someone else (our Creator / God) when things go wrong.

        BUT to answer the original question you posed: “…Say, what do you put faith on when you have an important task at hand? Yourself, that you can complete it? Or God, that he help you complete?” – If you put faith in yourself to complete the task, you are putting your faith in God to complete it. As I said in my original reply: our Creator gave all of us the means to achieve anything we hope to. (see my reply to MrsD)

        But (I hear you ask :)) what if you do not believe in God? – I cannot answer that question because I do believe. Answering that question would be like asking someone, that had never tasted ice cream, if they liked ice cream. However, I will say that when I have made decisions based on my ego (and unfortunately there have been many) it has always turned out a big mess.

  12. It seems like every time I put my faith in God instead of myself, I always end up less stressed and things turn out beautifully –in myself they might turn out just fine but only after *way* too much worry! To each his own, we’re all different and that’s part of the beauty of the human race!

    • Hmm. Everyone has their own way of handling things. Some find comfort in putting all their mind into an entity Titled God, some put it onto themselves.

    • My take on that MrsD is that when I “put your faith in God” I am listening to my own self because I believe we all have a part of God within us – therefore I am listening to my “God gene”. When I struggle with a decision, I am struggling to control my ego. Be thankful that you “worry” because I think it means you have a conscience – something that a lot of people seem to be lacking in this day and age.

      “To each his own, we’re all different and that’s part of the beauty of the human race!” – how very true, as a wise person once said (I forget who): you learn nothing new from people that agree with you.

  13. Both, and neither. We are bottled by the words, but the living, unspeakable vastness contains us even as the womb contains the fertile seed. On the “Leap of Faith” I’ve been plummeting for nearly sixty years. It’s exhilarating. “In the province of connected minds, what the network believes to be true, either is true or becomes true within certain limits to be found experientially and experimentally. These limits are further beliefs to be transcended. In the network’s mind there are no limits.” (Quote Dr John C Lilly).

    • “On the “Leap of Faith” I’ve been plummeting for nearly sixty years. It’s exhilarating”

      YOu have to tell me about it. It sounds damn interesting !

  18. Pingback: Leap of Faith « Manipal's Photo Blog·

  21. Preetam – have you come across the work of the Danish philosopher Søren Kierkegaard. He explores the emotions and feelings of individuals when faced with life choices – if you have time have a look at his book The Concept of Anxiety, he describes the core part of the leap of faith, the change from one quality to another. It is fascinating.

  27. thanks for stopping by and checking out my photograph- love your site. great photography. and the words, very well said. i believe if more fully understood Faith there would be no need for worry. for stress. for biting of the nails or for pacing up and down a hallway with worry. as frenchfry36 said believe in God and believe in yourself.

  30. Reblogged this on OlyEats and commented:
    I liked this post because I don’t think faith should be reserved for, or only associated with, religions. It’s easy to have faith and non-corporeal ideal. It’s hard to have faith in a real person, but it is a necessary part of love and friendship.

  34. Hey, I saw that you liked my blog. I also see that you are from India… I am looking to do some mission work in India. Would love to keep in touch & talk.If you want to add me on Facebook, let me know. 🙂 Btw…you take beautiful photography pictures!

  35. I’m the latter. I believe a person will reach the end of their rope, and if they only believe in themselves, they will be lost. Hey, thanks for taking a look at my blog and liking “Leaving the Auditorium”.

  36. I love the photos!
    I will have to say I am of the former/latter group. My strength comes from God but when I need reassurance, bolstering and reinforcement it is from God I seek it.
    Thanks for liking my post, ‘Marriage’.
    All the best to you!

  37. That is a crazy goat to be out on a ledge like that. FYI – I don’t associate faith with either “a leap” or ” as blind”. I believe and that knowing IS my faith. Get it?

  38. Hi Manipal, Just to let you know that I have passed the “One Lovely Blog” award on to you. You probably have several already but you deserve thousands!

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