Faith Badge

Faith Badge

Everyone has faith, whether it be religious or otherwise. It may be that you have faith in God, have faith that your favourite sports team will win, have faith in your friend...the list is endless

You must complete the following to gain this badge

1. Describe in 300 words something or someone you have faith in. How does it feel? Where did it start? How does it help you?

2. Research a festival on faith of any kind and document in in 200-300 words. Include a picture.

I have faith in one’s own abilities, strengths and convictions. It is my experience (young though I am) that the saying “mind over matter” has a lot of truth to it.

The power that we humans have may not be in something like ‘fairytale magic’ or something that can be produced by a wand, but a different kind of magic.

Everyday on the news, or elsewhere, you hear stories about people who have struggled and lived through terrible things. These people struggled and yet many pull through and live happily with a zest and love for life. I believe in the power of healing, and the power of strength to pull through the hard times.

A person may not rely on a God, or a deity, or even be particularly faithful themselves, and yet it’s my belief that anyone can get through anything, because as long as a person has breath left in their body, there is still room for hope, and a person’s capacity to hope is a strength, and a conviction, and something to have faith in.

Healing is a big thing with me. I’m always amazed at how much the body can take, and how much emotional and psychological pain a person can stand before they crack, and still, we can heal. I have faith in that, though of course it isn’t infallible – people still receive damage that is irreversible, but still, I have faith in a person’s healing abilities.

All in all, faith is something I have in the more base instincts and functions of humanity and people. I have it in the human ability to love and forgive and, alternately, hate and rejection and envy, I have faith in emotion - faith in healing, in life and living, in all the things that build a nation of people and bring them together.

Beltane:

Beltane is the festival of Gaelic origin which celebrates the beginning of pastoral summer. At this time, the herds of livestock were driven out to the summer pastures and mountain grazing lands. Also known as May Day.

The lighting of bonfires held particular significance with the festival. For Beltane, the lighting of the bonfires on the eve of Beltane on mountains and hills was one of the main activities of the festival.

The bonfires marked a time of purification and transition, heralding in the season with hope of a good harvest later on in the year. It was accompanied with ritual acts to protect the people from harm by any Otherworldly spirits – who were seen as close at hand at this time of year.

A common mark of Beltane is the practice of hanging May Boughs on doors and windows of houses, erecting May Bushes in farmyards, consisting of either a branch of rowan or whitethorn. The practice of hanging and decorating May Bushes has even survived to this day.

Beltane marks the midpoint in the sun’s progress between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. It is therefore possible that traditionally the festival was celebrated on the full moon nearest the midpoint.

(These are pics from the modern Beltane festival.)

Well done you all get your badges and 100 points.

Right now, I could be talking about my faith as a Christian, my faith that one day my dreams will come true, or even my faith in myself (Though that is little at times) but right now, I shall talk about my faith in my best friend Hannah (Gryffindor_Gal_Filly) I have known Hannah for ten years. We met on the day of the bomb in our town (08.08.98). I ran into Hannah's house when I heard the explosion. Oh, what must she and her parent thought of me.

After that day, me, Hannah, and my ex Best Friend Jessica hung around in a three...but we soon found out that two is company, but three is a crowd. That's when Jessica started to turn on us, trying to steal Hannah away from me, calling me names, spreading nasty rumors about me and Hannah, being so mean to our other friend Rebecca...but in time, me and Hannah soon got over her...and we had each other...best friends until the end.

Today, it's me and Hannah, together, best friends, in our own wee random world, where only we understand each others humor and get each others jokes. Hannah does not go to my school, and my other friends in school get really sick of me talking about her, but I really don't give a tiny rats behind about them or what they think. They are really just jealous because they will never ever be able to get a best friend like Hannah, never in a million years. Me and Hannah are close enough the be sisters, and I really think I could cope without any other friends but her.

A few years back, me and Hannah had a guy 'friend' (who we now refer to as a body part that only males have.) From the first day we started to hang with him, I knew he wanted her... I immediately know he was trying to steal her from me...as a best friend...and I knew that if that happened, that would be the end of my life, and that once he had her he would probably try to go farther. Even though I did not like him at all, I had no choice but to hang around with him every time they hung out...to keep her safe.
One day, he had a grip of her, and would not let go, and she was screaming, and though I know she was faking, and knew I had to help her. My anger got the better of me and a punched him as hard as I could on the side of the face. I knew I had to save her...and I knew I was being stupid, but I did not want to see my best friend in the whole world be hurt by some moron who wanted her as his girlfriend...which he got eventually...but not for long, because Hannah began to see what he truely was. We no longer hang out with him. He was a big loser and a big lier who was toying with my best friend's emotions (though Hannah says she does not get emotional)

I trust Hannah 100% and I am sorry if sometimes I am jealous of her. I do not hink I deserve a friend as great as her...she's the best thing that has ever happened to me...and all my happiest memories, I find, are with her.
She came on holiday to Malta with me last year, and I am going on a Cruise with her this year...and I can't wait.
She's the best friend anyone could ever ask for...



Christmas is the Christian celebration that celebrates Jesus, our saviour Lord's birth. Jesus was born in a stable of Mary, a virgin, who became pregnant by the Holy spirit. The child she would have would be the saviour, who would one day die on the cross, and on the third day rise again.

The Bible says that on the very first Christmas, Shepherd were visited by an angel while watching the sheep in nearby feilds. The angel said that they were to go out and find the saviour king, who would be in a stable, wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger. The Shepherds went and found the baby, and bowed down and worshipped him.

Magi followed a star from the east, and brought the baby gifts of gold, frankinsence and Myrrh, though this happened around about one year after the baby was born.
We must remember this as a key point, as well as the fact that Mary was probably only about the age of fifteen or sixteen or even younger when the child was born.

Today, we still respect the religious side of Christmas, though most people look at it as a time to spend alot of money and buy people presents and make a big fuss. I think that we can do this, but we must still respect the holiday as a special, Christian time, and a time that is to be spent with family and friends. Carol Services are held in locla churches, and everyone is most welcome to them. Children put on plays in school and get off school for a couple of weeks to enjoy themselves. Parents take on the role as Santa Clause, and it excited very young children on the lead up to Christmas to know that Santa is coming very soon. This gives them an insentive to be extra specially good

This all happens in the Christmas of the 21st century...along with much needed charitable giving and other things like it.


LucyXX

Well done you both get your badges and 100 points.

Faith Badge

My Faith

Like many others around the world, I have faith in God, and so under Him, the Saviour Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. I couldn’t honestly say when I became a true Christian, but it starts when I was eight: the church that I’m at also runs a Chinese language class after the worships on Sunday, and so my parents enrolled me and my brother in them. It was also expected that the children participate in Sunday School as well, since they don’t join in with the main worship and sermon. I learnt a lot at Sunday School, but that was just it. I only learnt, and I never took the time to think about what would happen if I believed. So, to put it simply, I had the knowledge about the Bible’s stories, but not the belief.

When I went to high school, I became part of my church’s youth fellowship, which caters for 11-18 year olds. There’s a real focus on finding yourself and finding God, and constantly being told that whatever you are going through, Jesus is the one who saved you. So it was, when I was around 15, that I started to believe, and have faith.

Faith in the Lord has always kept me as who I am. I both feel and know that without God, I’m lost, and don’t know where my life is heading. I have complete trust in God, the things He does, and I have faith that He will forever continue to provide for me and those who believe in Him. Knowing these things has always helped me to get through tough times; I know that there is someone who is always there for me, even if I can’t see them – I know that I am loved by them, and it is this that causes me to always have faith in God.



Easter

Since it’s Easter soon, I thought this would be appropriate. A lot of people now, in this world, view Easter as nothing more than the chance to eat chocolate, have a couple of weeks off school, or, in some cases, to stress out over upcoming exams. However, many will know, even if they don’t celebrate it, that Easter for Christians is one of the most important times of the year. It is a celebration of forgiveness, love, and being forever indebted to the Lord Saviour Jesus Christ. Christians believe that Christ was resurrected on Easter Sunday (this year on April 12th!), two days after Good Friday, the day believed to be that of Jesus’ crucifixion and death.

Easter is preceded by Lent, a period of time in which believers prepare themselves through prayer, fasting, and self-denial. Traditionally, this time, and hence, Easter itself, has no fixed date in the Gregorian calendar. Lent begins in late February or early March, whereas Easter Sunday will fall in late March or early April. The season of Easter lasts until Pentecost, fifty days after Easter Sunday, and the day on which the apostles received the Holy Spirit.

Nowadays, Easter is celebrated around the world through various activities, such as the giving and receiving of chocolate eggs, painting eggs and hiding them for children to find etc.


The Meaning of Easter Photo!

Part One

This is probably a very strange way of looking at things, but it's truly the way I feel. For me there is likely nothing I have more faith in than the power of faith. I know it sounds illogical, but hear me out. There are a million and one things to have faith in, from the awareness that the sun will rise in the east to the idea that there's something out there greater than all of us.

There's a philosophy I hold that I've never quite managed to make anyone understand. I believe that there are no guarantees in life. You may say, "Sure there are. The sun always rises in the east. What goes up must come down. We have laws that govern these things." That's true, but we wrote those laws based on what we've seen. What if somehow the sun rises in the west tomorrow, and the disrupted orbit of the earth is caused by a severe change in gravity? Suddenly, what goes up doesn't come down.

Okay, now that you're all convinced I've proven my own insanity (or at least stupidity), allow me to reach my point. We have faith in those laws. Without that faith, we would walk around in perpetual fear. I choose to take nothing for granted; somehow things could change, but I have faith that they won't. I never forget to acknowlege they could, though. The same holds true for nearly everything I have faith in. There is one exception: my faith in God. I fully refuse to acknowlege the possibility that He doesn't exist. I do accept, though, that my faith in His Word and what He's like could be misplaced. I know that in a year my boyfriend could stop loving me. I know that my sister could become a kind, loving, and responsible young woman overnight. Everyone I love could abandon me tomorrow. I have faith these things won't happen (even if one is soemthing I'd like to see). That faith provides stability in an otherwise chaotic life, something very helpful for an anxiety queen like me.

Faith has strong power in people's lives. Faith in God or science can help someone heal. Faith in a person can change someone's outlook on life. There is a verse or quote from the King James Version of the Bible that my dad used to remind me of quite often. "...If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you." (Matthew 17:20). Whether you take this as currently literal, literal in the past but not in the present, or if you take it as symbolic, this sentiment holds true. That's one thing that never will change--until this world is done.

Part Two
Palm Sunday Celebrations

This Sunday is a very important day for people of the Christian faith, Catholic and protestant alike. April 5, 2009 is the day of the celebration of Palm Sunday. This day is a remembrance of Jesus Christ's journey into Jerusalem just a few days before his crucifixion and subsequent resurrection. It is a day of joy, triumph, and celebration. In modern Jerusalem there are celebrations held on this day. Citizens refer to it as the Jerusalem Carnival. It involves a procession through the streets that follows the same path that Christ and his followers would have taken. People carry palm leaves as they once did nearly two millennia ago. There are musicians and dancers, as well as pilgrims from all over the world who come to remember and imagine what it was like to see their savior and King humbly ride into town (and impending death) on a donkey. Though the knowledge of what would come in a few days time was not lost on Jesus, he went in anyway. Had it not been for the triumphant procession back then, things might not have been the way they were. However, followers of Christ believe that He died so we would be free from the bonds of sin. Though it is beyond sad that he suffered and died, the end result was something to celebrate. Therefore so should be the preceding factors.

Palm Sunday celebration in Jerusalem

Above everything else I have a faith in God and Jesus like a lot of others. It's been that way since I was a little girl as I've been going to church since before I was even born. I am part of a non-demoninational Church of Christ and have been baptized since 2003. I've also been going to a church camp since 2001, which helps me in so many ways every time I go there. Now, I'm not saying that I'm perfect or anything because my faith has wavered at times and naturally I've gone through a questioning stage. Naturally I have wondered if there's even a purpose in my faith. However, I've always come back to the same conclusion after this questioning. The world really doesn't make any sense to me without God behind it.

I discovered a while ago that I can look at a situation two ways: with God and without him and the one with God has more logic behind it. I guess that's the way that my faith helps me. It just helps me to get through each day and know that there's a reason behind it. Know that there is a purpose for life and living and even death. And that purpose always connects back to God and what his plan is for each and every person in the world.

Something that has strengthened my faith even more recently was a game that we played at camp called Romans and Christians. Although it is called a game it was an incredibly powerful experience that brought the Bible to life for everyone involved. It brought real feelings of fear and hope and faith and sadness and sacrifice to everyone. It was really something that put my faith even stronger and made me believe a lot more firmly in God as well as making me thankful for the ability of being able to freely worship my God and has taken a lot of left over feelings of doubt away from me.



Three Kings Day

Three Kings Day is a Christian holiday that is celebrated twelve days after Christmas on January 6th and it is devoted to the three kings that actually followed a star to Bethlehem and brought presents to the baby Jesus. The holiday is, for the most part, celebrated in Latin American countries and in quite a few ways could be considered the equivalent of Christmas because it shares so many similarities with the holiday.

The holiday is mostly split up in it's happenings. During the twelve days between Christmas and Three Kings Day children go around dressed as kings and singing carols as well as telling the biblical story that goes along with the holiday. In exchange the kids usually get candy and money, though they usually give up the money. The night before Three Kings Day kids actually put their shoes out in hopes of getting presents. Things like prayers and burning of herbs as well as sprinkling doors with holy water happen too. On Three Kings Day those families that actually had Christmas trees take them down to symbolize the end of the holiday. The kids taking part in celebrations get to open presents, eat traditional foods, go to parties and go to church as well.

Well done you three get your badges and 100 points.

1. Describe in 300 words something or someone you have faith in. How does it feel? Where did it start? How does it help you?

The one thing I have true faith in is the Lord. I know how cliché that must sound, but its true. I can’t really even describe how it feels. It’s like waking up and feeling sunshine on your face, but it can also be the night before when you cry yourself to sleep. Religion is kind of a new thing to me. I’ve only accepted God into my life this year. Before that, I said I was a Christian, but only because it annoyed my mom off. My faith in the Lord has helped me drastically this past year. In January, my life began to spiral downwards. I lost everything and everybody I had in my life besides my mom and brother. In February, I tried to commit suicide for the third time. That time, I got really close and I was hospitalized. I had to have my stomach pumped and I was on an IV for about 5 days before going to a mental insitute. While I was there, I started to look at myself. I mean really look at myself. At how I was living my life, and the choices I was making. I still didn’t want to live, and I knew that I didn’t ‘have the will within’ me like everyone was trying to tell me. So, I started to try and explain why I was still alive. I kept thinking that maybe I was just to much of a screw-up to even succeed at the very thing I wanted the most. Then, one day, my little sister called me. We talked for almost an hour about how hard everyone was taking it and how she’d been praying for me every night. Then, she asked me if I wanted to pray with her. I told her I would, and at first I didn’t take it seriously. As soon as my sister started her prayer, I started crying. I don’t think I will ever forget her words. “Dear God, thank you for saving my sister. I don’t know what I would do without her. eShe’s the only one who knows the real me.” That’s the moment that I realized that maybe, just maybe I didn’t die because I wasn’t supposed to die yet. That God had bigger plans for and wasn’t done with me quite yet. When I feel like I’m about to break down, He is there for me. When I’m on the top of a mountain, He is right there next to me looking down at the land that He created. God saved my life. God is my everything.

2. Research a festival on faith of any kind and document in 200-300 words. Include a picture.

With this one, I think I’m going to have to talk about this summer camp that my sister went to this year. Its this huge camp, called Young Life, that thousands of teenagers go to every year. They stay for about a week. Paige (my sister) went, and she said it was of the most emotional things that she has ever gone through. Everyone who works there, are people who volunteer just so that they can spread the word of Jesus Christ. I know, I most likely sound like a total blubbering idiot, but I really don’t care. The campers have one on one talks with leaders, which was probably one of the most stressful things for my sister while she was there. Although, its not all bible study and what not. There is free time, where everyone can bond and grow life-long friendships. There was one day, when they went to rock climbing up a 40 foot cliff. The point was that no matter where life takes you, He will always be there to catch you when you fall. The purpose of the camp is to teach teenagers about God, and that there is a reason as to why he made life on Earth possible. I know this isn’t exactly a festival, but it’s a tradition for our family…well now it is (:


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1. I have faith in life, and all it has to offer. This may seem like a broad subject, and to some who read this it could appear as a given, but I've learnt with years how easy it is to lose hope and faith in the life that we are living day after day. I consider myself to have a simple and easy life - I have not been spoiled, but I have a family who loves me and whom I love, and through the years I've met with incredible people who have all changed my outlook on the world and who I am, even if we've drifted apart with time. I have faith that hitting a low is just a chance to get back up and for things to be better, and I have faith that the dark times that come to anyone as they grow older will pass if you believe in it and work for it. I have faith that I was not born for nothing, that I will find a purpose to my life and that I will be able to live it, and I have faith that, if I work toward my goals and keep on believing in them, I will achieve what I want to achieve.

I have faith that everything happens for a reason, and that some events we just can't fight. That every bump on the road, and every tragedy we go through makes us a stronger person, no matter how hard they are to get through. I have faith that life can be beautiful for anyone and everyone - not easy, but beautiful - and that we just have to find what makes it so, be it family, friends or love, a pet, a goal to achieve, an inspiration. And I have faith that it is not all for nothing - that when we come to the end of it all, we do not simply disappear, dissolve into thin air. That we will not forget those we have loved, and that those we have loved will not forget us. May it be Heaven or any other kind of after life, I believe we will all find something there.


2. Good Friday (also known by the names of Holy Friday, Black Friday and Great Friday) is a Christian holiday that commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus Christ and his death at Calvary. It is observed during Holy Week, on the Friday preceeding Easter, and often coincides with the Jewish holiday of Passover. Based on several researches of scriptural details and even lunar cycles, it has been determined that the crucifixion would have occured on a Friday April 3rd, AD 33.

In the Catholic Church, Good Friday is usually considered a day of fast, and in countries where it is not a day of rest from work, the afternoon lithurgical service tends to be put off a few hours after the recommended time of 3 pm (in Quebec where I live, for instance, employers have the choice to give their employees Good Friday or Easter Monday, along with Easter). In many countries, Good Friday is considered to be a public or federal holiday, and most stores as well as banks and government offices are closed. Traditionally, Roman Catholics are to abstain from eating meat any Friday of the year, but nowadays, this is no longer a requirement but for a few holidays. Most Roman Catholics will eat fish or vegetables on Good Friday.