What a great question!

When one is a writer the entire world is out there waiting to inspire. The trick is to always be on the look out for that inspiration. This morning a friend asked a simple question that I couldn't resist writing about. Her question was: "Is faith the same thing as knowing?" Wow what a great question!

I began with Webster, who is supposed to be a great authority on definitions, although personally I don't always believe they are accurate. So here it is: faith is a firm belief in something or someone. Of course, it went on to take on a religious slant.

My definition is: faith is an absolute belief in unseen energy. I believe it has a lot to do with following intuition, which in my opinion, is our Universal Guidance System.

Is that the same thing as knowing? Maybe, maybe not. It probably depends on the circumstances.

This question caused me to clearly remember an experience that happened back in 2000 when I was the Resource Development Coordinator for our local nursing home. I had planned a huge block party on the grounds of the facility. The event invited the community to purchase a space for $10 to promote anything they chose to promote. My aim was to connect the community to the nursing home residents in a different way than anyone had ever thought of. Money was not my priority, although it was a very successful project and took in over $2,000. A couple of days before the event the head of nursing asked me what I was going to do if it rained. My answer was, "it's not going to rain!" There was not a doubt in my mind of this fact. She kept asking and I kept giving her the same answer. Out of the corner of my eye I saw that the Administrator had a smile on his face.

Guess what? The day of the event was a bright sunny Sunday without a trace of rain. I absolutely knew it wasn't going to rain, there wasn't a doubt in my mind and I wasn't going to allow someone else to screw that up! Did my knowing have to do with faith in a person or thing or did I simply follow my Universal Guidance System? You be the judge.

Author's note: The next year, after I left the facility, the Chamber of Commerce tried to put on the same event- it was a complete disaster.