A Faith That Can Move Mountains; AS BLAIR MOVES CLOSER TO CATHOLICISM, HOW THE POWER OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF CAN CHANGE POLITICS

Byline: PAUL JOHNSON

T HE prospect that Tony Blair may become a Catholic fills some people with disquiet because of the constitutional problems which might arise. It fills me with joy because of the strength that I know, from experience, the gift of faith brings to those with difficult work to do.

Faith is, indeed, a gift. It is something extra, something added to the intellectual muscles and the emotional sinews of the personality.

It invests a life which may have been bustling and energetic, but ultimately aimless, with a new purpose, added determination and courage, and - not least - inner serenity.

You can pray for faith but you cannot demand it.

It is not there for the asking or, indeed, for the arguing. Some are born with it and keep it all their lives. They are the truly lucky ones who never experience doubt and the dismay it brings.

Others have faith, then lose it: a fate which would fill me with terror.

There are some - not many I think - who never have faith and who pass through life thinking they do not …

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: A Faith That Can Move Mountains; AS BLAIR MOVES CLOSER TO CATHOLICISM, HOW THE POWER OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF CAN CHANGE POLITICS. Contributors: Not available. Newspaper title: Daily Mail (London). Publication date: March 6, 1998. Page number: 8. © 2007 Daily Mail. COPYRIGHT 1998 Gale Group.

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