Faith and Letting go of Control

by Dr. Kaleb Montgomery, Doctor of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Today I want to talk about faith. What is faith? Faith is a belief in something greater than ourselves. Other people might argue that faith is the belief in God. Others still have faith in Mother Earth or talk about the universe as having an intelligence or numerous other versions of the same idea. Whatever face you choose to place on faith, faith is a belief in something greater than ourselves.

To have faith is an admission that we do not have all of the answers. Having faith is having trust. Having faith is acknowledging that there are things that happen that we do not know why they happen at the time. Loosing a job, not getting a job or ending a relationship are all great examples of events that are upsetting at the time, but in hindsight we usually see why it was better for us for it to happen that way.

I am writing about faith because having faith is good for your health. Faith is a positive characteristic. When we exercise faith we are letting go of control. We are throwing up our hands and saying I don’t know why this happened but I trust that everything will be alright. Letting go of control is good for us because, as Buddha would say, control is an illusion. The only thing we have control over is our thoughts, words and actions. Ironically enough most of us do not even take ownership over those things. Over everything else we have no direct control.

Faith means acknowledging that there are greater forces at work than us alone, and that, maybe, if we stopped trying to force things to happen the way we think they should unfold, we could spend more energy trying to align ourselves with what is actually happening. Faith helps remove our self-centred blinds and allows a glimpse of our connection to the greater world outside of us.

By acknowledging that we do not have all of the answers we are also saying that we do not have all of the solutions. By learning to let go of some control we are taking a step closer to living in the world the way it actually is. Faith helps remind us of everything out there that we cannot control. There is a prayer from Twelve Step programs that goes "God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Today when you catch yourself frustrated at something, stop and ask yourself if it is something you have control over. If it is then act, think or speak differently. If it is not something you can control, practice having faith and let go of attachment to the outcome. Then notice how much more energy you have and how much better you feel now that you have stopped worrying needlessly.