Keeping faith in a violent world

In today’s world, we often find that we are surrounded by violence and suffering on all fronts. There is almost always violence in our news, violence in our movies, violence in our music, and violence almost everywhere else. In this culture of violence, it is often difficult for us to keep our faith as Christians. Nevertheless, it becomes even more important to do so in order to try to combat this violence in our hearts. 

Perhaps the most important part of keeping our faith in times of violence is in recognizing the good people that God has given the tools to help those affected. By doing so, we can hope to learn from their good actions and maybe even follow in their footsteps. Some might say that there is little they can do to curb the violence in our world, but this is why keeping faith becomes so important. 

By remaining close to God through our good deeds and service, we can have faith that no matter how small our actions may seem, they can do much to alleviate the suffering when we all work together in carrying out God’s will. Even on the small scale, we can do much to better someone’s day by giving them love, care and support. 

This, in my opinion, is the best way to keep faith. By helping others and seeing the effects it has on those we aid, we can begin to see that, despite how it may seem at times, we can truly have a significantly positive impact on our world, helping to ­alleviate the culture of violence and suffering around us. Thus, we can have faith that we may someday be able to create a better world. Not just for the few, but for all. 

Gabe Silverstein is a junior at Bishop Maginn High School in Albany.