Habari Gani? Imani (Faith)!
Kwanzaa Day 7 brings it to a close. So I'll keep it short and sweet.
And just like that it’s 2025 would you look at that. I came into the New Year surrounded by new friends and beautiful energy. It was a fantastic filled with joy. I am grateful to every person that chooses to risk their sanity by cohabitating this world with me. Well done to you. Good luck.
Faith, a tenet that most often coincides with religion finds a secular meaning through Kwanzaa. What does faith look like outside of a search for what is holy?
My oldest sister introduced me to the idea of not being Christian but “speaking the language of christianity” seeing as we were brought up on the church. I still see the beauty in certain principles I was introduced to the the house of the Lord amongst His servants, problematic as it was. My understanding of faith is rooted in the bible verse Hebrew 11:1
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
When not painted in the delusions of religious psychosis, this is a profound understanding of belief. Applying this to comrades, community, and loved ones (hopefully those are pretty interchangeable) is where beauty sprouts.
When your hopes of a thriving community have not become tangible it is FAITH in the future of that community and the people around you that must keep you going. When the evidence of progress is playing peekaboo with you, FAITH of the work you have done, in the love you experience, in the way you are held is necessary to see those dreams come to fruition.
We must continue to be faithful of ourselves. We must continue to be faithful of our connection to each other. We must continue to be faithful in the preparations we have done to get to where we will at once be.
Tonight, light that seventh final candle, it should be the last green one. Extend yourself in full gratitude for what you have and be faithful in all that you have steeped yourself in to continue growing in the directions you work for.
- Carma <3
Thank you eternally for facilitating a space to complete this Kwanzaa series. Every person that reads anything I write is motivation for me to continue. Thank you, thank you, thank you.
In case you’ve missed it, here’s the rest of the Kwanzaa series:
Day 6
Day 5
Day 4
Habari Gani? Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics)!
Day 3
Day 2
Day 1
Thank you for sharing a little bit about Kwanzaa these past few days! It's been very interesting and I've learned a bit about something I knew little about. I hope you had a happy new year and that 2025 brings you great things!