It's on our vision board. https://twitter.com/joeycochran/status/1387385239627079681

Don't laugh but @n_d_anderson & I did some white boarding for our family over the weekend & sure as anything, we included "Keep our faith" as one of our goals.

The kids also added "house w/ a creek" & "another dog" so take it for what it's worth, BUT...

I think there's something to be said for recognizing that faith is a tenuous thing, especially when both the world & religious structures around you operate in ways that resist healthy spirituality.

So when I say "keep our faith," I don't mean the kind of bunker mentality or white-knuckling so prevalent in fundamentalism. I'm not talking about hunkering down, repressing questions, & fending off the world. I mean we want to actively create space for faith to grow & flourish.

We want to create a lifestyle that removes barriers to spiritual attention & roots out things like fear, control, anger, consumption, scarcity--all those things that choke out faith.

IOW, we're betting that the surest way to "keep our faith" is by fostering it & being willing to cede control over the process to God.

But all that to say, I think part of remaining in the faith must include the awareness of how easily faith dies w/in our own hearts. That faith is a growing, living thing that must be cultivated & cared for. That toxic or infertile environments can kill it.

It should also brings a great deal of empathy for those who struggle to believe b/c we *know* how fragile faith is. Of course, people doubt. Of course, we have questions. Of course, it is a mystery.

But to @joeycochran's original question (which I don't think he intended to be about perseverance):

I'm still a Christian because I can't get over the hope of Resurrection.