I’m a woman of faith. I believe in a lot of things: God, goodness, a happy ending, true love. None of these are logical conclusions. Looking at the world around me, it’s easy to think that the overwhelming evidence points to the contrary.

I don’t need to go over that evidence. You’ve seen it, too. Just reading the news is enough, frankly. Recently, we had to have the internet safety talk with our son because we want to protect him from things he can’t un-see. The world is so very full of things that we can’t un-see.

So why believe in goodness and that happy ending? Why believe in God or in a soul-mate, for that matter? Truthfully, I wanted to—I needed to—and instead of waiting to be convinced beyond a shadow of doubt, I had to find a reason to believe.

There is a whisper. But I couldn’t convince you if you didn’t want to hear it. A person can’t be argued into it. If you raise your voice, you drown it out.

It’s like a buttercup in a garbage dump. There’s a lot of garbage, yes, but that buttercup has more meaning in the midst of all the trash and rot. There is evidence for soulmates, even though hearts get broken. There is evidence that love is stronger than hate, even though hatred and ambivalence are so prevalent. There is evidence if we care to see it, and with that evidence comes hope.

If you have the reason to look for it, you can find the flowers in the trash heap, the Happily Ever After after all those kissed frogs.

If you have reason to believe.

Those who don’t believe in magic will never find it.
~Raold Dahl