I believe in God. It is a choice I make. My reasons for believing in God are simple.

I believe in God because it gives me comfort and strength to feel as if I am talking to someone in times of need, whether it is something big (like when my dad was in the hospital after having a sudden cardiac arrest) or something small (like when I can finally clasp the necklace I am trying to put on).

I believe in God because it gives me peace to think that some people will get a reward in heaven when they die. I think about my mom and some of the things she has endured in her life and how selfless and giving she is and I simply cannot fathom that she would leave this world someday and not be rewarded richly for her kindness and generosity.

I believe in God because it makes my heart feel calm to think that people I love whom I’ve lost are merely waiting for me when it is my time to join them. I don’t want to think that I will never see my grandmother again or that people I know who have lost children will never see them again.

Maybe I am naive or foolish to believe in God. Maybe my reasons for believing in God are petty. But I don’t care. If I am content to believe, why should it matter to anyone else? I don’t question why other people believe in God; if they do, they have their own reasons. I also don’t question why people don’t believe in God because I am sure they also have their own reasons.

Believing in God doesn’t make me morally superior. It doesn’t even make me moral. But it does make me happy, and it does make me feel at peace. And those are two pretty amazing gifts.