Alex Reich

Junior Faith

November 9, 2007

 

“What is Faith?” Journal.

 

  1. One paragraph summary of the key idea summarizing the topic of the section. Do not repeat or summarize. Cite the title of the section as the key and explain what you think is the major, important idea in this section.
  2. List and explain two of the most important ideas you want to remember from this section. Explain in a clear and complete manner. Explain in a way that someone reading would be able to know and understand the ideas appreciate its worth. Make it clear why you think these are worth remembering.
  3. One image that reminds you of the topic. Attribute, link your source.
  4. B) One good question you should keep with you to ponder. Offer your best answer.

 

  1. The section titled “What is Faith?” deals with “small f” faith and “big F” Faith. “Small f” faith means complete trust. “Big F” Faith is a grace. It is having complete trust in God. Faith is a risk. How do we know that God exists? If God doesn’t exist and there is no “afterlife”, then we only have this one lifetime to be happy and accomplish everything. If this is true, then everyone would just act selfish and think of themselves rather than helping others and having a true relationship with Jesus and ending up in Heaven. If people do believe in God, however, then they will take time out of their own schedules for others and, in some rare cases, devote their entire lives to serving others. These are true models of Faith. Aaron Fuerstein, the owner of Malden Mills, is a great example. His factory burned down, costing him millions of dollars- he even had to declare bankrupcy. He had about 300 million dollars himself and was well over seventy and could retire. The company was in huge debt because of this factory crisis, and, instead of giving up and leaving hundreds of people unemployed, Fuerstein continued to pay his workers until the new factory was built. The company is still in huge debt and some business experts are merely waiting for it to go out of business, but thanks for Fuerstein hundreds of people are still employed. He did this because of his strong Jewish heritage, which means that it would be against the Torah for him to not help his workers and to be selfish.
  2. From this section I find the four cardinal virtues and the idea of radicalism vs. nihilism. Fairness, the ability to deal with things that don’t go the way you planned, and keeping everything in moderation are things that I find myself decent at. Prudence is something that I always heard of as something bad (for example, “don’t be so prude, just smoke”). I always called myself prude but I knew that other people saw that as something negative, but knowing that it is a cardinal virtue makes me feel good in my decisions. Fortitude (the ability to bear misfortune patiently) is something I am sometimes great at and sometimes awful at. It seems like for more long term things that I can’t change and have to accept no matter what, I am better at being fortuitous. However, if my weekend plans get mesed up or I don’t get to go to the restaurant I wanted to on my birthday, I get aggravated. Knowing these four virtues, I am more reflective, in these areas, and therefore I am trying to get better at these things (especially when my grades are low, instead of being frustrated and giving up, I need to try and work harder).

 

The idea of fanaticism vs. nihilism is also important to me because sometimes I feel like both. Pretty much until this course I have done everything because of my religion because of my blind trust in the church. When I think about it more though, I, frankly, don’t have a clue what to believe in. I can’t give a one hundred percent definite answer to why I do what I do, because I don’t know for sure why I believe in everything I do, it just has to do with my Faith, and I can’t fully explain that! Sometimes I feel kind of like a nihilist, when things aren’t going my way and I doubt God. This course made realize that it’s only normal to think this way, but also helps me to get over these feelings, which is something that I always need.

 


  1. FromThe Amy Biehl Foundation

  2. How can God love someone like me, who is average in everything he does, as much as he loves saints and great people who devote their entire lives to him?

 

 

This is a question that I always ask myself and a lot of the time I just say “Because I’m doing the best I can”. But I know that I’m not doing the best that I can in anything. I can try so much harder in everything I do and I guess that’s part of my concupiscence. God knows that I’m only human and loves me despite my flaws. These saints had flaws too but God was able to see the good in them despite all of this. Perhaps my laziness is my worst flaw, and if that’s the worst thing about me, then that’s not too bad anyway.

1