faith.

one of my takes on it...

by no means do i have a full understanding of how it is to be a parent. but when i think of the word faith, being a parent always comes to mind. most do not remember taking our first few steps as a tod. and for most of us (who are fortunate enough), our parents were the ones who remember how the joyous event went. our parents were the ones that celebrated with us when we took our first few steps. for those of us that can walk and run, when we first found out the gift of our legs, we quickly get ourselves into trouble unknowingly. tods run into things by accident, they fall, and sometimes hurt themselves. parents guide their children by holding their hands up and encouraging them to walk. as soon as the child gets used to the feeling of walking, the child is left alone to walk by his or her own. its hard for a parent at first, but eventually, a trust is built. the kind of trust that comes from the fact that the parent has taught his or her child well. it is also the trust that his or her child can learn to be more independent.

the child quickly grows. i hear many parents claim that children grow up too fast nowadays. i agree. sometimes, i feel that children outgrow their parents in various ways quickly. i remember my mom crying when she saw my sister and i go off to college. she had to "let us go". my sis was 4 hours away by car, and i was 8 hours away by bus. bottom line is, we were both really far away from home. it was not easy to come home for the weekend because either one of us would be spending more than a hundred bucks just to see our family. it was tough.

although my mom was crying her heart out, i know she wanted us to chase our dreams. i know deep down inside her, she wanted us to grow on our own. seeing your child grow means less and less authority on them over the years, because eventually your child realizes that he or she is its own being. the child's awareness to a sense of identity becomes evident. as a parent, one can only hope that he or she had put a deep enough impact to (at least) have influenced the child's foundations. my mom cried but was very encouraging to let us grow on our own - because she knows that she had a deep enough impact on my sister's and my foundations.

this encouragement is special. it can be done silently, or with much words. it can come accompanied with actions, or none at all. it can be rejected, or simply ignored. it can be mistaken for sterness, or perhaps enlivening. sometimes, it is thrown away, but sometimes it is treasured.

i think faith works in a similar way. it is encouragement from God. He lets us grow on our own but at the same time He is not insecure about the kind of impact He has made in our lives. we have a choice to accept this very special encouragement. i find that most people that have accepted it, find it easier to accept not only who they are but also who others are. because with such encouragement brings you identity (just like how a parent's encouragement to grow on your own brings you identity). but above all, it eventually turns into trust. because when the child learns how to walk alone, the parents eventually learn how to trust the child's capability... and "let go".

perhaps, if people accept faith (encouragement from God), they will one day find that God has also learned how to trust them.

*****

i know that i have to let you grow on your own. but in many ways, i'm like a father to you. i hope you understand where i am coming from. may God bless you always.

i love you.