Sitting, watching, waiting

As I go on my spiritual journey, I'm looking for things that speak true to me in my heart and soul. I don't want to try and impose my feelings of what is wrong or right and what is true or not. 

I belive we can't have faith without doubt. Faith does not remove doubt. Doubt is a negative way of expressing faith. You can doubt hell. You can doubt doctrines. You can doubt science. You can doubt the supernatural. You can even doubt doubt. 

All of these are expressions of faith. If faith becomes so strong, so powerful, so certain that we impose it on others and punish them for not agreeing, then our faith has taken us down the wrong path. If our doubts are so strong, so powerful, so certain that we mock and scorn those for their beliefs, then our doubt has taken us down the wrong path. 

We are defined by what we choose to belive and by what we choose not to belive. Faith and doubt are inseparable. They are like pleasure and pain, you can't really have one without the other. It's about how we manage our doubt. 

If faith gives us hope and allows us to rise and carry on in the face of our trials, faith is good. Doubt softens our certainty or arrogance, and becomes the thing that keeps our faith from being used as an authoritative force.