“Going to church every Sunday.”

If you were to ask me what the word “faith” meant in middle school, that would have most likely been my answer. For the majority of my Catholic upbringing, going to church every Sunday without fail was proving your faithfulness.

Moving forward to high school, I was still continuously told that to have faith, was to pretty much show up to mass, pray the Rosary in the chapel, and pray at the scheduled times during school. Now, none of these things are bad, in fact they are great ways to show your faithfulness to Christ. Many religions have places for worship, specific ceremonies and gatherings, but why does faith have to be looked at as a “place?”

College has, in some way, taught me that faith is so much more than sitting in a pew.

Faith is not necessarily a place. You can sing praise, pray, meditate, chant, read scripture and ultimately show faith, pretty much anywhere.

I personally feel the most rooted in my faith when I am outside, awestruck by the beauty of creation. Stained glass windows are beautiful, but it’s much more powerful looking at the Lord’s creation in a natural state, rather than painted on a window.

Places of worship are great ways to praise and learn in community, but showing up to a specific place each week does not necessarily deem you “faithful.” There are a lot of people who go to services religiously each day or week, but do not carry the teachings into their daily lives. Not to say that services do not assist people in bringing their faith into everyday life, but that is just it. Faith can be shown or had at any point, anywhere. Faith can be interpreted in many ways and has many diverse meanings.

Instead of using a definition to explain faith from my own point of view, I asked for some outside input on faith itself and these are some of the responses I received:

“Faith is trust, whether it's you trusting yourself or you trusting another being. [It] is trusting your soul to choose the right direction or path, your brain to make it work. Faith can also be your religion and to practice that faith there can be a place for instruction and meditation, but basically faith comes from within you!‬” – Rick and Mary Langan

“Faith is knowing that are capable of conquering whatever life throws at you, because you believe that all will be alright if you trust in yourself and God. ‬” – Emily Varner

“Faith is being sure of what we hope for, and certain of what we do not see. We don't see the magnificent plan God has for us, or the steps he has taken/is taking to get us to our end point...…. I really like the description that faith is our way of seeing one puzzle piece at a time, we don't know exactly what the full image is, but from the parts we've seen so far, we can trust in God that he will lead us to the most beautiful image ever.” –Miranda Skarban

“[faith is] Believing in something of your choice that gives you strength. A security in something that will make you better, aid you in being what you want to be. A trust that that one thing will not let you down…whatever it may be‬” – Julie Dionne

“Faith is knowing that there is purpose to life and that there is a specific purpose for you. It's believing these things and knowing that you're not alone in your journey to try and figure it out. ‬” – Leah Marker

“Faith……isn't a tangible thing. It can't be physically seen; however, our actions will show the effects of faith. It is knowing that a higher power has your well being taken care of. It's the strength behind what feels impossible! ‬” – Sarah Schultz-Thorpe

“Faith is knowing things can, and will, go wrong, but also knowing those things go wrong for a reason……. Faith lies within someone, rather than around someone. To rely on faith itself, would be silly, but to be faithful in everything you put effort towards and believing that you can do it, will lead you to your successes in life. ‬” – Lydia Clough

“Faith is living without fear. The moment we doubt is when we live in fear…. Living in fear makes us anxious, it prevents us from living in the present moment. To live in faith is to live in peace. Peace is in the present moment. (Faith is a state of mind that changes the way we perceive the world and how we react to it.) Faith is letting go of control and accepting we are not in control. By letting go we learn to accept and by accepting comes peace. It is to accept all that happens, for better or for worse, knowing that from each of these moments we grow towards the best version of ourselves.” – Kathryn Schultz

And sometimes…. “Faith is expecting a IV to I cadence but hearing a iv to I and realizing that's okay, too.‬” – Josh Kimball

What is faith to you?