There is one question I have always been
asked about myself.
asked about myself.
That question is "How do you have so much faith?" Until recently my answer has always been I just have a very strong belief in God. That answer didn’t always fall right with them. It was an answer that left more questions and more confusion. Yesterday as I was driving to an appointment, all of a sudden I understood how I have so much faith.
You see, in this work I do we often talk about confirmation bias. When ever we think a thought, our brains then look to find evidence for that thought. And here’s the thing. We always find the evidence to prove it. Always.
If you meet someone and think they’re amazing, you will find so much evidence as to why they are amazing. If you meet the very same person and think I don’t like them you will find just as much evidence as to why you don’t.
Its much like when someone you know buys a red car. Now all of a sudden you see all the red cars. You see them on the freeway, on the side streets, in the parking lots and in driveways. You see the red on wheels everywhere.
So now let’s talk about how this relates to the question I’m always asked about my faith. When we are open to having faith then our brain starts to look for the evidence so that it can support that. So at one point I had a small thought that maybe I can trust a God that I've never seen. I began to unknowingly seek out evidence for why this is true. Based on the evidence I found my faith began to grow. So I begin to find more evidence and grow more faith. Then again more evidence and more faith The cycle continued.
If someone where to ask me today, How do you have so much faith? I would say First I heard words about God and second, I was willing to think a small little thought, “Maybe I can trust a God that I have never seen.”
So just the same as when we think some one is amazing we will find all the reasons why they are so amazing. Then we begin to think they are even more amazing. Or when we think we don’t like someone we find all the reasons we don’t like them one bit. Then our dislike turns to hate.
We can find all the reasons to have faith and we can find all the reasons not to. Personally I choose to find the reasons why I should. I’m so glad I did. I love that we are given the choice for ourselves. It's so much more fun to love someone or something because we want to rather than because we have to.
Love you madly.
Leslie
P.S. Want to explore this topic a little more? Let’s chat. Email me at leslie.canup@gmail.com
