When we bother to ponder on what faith is, if ever
We see that part of our everyday lives it has become
However, we hardly bother to think about what undergirds our precarious actions
It is assumed, unexamined, and used like a trusted lever
It's worked so many times that we are sure of the eventual outcome
Faith's full potential remains untapped due to our neglect of its functions.
We express faith subtly and covertly in myriad ways daily
We accept a cheque as payment for a service or product
We board public transportation without checking the driver's credentials
We order food at our favourite diner, and it goes down the belly
Faith, in different ways, shows up in our conduct
The least one can do is to learn faith's essentials.
An opposite of faith, depending on context, is fear
Fear immobilizes, impedes action, and causes reversals
The fearful hardly set sail for new lands or launch risky ventures
Fear stops one from running with lucrative long-term ideas
It makes one stay where one feels safe, rejecting novel proposals
And makes home with the familiar, avoiding daring adventures.
Yet another opposite of faith, in a different sense, is doubt
Some moments ago, you were full of confidence in your plans and actions
But now you wonder why you stepped out, why you ever set sail
You have heard, perhaps read new things and now faith is out
Do not linger in fear and doubt, they are distractions
Continue in faith, and to success you will surely blaze a new trail.
Faith empowers one to believe what is yet to be
You have not seen it, yet you are certain of it
You have no proof of it, but faith makes you act like you did
Its source is spiritual and divine, it devolves from what you can not see
Though intangible, it is real and it won't let you quit.
If you stay close to its source, of faith you will not be rid.
WIP
John C. Immanuel (A.K.A John O. Iyaniwura)
