When we consider faith, we tend to think of our faith in God, a belief in the teachings of our religious books and the self confidence we build inside ourselves. We consider how faith helps us to achieve the things in life that we want and how faith gets us through our troubled times. Faith provides us with peace of mind, knowing that we can have the abundances in life that God intends us to have.

But what else should we have faith in?

Should faith be about what we can selfishly gain from it?

How many of us "judge a book by its' cover"?

The cover of a book quite often masks the content inside. Its' graphics can be very eye catching and exciting yet the read doesn't live up to expectation. Or conversely the dull imagery on the outside detracts from the quality of the story inside and consequently the true treasure is barely revealed to the world.

It was not that long ago that I was attending the eight o'clock communion at church, a regular routine for me on a Sunday. As somebody who tries to follow a Christian way of life, my worship on a Sunday provides me with a sense of peace and satisfaction. This gives me strength and hope for the rest of the week, qualities that are sorely missed if I miss the service and communion. I don't find it necessary to attend the service where hymns are sung and a sermon preached although these are admirable content to a church service. I have my time worshipping God and this allows me the time to devote to my family afterwards. At this particular service though, my faith in humanity was somewhat tested.

Part way through the service we had a visitor to the service. On the main entrance door, during a service, there always hangs a notice declaring "Service in Progress. Do Come and Join Us". This visitor had obviously decided to take up the offer. He was dressed, as we call them in England, like a "hoody". The grey hood to his sweat shirt was pulled over his head and he also wore sunshades to cover his eyes. It was difficult to paint a picture of his face as he started to rummage through some of the books on offer on one of the side tables.

I was watching him in the corner of my eye, wary of his every move and suspicious of his motives. He then picked up one of the burgundy coloured velvet collection bags and had a peek inside.

At this point he took off his sunshades and removed his hood to reveal a teenager that I had seen lurking about town as I had parked up my car to come to church. Questions had crossed my mind even then as to what this stranger might be doing around our neck of the woods.

He made his way to the back of the church and sat down on some temporary seating. I noticed that I wasn't the only one observing his every move. Several members of the congregation were watching his activities too. He sat there for about ten minutes, quietly letting the service progress. Then he rose, made his way back to the collection plate, removed his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans and placed some money on that plate. He then exited the same way that he came in.

I, like several other members of the congregation had judged this young man by his appearance. "Hoodies" have a reputation for terrorising communities and upon him entering the church, all his actions were treated with suspicion. And we were WRONG. He had looked around, observed and then paid his respects by placing some money on the collection plate. I had "judged this particular book by its' cover".

I immediately felt guilty for my thoughts, my lack of faith in my fellow mankind. The quality of the man had been masked by the clothes that he wore. Not every "hoody" has criminal intentions. I go as far as to say that the majority of them are probably law abiding citizens damaged by the reputations of a few. I cannot say that I personally know many of them but I had judged this one individual from the outside and not the inside. My view had been blinkered by the poor publicity generated by a minority and enhanced by the media.

I should have demonstrated faith in fellow human beings. Although there are rogue individuals about the majority of us display much more goodness and kindness than bad. The good in people shouldn't be hidden by appearance and we should all be able to demonstrate faith in our neighbours and strangers.

How fantastic is that?

Terry Norrington

www.whatisthemeaningoffaith.com