By: Judy Johnson
Source: The Daily Guardian https://epaper.thedailyguardian.com/view/2944/the-daily-guardian/15
Dated: September 1st, 2025

“Faith is an oasis in the heart, which will never be reached by the caravan of thinking.”  - Kahlil Gibran

As Kahlil Gibran so poetically writes, faith is something held deep in the heart. However, it is born of the recognition of truth – I have to have discerned that truth and had an experience of it. Faith is having complete trust or confidence in someone or something. It is being able to see the light of that faith shine even in the deepest darkness. It is having an understanding of something to be true, without being able to see it. Faith in our hearts right now, in the world of today, is something we cannot afford to lose – because as Eleanor Roosevelt (First Lady of the USA, 1933-1945) said, “If you lose faith, you lose all”.

If we look at the word ‘faith’, as an acronym, we can elaborate on what faiths we need to hold dear to the heart at this time of upheaval in the world.

F – Faith (in)

A – Alpha (the Divine)

I – I, the soul

T – The Theatre of Life

H – Humanity

Many people are leaving traditional religious practices, for a variety of reasons, yet a vast majority of those same people profess a faith in the Divine, in God. In their lives they have felt the hand of God, so they have cause to believe in the power of the Divine. They can recount times of utter desperation, when passing through a phase of life that seemed intolerable. Yet they felt support and love from an energy of such power that they understand it could only have come from God. This is a faith they hold dear.

To have faith in the self, I the soul, I need only to reflect on the progress I have made so far in my life. I have overcome countless obstacles and difficulties over time due to one constant quality. I have been determined to learn and grow. I have always sought to do my best, to be my best, to fulfil my potential and to regain my inner spiritual power. I have faith that I will continue to do this to the best of my ability. If I can say I am doing the best I can, and I continue to learn and grow with determination, then faith in the self remains deep in the oasis of the heart.

To have faith in the Theatre of Life, I can reflect on the challenging situations I have faced in life. At the time I may have experienced them to be negative or unpleasant, yet in retrospect I can see the benefit of how they helped me grow. Looking back, I see that had they not happened, I would not be who I am today or where I am at this moment. So, with the aid of hindsight I can see that even the toughest situations in life brought benefit, helping me grow and develop.

I remind myself now that if I judge a situation too quickly, drawing a conclusion that it is negative, I will miss the bigger picture. So, looking at the world now, on the edge of breakdown, I can see the possibility of a breakthrough, because life finds a way. I can begin to see the immediate negative circumstances in a far-sighted way and see the real potential for powerful, positive outcomes. On this basis, I retain faith in the Theatre of Life, knowing that spring will always follow winter, that daylight always follows the darkest of nights. In fact, it is at midnight that we enter the day and know the dawn is coming.

Faith in humanity is based on my ability to intuit what lies beneath the surface of the bad behaviour I see around me. On the surface there is turbulence, conflict, and difficulty, but when I look deeper, I become aware that there is something moving human beings to reach beyond the physical, concrete world to something higher. 

Just as the iceberg is moved by deep ocean currents and not by surface winds, there are deep currents moving humanity towards an awakening, a transformation. The natural growth cycle of every person, group, organization, and civilization moves from a peak to a lower ebb, before reforming. Earlier times are remembered and enshrined in our memories via stories. More and more, the hearts of humanity are calling for a golden era of pure relations, pure economy, and pure environment. A time to awaken and have faith that we can once again create the golden dawn of humanity.

 
Judy Johnson coordinates the activities
of Brahma Kumaris meditation centres in Atlantic Canada.