Ground up

A faith, like a house, should be built from the foundations up. When we allow ourselves to 'inherit' our faith from our parents or dominant social group we are basically throwing up a structure like the proverbial house on the sand. The rains come, the house falls flat, and we keep building it right up again from the same basis. We rehearse our lines and are reassured by those around us. Can we say that we have foundations if we have not built them ourselves? If matey boy tells me 'yes this house has excellent foundations' I can assure you I will still employ a surveyor, even if he seems the most honest and trustworthy person I have ever met. Seems. That is the point. Can we boldly state the 'truth' of what we believe unless we have considered the possibility of an alternative view? Are we sticking to what we truly believe or grasping it desperately in the fear that it may melt away in our hands? If you consider yourself a person of faith, to what lengths have you gone to establish that your foundations are grounded, that your beliefs are sincere and not simply adopted?