Prepared by: Florence Cardinal
Posted on: December 22, 2002
Our Thanks to Lisa Johnson for this
exercise. Because of the
Christmas season,
this exercise will run for two weeks, until Friday January 3, 2003.
FAITH
This time of year is special to people
from all cultures. From the
ancient
Winter Solstice through to Christmas, Hanukkah, Rammadan, and Kwanza,
this is a
time of year for many to celebrate and reflect. People have different
faiths
to give meaning to their lives, and to help them through the rough
times.
(Even atheists have beliefs: they may believe in people, in love, in
philosophies, using these to guide their lives.)
I'm sure, though, no matter what your
beliefs are, that everyone has
experienced faith at some point in their lives. This exercise is one of
our
"Remembering" exercises. This time, look back to a time in your life
when you
have experienced or benefited from faith. It could be something that
shows
faith in action, an incident that demonstrates true faith, or an
example of
how faith helped you . It can be faith in a person, faith in God or a
higher
power, faith in the system, or even faith in yourself.
Write your submission honestly and
remember what you experienced,
how you felt.
Don't make things up, just be honest. Sometimes you can gain faith from
bad
things that happen.
So the exercise: in 400 words or less,
describe a moment in your
life when
you've experienced faith.
Florence Cardinal's wrap-up
Posted on: January 6, 2003
I was pleased to see so many submissions
and such a variety. Topics
ranged from
faith in God to faith in self to faith in justice. Some even touched on
the
misery of a lack of faith.
Faith, it seems, is something that leaves
a deep impression on the
person
experiencing it. Use this in your writing. If you're writing fiction,
make
sure that your characters all believe in, have faith in something. If a
character is lacking in faith, then have him/her achieve faith by the
end of
your story.
Just like all your experiences, all the
deep emotions you experience
in your
life, your own faith is great fodder for your creativity.
Florence
Web site created by
Rhéal Nadeau and
the administrators of the Internet Writing Workshop.
Modified by Gayle Surrette.