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The earliest and most magical memory in my life, was without doubt, the tooth fairy.

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I鈥檇 place my manky little tooth wrapped up in a bit of tissue under my pillow, and wake up to find a gleaming twenty pence coin in its place.

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The wonder of it made my eyes widen in awe and the breath catch in my chest. I imagined the tooth fairy whisking away my recently departed molar to Tooth Heaven, where fountains of sweets and an eternity of plaque-free bliss awaited.

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But, the magic began to lose its pearly white sparkle, when some copper two penny pieces appeared instead of silver coins. Was the tooth fairy facing a recession? I recalled my parents mention money problems. Doubt crept in.

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One night, I decided not to tell mum and dad about the tooth under my pillow. And as morning broke, so too did my belief in the tooth fairy. As the tiny wobble of a thing lay there unclaimed, my little heart sank in disappointment.

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Having wondrous highs and crestfallen lows pretty much sums up my life as a person of faith. The challenges of seeing a world in pain, a world in hope, a world in flux is part of the rollercoaster of belief.

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Prophet Muhammad captured this idea when he said: 鈥楾he example of the heart is that of a feather blown about by the wind of the desert.鈥�

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The heart is where faith resides. It gets thrown around by a desert wind, swaying this way and that with each pull and push of life. For me, faith is a beating, living thing, it鈥檚 a heart rate that dips and peaks all the time.

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The tooth fairy taught me that if you believe in something, it won鈥檛 always turn up under your pillow. The answer to my prayers won鈥檛 always be right in front of my eyes, and sometimes the answer won鈥檛 seem to come at all. But that鈥檚 life, that鈥檚 faith.

There are times I struggle with it, there are times I marvel at it, there are times I critique it. But like my heart, faith is what keeps me alive.

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