Deja Vu

There is another storm watch again this Sunday with wind, hail and flood warnings and the possibility of more tornadoes - exactly one week from the last round. Of course, if we were in Utah, it would be earthquakes about once a week.  And then there is the virus that is everywhere, except maybe Wyoming, and on everything except take out food.  It doesn't really matter where we choose to live, there is always the possibility of a sudden life changing event hitting out of the blue like a bug on a  windshield.   

So what is it that allows us to continue living our lives when the threat of disaster is everywhere and always just around the corner? Is it detailed planning, meticulous preparation and an abundance of caution? Is it our intelligence, strength, or cunning?  We might think so, but we'd be wrong, because there is absolutely nothing we can do to reduce all risk to zero and deep down we all know this.

The one and only thing that keeps us going is faith. Some people have the misconception that faith is nothing more than blind belief. Faith is actually a principle of action and is more akin to trust. A belief may be the catalyst to faith, but only if it leads to action.  Where we put our trust is usually a mixture of experience and hope. Any blindness is often in the person not sharing those experiences and hopes, not in the person acting on them.

Another misconception is that faith is a religious principle; that intelligent, enlightened people have no need of faith. Not so. Any voluntary action done by a person is done by faith. The only question is in whom or in what the faith is placed. We cannot so much as flip a light switch without demonstrating our faith.  Anyone who says that they don't operate by faith is really saying that they don't believe in God, that their faith is placed somewhere else.

Back to the question of  how is it we can operate in an uncertain, often unfriendly world? It is because we are free to act and in order to act we have to decide every day where we will center our faith. This is one of the primary reasons we are here to begin with.

"Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself." 

2 Nephi 2:27