“You give life, You are love, You bring light to the darkness, You give hope, You restore every heart that is broken. Great are you, Lord!”

So begins the hymn “Great are you Lord” (you will find the video below), of the former American Christian band All Sons & Daughters. I discovered it by accident in 2017, after reading a friend’s Facebook post. I love these words as well as the song. I will listen to it when I feel sad or after a heavy day.

Faith is part of my journey. Growing up in a catholic household, I have been a Christian all over my life but I have experienced different phases. As of today I am not attending church regularly: not because I am lazy but because at this stage of my life I don’t always feel the need to live my faith communally. I prefer to fulfil it in a private way. Through the years I have met truly honest, inspiring, caring Christians in church as well as outside of a church.

I have never stopped praying. This has been a constant line in my life even if it comes more naturally when I am having a difficult period or when I need to make important choices or when somebody I love needs help. I do believe but I also have reasonable doubts. Jesus came into our world and stayed in relative anonymity for 30 years before starting his public life, preaching, listening, traveling, looking for conversion and choosing the weak and the sinners as his favourite interlocutors. Last but not least he healed and performed miracles. Then He was crucified, because he admitted to being the “son of God”.

I really find it helpful to read the gospels. But I ask myself, ‘why after His death, are we not free from the original sin and why has humanity constantly leaned towards wars, hate, discrimination, and misjudgment’. Mostly it spread from the desire for power, greed, narrow-minded attitudes and from the fear of others or for being different.

I am always impressed with the methods we find to overcome troubles. There seems to be a sort of invisible force leading us to accomplish what looks “impossible”. I was able to discover my strengths during challenging times but there must be “something” or “somebody” up there, helping, inspiring and asking us to live happily and peacefully.

To me, faith is related to genuine goodwill and to a commitment to improve ourselves. Admitting our limits and pushing ourselves to work and make the best of ourselves, while also exploiting our own talents and gifts. Try to judge ourselves and others less should therefore create a feeling of greater “freedom”.

Religion is also about hope and love because, in some way or another, we are all love-seekers. In Krzysztof Kieslowski’s first movie “Dekalog”, a young mother, after being asked by her son “How is God like?”, she hugs him and asks: “What are you feeling now?”. The child replies: “I love you” and the mother says: “Well, this is God”.