Keeping the Faith

Dry spells.  Cold Spells.  No matter how you describe it there will be a  
period (or several of them) throughout life in which we find ourselves
searching.  We find ourselves wanting.  Sometimes no particular thing
starts that process.  Sometimes we can put our finger on a thing or
two.  We switch jobs.  We move.  We get busy.  We fail.  

Faith is an interesting word.  Some people refer to faith as their belief system.  Some people take it as blindly following one's belief system.  The word can be positive or negative depending on how that person feels about that.  The word faith is thrown around quite a bit in Christianity and maybe that is where many Pagans get a bad taste for it.  Keeping the faith to me simply involves the process of making your spiritual nature so much a part of your life that whatever practice you choose is second nature.  So I guess I should rephrase the title of this post as Keeping the Practice.
 
Because the practice of one's faith or spirituality is the actual stuff that we do to celebrate that
spirituality.  You can't have an active spiritual life if you don't practice that spirit in various ways regularly.  It is like exercise.  You can't say that you are an "exerciser" if you only workout once a month.  Obviously, some people are more active than others yet many people can be called "exercisers" but there has to be some manner of establishing the difference between a person that exercises and a person that occasionally gets off the couch to go for a walk.  However, once you have been an "exerciser" you can certainly
have cold spells in which you relapse and spend your days for six months eating nachos and watching Netflix rather than hitting the gym.  At that point are you no longer an "exerciser" or are you just having a cold spell?  I would say you are no longer an "exerciser".

So if I apply the same logic to my spiritual practice, lagging in some form of worship, study or active participation would lead me to fear that I'm no longer a witch!  LOL.  But, it isn't that simple.  Maybe exercise is a bad analogy.  Maybe education is a better one.  I get a degree.  Say I am a doctor.  But I don't practice
medicine.  Does that make me not a doctor?  No, but if I don't actively practice medicine and continue learning and participating am I a very good doctor?  Probably not.  So, I feel like we have to practice,
continue learning and participate or we are not very good witches.

To that end, I think the point is to do whatever a person has to do in order to keep spirituality in the front of one's mind daily.  The way to do this will vary from person to person.  Setting aside a time for
practice might work well for many of us.  I find it works well for me.  I am a schedule driven person!  This probably stems from the fact that as a professional, I have meetings and things of that nature that need
time blocked off and so it is natural for me to schedule things.  I do this with training too.  I actually put it on my calendar.  I can't break a meeting with myself anymore than I can break a meeting with my boss.  I do the same thing with riding.  On the calendar it goes.  I'm also a very visual person.  So, seeing that appointment makes all the difference to me.  
 
I have been thinking about this sort of thing a lot having just started to come out of a very long period of spiritual struggle and a difficult year in general.  There is a saying that gets thrown around in our household conversations in relation to work and growing up:  Lead, follow, or just get the hell outta the way.  You have to pick which role is best for you.  I'm not much of a follower.  But, I don't label myself a leader - as in - oh, yeahhhhhh I am a Leader.  (LOL reminds me of Pain and Gain I'M A DOER! LOL LOL). 

No, I tend to lean more toward, OK, I'll get the hell outta the way....and go do my own thing, loser.  

But, seriously, in terms of keeping your practice active I feel like you must become a leader of your own self.  Whether you are solitary or within a group that is lagging, you gotta take the reins if you want things to change. And/Or you have to go your own way. 

And then just go about it.  It helps me to remember that being fulfilled in spirit matters is rarely about big things.  Big things can eventually happen but again, like work, it is mostly about consistent, little things
daily.

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