When the word ‘faith’ came into the English language, it traveled from the Old French ‘feid’ by way of the Latin ‘semper fidelis’ (always loyal).  It’s meaning had nothing to do with belief in the absence of proof but instead with keeping promises.  ‘Faith’ was not a statement about belief, but about behavior.  Source

I know many people who are always loyal to their practice, their behavior, setting aside regular time to hone their craft.  They set aside time to play their scales, feel how the melody can move, changing between passages at first clumsily and then with more and more ease. 

I have not been one of those people.  If there’s an immediate goal in front of me, sure.  That concert is coming up mighty soon, or I better learn the piece I need to teach tonight.  But I’m reminded of first learning to play the recorder.  Think of the first instrument you were ever taught in school.  Was it the recorder for you as well?  Or maybe it was the ukulele.  Remember how slow it was to change between one note or chord to the next.  Remember how awkward you first felt to do something new?  But you kept at it until the school concert or through each year of school, or till you felt ready to play or sing something for friends.  

It won’t be today, it might not be tomorrow, but someday, sometime you will play or sing better than you dreamed possible.  This month, I’m going to strive to renew my relationship with regular practicing.  I will go slower, I will set shorter goals each week, I will learn something new, I will share what I’ve learned with family and friends.  

This will be done not as an act of something I should do but as what Soulful Home curator, Theresa Honey-Youngblood suggests as “a  kind of learning-prayer, sending faith for a better future out into the world.” (see ‘The Extra Mile’ of soulful home packet for March)