I Believe in the Power of Us

Throughout her novel Eat, Pray, Love, Liz Gilbert recounts her own personal narrative of growing up and growing into who she was designed or destined to be. During her time growing in meditation and strengthening her faith in her stay at an ashram in India, Liz is steered through the mountains and valleys of stretching her faith beyond the scope of her human and physical limitations. She comes to define faith intricately and beautifully, saying,

“There’s a reason we refer to ‘leaps of faith’- because the decision to consent to any notion of divinity is a mighty jump from the rational over to the unknowable, and I don’t care how diligently scholars of every religion will try to sit you down with their sacks of books and prove to you through scripture that their faith is indeed rational; it isn’t. If faith were rational, it wouldn’t be- by definition- faith. Faith is belief in what you cannot see or prove or touch. Faith is walking face-first and full-speed into the dark. If we truly knew all the answers in advance as to the meaning of life and the nature of God and the destiny of our souls, our belief would not be a leap of faith and it would not be a courageous act of humanity; it would just be … a prudent insurance policy.”

In the same way that we live by faith by our religion, in our spirituality, or in our relationship with God, we live by faith in the discovery of our purpose. As Liz described, having belief in divinity requires an exorbitant amount of faith. Having faith, by definition, is not rational, it does not succumb to normalcy, and it does not fit into our construct of social standards. Rather, it requires us to shed our expectations of living a “normal life” in order to submit to the will of a divine being, of God. Moreover, we can transcribe this divine faith on a personal level. We can relate this aspect of “blind faith” that Liz discovers in her process of growing in faith to our own processes of growing in our purpose. Discovering our purpose and realizing the worth of living by our purpose requires that we have faith in ourselves. This faith may, at times, lead us away from what we have come to believe as having a “normal life.” This faith may, at other times, call us to challenge or bend our ideas of our own social constructs that we have formed in our own lives. Ultimately, this faith in ourselves may cause us to blindly wander into the unknown and to be content with the outcome independent of whether or not we believe it will bring us our own version of happiness.Once we take the “leap of faith” to discover our purpose, to believe in our purpose, and to follow where it may lead, we will become more capable of enabling others to realize their purpose. You see, by our own strength, our purpose only leads us so far. When we discover that the belief in our own worth is intertwined with that same belief of all others around us, we will realize the strength that the unity of all those beliefs can yield. We may, then, believe in the power of encouraging others to realize their worth and to take a leap of faith in order to live according to their worth. Although this may seem like a broad theoretical ideal, practicing this tactic of enabling can be found in our every-day relationships. In some instances, this act of strengthening another person’s faith may be found in initiating an encouraging conversation with a friend. This revival of faith may also be found in simply getting to know a coworker better. It may be found in crafting intentional time to get to know the people in our lives so we can better strengthen, equip, and challenge them to believe in themselves and to live according to their worth. Still, enabling another person to take a leap of faith may require us to make some form of sacrifice on our part. We may be led to use our own resources, finances, circumstances, or talents in order to support the dreams of another person. We do so, not from a sense of reluctance or obligation, but, rather, from a belief that strengthening the faith of even one sole person ultimately strengthens the lot of that in the whole world. You see, when we have seen the power of our own faith, and when we believe that power can continue to surpass any of our own limitations, our eyes will be that much more open to envisioning the undeniable and impenetrable strength of the faiths of all others. We see that believing in and strengthening the faith we have in ourselves comes in two parts. First, it enables us to surpass fixed social constructions and limitations that we have either set for ourselves or that we have seen established in our lives. When we take that “leap of faith” in living by our purpose, we will see our faith soar to new heights. But more than that, believing in and strengthening the faith we have in ourselves will allow us to believe in the faith of those around us. This second part, then, is the catalyst for change in our world. This second part, the faith in ourselves that enables us to strengthen the faith of others, will become the agent of transformation that confronts discrimination, that largely minimizes or wholly eradicates oppression, and that, ultimately, strengthens the bond of humanity beyond anything we could conceive it to be. This faith for one another, then, has the power to change the world. So, all you have to do now, is believe.