by Roryanne O'Rourke

Created on: December 14, 2010   Last Updated: January 07, 2011

Merry Christmas and a Blessed New Year to all!

One definition of faith in Webster's Dictionary says that faith is "a firm belief in something for which there is no proof: complete trust".

The best example of complete trust comes from the words in the Declaration of Independence. These words, written by America's Founding Fathers, gave ordinary men the courage and determination to do extraordinary things in the face of grave danger and insurmountable odds.

From the Declaration of Independence:

"And for the support of this declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor."

As many people with religious beliefs, our Founding Fathers understood that God granted us the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The first part of having faith in God is the "firm reliance" part. If we do not firmly believe in God, God is not pleased.

Everyone understands the expression, 'guilty conscience". This means that something we have done, or something we said, has caused us to go against what we truly believe to be right.

On the other side, when you do something on an impulse, just because it feels right, we are using our conscience as our guide. Faith in God rules our conscience.

God granted us free will and our faith comes into every aspect of our lives, at various stages.

When we are children, our parents teach, discipline, and guide us based on their beliefs, their morals, values, and principles.

When our parents take us to a place of worship, we learn the difference between right and wrong, according to God's teachings. We learn that if we trust in God, all things are possible.

When we become adults, we become our own teacher, disciplinarian, and we use our own beliefs to guide us in the way we should go. We remember that while we no longer depend on our parents, we still depend on God's presence in our lives, to help us face everything life throws at us.

When we land that first job, as scary as the prospect of that is, we have faith in our ability to do the job and to make valuable contributions to society.

When we become parents, we use our own experiences to bring our children up in a certain way. When faced with a new situation, something we as children did not go through, we "go with our gut feeling," and handle each new situation as it comes.

We teach our children according to the mistakes we have made, and to the right decisions we have made, as our

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