TexasGirl Photography

“They” say that you should write what you know. Faith is something I know – it’s something I have always known (thanks, in part, to my family). Faith also happens to be the “theme” for the second week of Advent. If you’re familiar with the origin of Christmas, you’ll know that it took what seems to me to be a superhuman amount of faith for the major players. You’d need a whole ton of it to be able to say yes to the lives they were called to lead without at least a little trembling in your heart.

“There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.” – Shakespeare, Hamlet

The above ornament has graced our Christmas tree for a few years now. I’m pretty sure it’s supposed to be a Polar Express thing, in reference to Santa. Looking at it these days, however, makes me realize that there’s a lot more believing going on in our house than just the kind that encompasses the Fat Man in the Red Suit. Incidentally, St Nick’s OG (THE Saint Nicholas ) just had his feast day on December 6th.

I realize that faith (and religion in general) isn’t particularly popular these days. For my part, given the choice (and we all have one), I’ve always picked belief. I’ve seen and lived through too many things, with my eyes wide open, with a reasonably active intelligent mind, to choose otherwise. You never know when you’re going to need a little (or a lot) of help getting out of life’s ditches.

“I know God will not give me anything I can’t handle. I just wish He didn’t trust me so much.” –Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Life has storms – faith is my shelter.

Life has battles – faith is my armor.

Faith digs me out of holes, and celebrates with me in the joyful moments.

It’s a living, breathing force just below my skin, a lion waiting quietly inside my heart.

Last week I talked about hope, about my own experience with it. That hope wouldn’t exist without faith, the faith itself being hope’s foundation. When things are smooth sailing, it’s a little beam of happy light that I can shine around. When the weight of the world is pressing on me, it keeps me standing up. Every day I do maintenance on the house I’ve built upon the rock.

“Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe.” –St. Augustine

When we travel, I find signs of faith everywhere. The photograph above isn’t specifically one of those, since it was in a secular place, but faith is the gateway, after all. . . .

To walk in faith is to make a journey slightly apart, with hills and valleys, smooth and rocky paths, sweet warms winds, and awful dark patches that snare you with thorns. It all weaves together, in the bigger picture of your life, the lives around you, the world of nature that surrounds you, and beyond. It’s easy for some, and a regular struggle for others. It’s something I believe in with my whole heart, something that I wish for you – if you’re reading this – even if it’s just one teeny tiny little stirring deep inside you. It only takes a spark. . . . .

All photographs, except the first one, are film. Some are old, from Prague. The rest are from various places on the road in the southwest.