How far does your faith extend to all aspects of your life?

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T.A.Stobie_SFO

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Think about it.

Is there any area in your life where your faith is not an active part of it? Why?

Are there areas that you need to allow to be more faith-filled?

How does your faith affect all areas in your life?

A few questions to ponder and share about.
 
T.A.Stobie:
Is there any area in your life where your faith is not an active part of it? Why?
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Not that I can think of. I’m always trying to tie together the pieces of my life using the framework of faith; I’m looking for continuous purpose and continuous improvement in understanding of truth.
Are there areas that you need to allow to be more faith-filled?
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No. More faith-filled is welcome, but I believe the Spirit guides me such that my faith is exactly what it “needs” to be at any given moment.
How does your faith affect all areas in your life?
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Practically every human interaction I am involved in, see, read about, or ponder brings to mind some part of the New Testament. I have a very active mind and when I was undergoing some strong spiritual warfare and growth I was actually diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Since then I have grown to understand that “polar thinking” is really very healthy if done right, and have developed it much as Zen masters try to instill in their students. Don’t worry; this doesn’t mean I’m going around believing in Buddha or something, just that I have heard some of their techniques and found an adaptation thereof to be positive.

When my children ask me a question, especially asking for advice on how to handle a situation with their friends or teachers (yes, my teenage children actually do ask me for this sort of advice) I almost cannot help but draw on Biblical lessons because I have found them to be so applicable and useful that it is ridiculous for me to wing it alone.

Thanks for asking. I already like this thread.

Alan
 
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AlanFromWichita:
No. More faith-filled is welcome, but I believe the Spirit guides me such that my faith is exactly what it “needs” to be at any given moment.
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Now I can hardly believe I wrote that. As I fine-tune my system of thoughts and attitudes I recognize how subtle my “mood swings” have become. A little while ago I was at a peak. Now I am somewhere below a peak, wishing that I felt that way (the way I felt when I typed the part I just quoted) all the time.

When I get back to a peak I believe I will think back to this moment and be able to reaffirm what I wrote before, knowing that these feelings of “wishing” my faith was better like right now, are feelings of separation from God whose pain is nothing compared to the joy when I return, as a new creature emerging from a mortified shell.

That all sounds poetic and stuff, and I’m not sure I used the right vocabulary. What I can say is that the Spirit has been working on me for four years now, through a 3 1/2 year manic episode followed by a 1/2 year depression, and has guided me in ways that my cycles are now reduced to a level that most people would not even perceive if I weren’t here explaining it. When I see the shrink again in three weeks I think I’ll ask him if I can start reducing my medication some more! What I do know is that I have incredible peace I could not have imagined years ago when I thought I was happy then, and am incredibly and persistently eager to go on living this wonderful life, as opposed to wishing I could take it several months ago.

Praise God and the Holy Spirit, a.k.a. the Divine Therapist. Thank God for this forum through which He has spoken to me by the efforts of His people.

BTW, in case anybody cares, I’m back at a peak. At the rate I’m going, my mood swings could be too subtle for me to detect myself as early as today, God willing. Months ago, and even a year ago, I didn’t even know to hope for the joy and peace that is being brought to me this day.

I hope this doesn’t sound like I’m bragging. I really haven’t done anything significant; I’ve only been somewhat obedient, and fairly rascally at that. Others all around me show more faith and perseverence than I could ever hope for. I am just thankful for the healing I have received and I hope that I can help others get up out of their psychological pits and stand again on their own God-given “two legs.”

OK I’ll shut of the corn factory now, at least until my next post. :whistle:

Alan
 
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AlanFromWichita:
No. More faith-filled is welcome, but I believe the Spirit guides me such that my faith is exactly what it “needs” to be at any given moment.
Click to expand...
Now I can hardly believe I wrote that. As I fine-tune my system of thoughts and attitudes I recognize how subtle my “mood swings” have become. A little while ago I was at a peak. Now I am somewhere below a peak, wishing that I felt that way (the way I felt when I typed the part I just quoted) all the time.

When I get back to a peak I believe I will think back to this moment and be able to reaffirm what I wrote before, knowing that these feelings of “wishing” my faith was better like right now, are feelings of separation from God whose pain is nothing compared to the joy when I return, as a new creature emerging from a mortified shell.

That all sounds poetic and stuff, and I’m not sure I used the right vocabulary. What I can say is that the Spirit has been working on me for four years now, through a 3 1/2 year manic episode followed by a 1/2 year depression, and has guided me in ways that my cycles are now reduced to a level that most people would not even perceive if I weren’t here explaining it. When I see the shrink again in three weeks I think I’ll ask him if I can start reducing my medication some more! What I do know is that I have incredible peace I could not have imagined years ago when I thought I was happy then, and am incredibly and persistently eager to go on living this wonderful life, as opposed to wishing I could take it several months ago.

Praise God and the Holy Spirit, a.k.a. the Divine Therapist. Thank God for this forum through which He has spoken to me by the efforts of His people.

BTW, in case anybody cares, I’m back at a peak. At the rate I’m going, my mood swings could be too subtle for me to detect myself as early as today, God willing. Months ago, and even a year ago, I didn’t even know to hope for the joy and peace that is being brought to me this day.

I hope this doesn’t sound like I’m bragging. I really haven’t done anything significant; I’ve only been somewhat obedient, and fairly rascally at that. Others all around me show more faith and perseverence than I could ever hope for. I am just thankful for the healing I have received and I hope that I can help others get up out of their psychological pits and stand again on their own God-given “two legs.”

OK I’ll shut off the corn factory now, at least until my next post. :whistle:

Alan
 
My relationship to God I try to have active in all that I do, whether work or relaxation. I live my faith in all that I do, standing for the truth (and at times suffering for that).

The one place I struggle the most is in dealing with Christians who are behaving as non-Christians in their rudeness, discourtesy, and pagan practices.
 
Dear friend

No area of my life is left untouched by my faith. If I find something difficult or struggle with a certain situation or in the smallest things in life, I know it is impossible for me to deal with such things alone, I ask the Holy Spirit to guide me and give me the right words to say, the Holy Spirit has never failed me, I feel a burning in my heart that I know is His presence and a joy that I cannot describe, I let this lead me in all that I do, say and think. I attend regular Mass and receive the Eucharist as this is food for my soul and enables me to grow in Christ, become more Christ-like and I see the evidence of this looking back over my life when I attended Mass less than I do now.

I have found many graces in the Eucharist and the Holy Spirit always shows me where I could have done better, nudging my conscience. It is not enough to say ‘I did enough’ we must say ’ I did not do enough, I need to do more’ The more I say this, the more I find I can do with the help of Jesus and Mary, with the Holy Spirit guiding me, which leads along the narrow road to God our Father.

In opening my heart to God within all parts of my life I have found the peace of Christ in areas I never thought would ever see peace, this is the remarkable saving graces of Jesus and though it is difficult to describe without giving details of my life to the whole world online…😃 …which I don’t want to do…all I can say is that despite all difficulties that I thought in my fragile and imperfect human state, could not be overcome or renewed , have been in the Lord.

Once my pride broke, I found myself in conversation with the Lord Jesus Christ about allsorts of things I wouldn’t discuss with another human being, I spoke to Him about things I was far to embarrassed or ashamed of to discuss with anyone else, once I had handed Him all areas of my life, I quickly saw His hand work in them.

Let God into all areas of your life, if we don’t how is He able to help us and mould events to the good of our souls and eternal lives?

What use is then also , to have all of these graces and blessings if we don’t share them with everyone in our lives? Just as the Eucharist is broken and shared, we must do the same with ourselves, we must break and share of ourselves. Faith is useless unless it is shared with others, unless we become salvific ourselves, we have all but wasted a gift from God. Of course the gift of faith is to redeem primarily ourselves, but it isn’t fulfilled unless we break that and share it with all of humanity ourselves.

God Bless you and much love and peace to you

Teresa
 
Twenty plus years ago when I started my own business, I struggled to make ends meet and usually they didn’t. If I didn’t keep praying and dedicating my business to God, I know I would have filed bankruptcy many times over. Instead, my spouse and I have said over and over to God, lead me where you will. If it is your will, please send us work to do. Not to amass a fortune but provide for my family. And whenever we wondered where our next job would come from, how we were going to pay the bills, the phone would ring with a job that would pay us as soon as the work was complete, not wait 30 or 90 days for the contract to be complete.

I try as a result to be generous to charities, particularly to churches in need. Whenever I do service work for them, the work is done gratis…I am not bragging either…I am giving testimony, that God provides because I place all my trust in him. I will never ever be rich, and probably never completely out of debt…but God is so good to us. And each time, God gives back to me many times over, with children I am proud of, a tremendous marriage and friends who are loyal. That’s where I am rich in the gifts God has granted. “As for me and my house, we belong to God.”
 
Certainly it doesn’t extend as far as it should. Say a friend of mine repudiates me in public. I have a bit of time just feeling all emotional before my faith kicks in and I pray for them or do something else faith related. If I am too upset, faith isn’t the first things to come to the fore. Emotions are stronger and force out rational thought for a bit, unless it is one of those times when the Holy Spirit gives you the right response from the get go.
 
There are times when I can say that my faith is everywhere in my life – I have devoted myself to my wonderful Church as wife, mother, on and on.

There was a time when I didn’t let my faith into every portion of my life, but I have found prayer to the Blessed Virgin and her spouse, the Holy Spirit to be most wonderful. I love Eucharistic Adoration and just visiting with Jesus while He isn’t exposed.

Except recently I failed. In the time around the county announcing they had matched us with a four and a half year old boy; then sent us on some gyrations about possible sudden placement – only to forget we and the child existed - it seemed. I was not pleasant to be around. I was perpetually irritated at the seeming lack of concern for the child. I kept saying they just shouldn’t have told me anything, if they wanted me to be quiet. I wasn’t going to lay down and let this child linger in a bad foster home.

I was frustrated and felt irritated because it seemed a child that was in danger was being ignored and only my support worker – not the actual adoption worker for the child – talk about bureaucracy – was giving me any information. For a week, I could barely pray so I read as many prayers as I could, but my soul seemed emotionally removed from my constant companion.

I don’t think it was aridity, I think I shut my faith in Jesus out of this situation and thought I had to do the job alone. I have not recieved Eucharist since this event. I am trying to make it to confession to ask Jesus to forgive me my lack of faith and my willingness to let Him work in my life that of the child. I mostly felt like a mother bear who was protecting her cub – even though I met him yet.

Since I have begun to see where I lost my trust and faith, I now can sense my Lord again. On Sunday, when our new baby priest who was ordained this spring – lifted the host and said “Take this all of you…” His voice was so plaintive and went straight to my heart. I yearned so for my Lord. So, I requested a spiritual communion, if it wouldn’t offend my Savior. Overall, I would say He is always more forgiving of me than I am. I just don’t want to take my Savior for granted and think that I can always recieve Eucharist no matter where I stand in light of Sanctifying Grace.

Today, I sang at my son’s school Mass, and I usually can’t pray enough when involved with music to make a good Communion, so I have made it a practice to offer my spiritual support to the priest as he confects our Lord. It was a most pleasant Mass today. I sang well – better than I have in months. I felt that I prayed as well as I can with being aware of my liturgical participation, but like I did assist.

I guess I didn’t turn too far from God, but…

I meet my new son tomorrow morning. I was worried, but now I know I am not alone in this momentous day.
 
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