"Faith is a knowledge within the heart, beyond the reach of proof" - Khalil Gibran
I don't know how "faith" got all mixed up and confused with "religion". Even the thesaurus explicitly relates them to each other. I guess in a world that is so overly religious, it's natural to associate the two, but somehow, I have always felt and thought otherwise.
I am lucky my family is not too religious. I am not saying we are atheists, but we are not big on religious dogma. My parents and the rest of our family have never taught us to be overly devout or God fearing, rather we were given the freedom to envisage our own concept of faith and religion as long as we respected the existing doctrines and contrasting opinions within and outside family and home.
Anybody who has grown up in a middle class Indian family will agree that this kind of liberal attitude with regards to "religiousness" is a pretty rare thing to have in life. Well, at least, anyone who is from the same generation as me. See this is what I mean! I started to talk about faith and somehow ended up talking about religion, it is a very perplexing subject!
My definition of faith has always been different from the universally accepted one. I believe that faith goes beyond any religion and it is somehow unrelated to the divine and spiritual. Rather, I think faith is more human in its core, it is flawed like humans, it is difficult, it is volatile, it is incomprehensible at times and yet it is a formidable and effective force. I don't think a race as frail as ours would have survived if it wasn't for faith and hope(Hope! Now there is another enigma, more on hope later.).
I am quite sure, the inexplicable nature of faith, is what gave birth to religion, which became like the face of faith, something that could make this invisible force somewhat comprehensible to us feebleminded beings. But somewhere along the way, religion complicated matters instead of making it simpler and I guess that is the reason behind all the confusion.
But as I said, my idea of faith is very different. I have faith in much simpler things. My faith lies in the look in the eyes of my parents when I do something good, it lies in the rare moments of deep conversations I have with my little brother. It resonates in the heart melting giggles of my little angelic niece, it dwells in the memorable moments I spend with my best friends - my big brother and my sister-in-law. My faith is sourced in the smiles of my siblings, in the respect I have for my aunts, uncles and grandparents, and in the love I have for each and every person who is close to my heart.
Religion is too complex. I think I am better off having faith in the love of my dear ones, they are the faces of my faith.
