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What Does It Mean to Have Faith?
The definition of faith contains many layers beyond the word religion.
“With only a 4th-grade education, Grandma Maggie’s world schooled her in the practicalities of life. Hardworking and unshakeable, she harbored neither self-pity nor arrogance for any aspect of her life. No matter what happened around her, she remained grounded. She was not a religious woman, but I would describe her as having a strong faith. The kind of faith that extends beyond the walls of a church or the pages of the Bible.”
– Excerpt from Walking Old Roads — A Memoir of Kindness Rediscovered
If you and I were playing a word association game before I wrote Walking Old Roads — A Memoir of Kindness Rediscovered, my answers would sound different than answers from my post-book writing perspective. If you had asked me to tell you the first word to pop into my head when I hear the word faith, I would have immediately said religion. I also would have told you that I would not use the word faith as a description of myself.
I am not a religious person in that I find little comfort in organized religion. During the process of writing Walking Old Roads — A Memoir of Kindness Rediscovered, I surprised myself by discovering I have a lot more faith than I ever thought possible. After authoring the book, the…