L.A. Marathon 2006
by Amanda sigafoos

3.15.06
I have faith that on Sunday, March 19th, I will cross the start line of my first marathon and five hours or so later I will finish it. I’ll finish it because I have faith that the energy of 25,000 other people will help me along. I’ll finish it because I have faith that my pace watch won’t break down. I’ll finish it because I have faith in my running partner finishing it with me. I’ll finish it because I have faith my friends will be there at mile 19 to make me smile. And I’ll finish it because I have faith in myself.

3.20.06
I finished in 5 hours and 31 minutes. My running partner and I had faith in each other. We had faith we would finish after we reached mile 5, mile 12, mile 18, and mile 22. We had faith that when we saw paramedics giving CPR to the man who died at mile 24, that we would finish the race in his tribute, and not for ourselves. We had faith we would finish and be happy with ourselves when we saw the mile 26 banner and a little further away the finish line. We both have faith that we will run this race again.


I have Faith in Myslef
by Chris Anderson

I have faith in myself that everyday I will come and do the best for the children that I teach. I have faith that I have the God given ability to deal with everything that I encounter during the day, no matter if it is good or bad. It is my job to make the seven hours that my students are with me the best seven hours of their day. I have to have faith in the fact that I will leave my outside issues at home and focus on my job at hand.
I also have faith in God that He will not put me in any situation that I can’t handle.


The Divine Creativity
by Ray Anderson

I put my faith or trust not in the powers of a supernatural being of some kind, but in the power of a particular natural process (event or happening) that goes on among human beings. A process that is basic to their existence and well being as humans, a process that everyone has experienced many, many times over since they were born. I refer to the process or event that involves our coming to see the world through the other’s eyes. To feel it with the other’s feelings and, most importantly, being changed by that so we can understand and appreciate what we could not and did not previously. For want of more descriptive words, I refer to this transformative process as “creative interchange,” “the creative source of human good”, or “the divine creativity.” Although I believe that the early Christians referred to it as “the Living Christ.”

I put my trust in this transformative process because it is my experience that it has the power to save the human race from its race toward self-destruction in a way that no social, economic, or political program can do. To the extent that we join together in an agreement to resolve whatever differences arise among us, not on the basis of a majority vote, but solely on the following basis: this course of action is better for all who are involved and that we all wholeheartedly agree is it more likely to promote creative interchange.

If we are to provide the best possible conditions for the working of the divine creativity, I believe that we must become members of small, action-oriented, decision-making bodies that encourage us in the practice of ultimate commitment giving top priority in our lives to discovering and providing those social, economic, and political conditions that are most likely to promote creative interchange, and the practice of mutual accountability for carrying out that commitment. It was the restoration of ultimate commitment and mutual accountability, the restoration of an alternative social, economic and political order that I believe Jesus’ ministry was all about. It was this ministry that got him killed by representatives of the Roman Empire.

{My mission in life is finding people who are ready and willing to take the risk of becoming members of one of these small groups. If you are interested in learning more about this possibility, please contact me at: 316-267-3418 or ourgreatestproblem@lycos.com}


Hope
by David Caneso

Faith creates hope that things will change. When change occurs, hope strengthens our faith.


A Girl who Cuts
by Laurel schroeder
Middle School counselor

A girl who cuts herself to release the pain she cannot express any other way. A boy who’s mother has been in jail since he was a baby and waits in anticipation for her return. A girl who’s dad comes home drunk everyday and beats her mother. A boy who wishes desperately that someone loved him. A girl who has to drop out school to take care for her newborn sister because her mother is in jail. A boy who can’t sleep at night because his father is in Iraq. A girl who came to school to find out none of her friends like her anymore. Children who all have faith that maybe someday things will get better. Children who all have the faith to talk to me about their darkest fears.
I have faith that if I just love them enough and do all I can, their faith will be rewarded.


EVEN Gravity Requires FAITH
by Ron Fleig

I have faith in absolutes such as gravity. Dare I say no reasonable person will dispute that the law of gravity as we know it, exists, is constant, indiscriminant, universal, predictable, measurable, and explainable. Yet, belief in gravity still requires faith. After all, because we (humans) have not been everywhere in the universe, we cannot be so arrogant to say that we are 100% certain that the law of gravity is the same “everywhere.” How about religious faith and convictions? While I can have a conversation with anyone about gravity, talking about faith in God (my God) would most definitely be inflammatory to most. Every person alive, I’d say, believes in God, a god, many gods, or no god. Nevertheless, no one can make me change my mind on what I believe or convince me otherwise; I cannot make anyone change his or her mind. This is because our internal selves are not mutated by the thoughts of others unless we willfully choose to do so. I am 100% certain that God and gravity exist, but I am not at all sure that I could convince someone who disbelieves of one or the other.