Faith comes from experience.

Last night I was with another Buddhist family and our talk drifted to the strength of one's faith. It is a story of how sincerity and true love for one's 'brother' lead a man to accept a religion.

First of all, before I continue, let me repeat what i have said all this while: I belong to no religion but have a strong belief in God. I know, it's most contradictory for some people but that is how it is. Through personal experiences, I know and feel His presence but religion; that is a totally different story as religion has been messed up by people. Still, I have a healthy respect for all religions.

However, today it is not about me. It is about a young man a friend knew. He grew up deprived of his parents presence. Look after by relatives, he understood the toughness of life. With parents who left nothing to him when they passed away, he depended upon an uncle, his own father's brother.

Without any parents, he grew up always having insufficient funds to finance his education, wants and needs. The uncle always advised him to stop schooling and start working to have money for himself. Luckily for this guy in Penang, his uncle lived near a church in Macalister Road where there was a church. Although his and his uncle's family were Buddhist, the church came to know of his problems. The church was caring enough to provide him with school fees, money for second-hand books and clothing. Otherwise, he would have to drop out of school very early in life.

At form three level, he passed his examination with such good grades that the uncle (imagine that!) became jealous of his results and commented that he should stop schooling then and get a job with his Lower Certificate of Examination results to support his own life. Even the aunt was flabbergasted with the husband's remarks. What kind of job can the young boy of fifteen do to support himself? Apparently, the uncle was unhappy because this young man achieved better results than his sons.

Fortunately, there was always the church and the people there who constantly gave verbal as well as monetary support. Eventually, he got his School Certificate at form five and was able to get a job. With a job and a place of his own, he attended church and became a Christian. Some people were aghast with his embracing Christianity. Yet, these people did not realise that his position then was only made possible by the amazing love that he received from people he did not know, people who were not even related to him. Help came from loving hearts that grew in a church.

I would say he has done the right thing. Perhaps I would have condemned him if he had done otherwise, although I do not believe in condemning people for their choice of religion.

God gives us the choice. That is my belief. Since God is all powerful, and who among us can say otherwise, if he does not want us to have any other choice but one particular religion, he would have not given it existence. Don't worry is you disagree for I respect your religion and God.