While thinking about the word \u201cfaith\u201d as it applied to my way of life, it occurred to me that I\u2019d better look it up to make sure that it means all I think it means. \u201cA firm belief without need of proof,\u201d says the dictionary.<\/p>\n
Faith to me means \u201cbelief,\u201d \u201ctrust\u201d and \u201cloyalty”; good solid words which I, as a little tike in Oklahoma, was brought up to recognize and try to live by. My folks were good, church-going people.<\/p>\n
My granddaddy was a sort of preacher back in Texas, where I learned to sing by being taught the old-time hymns in a country church, but my idea of faith isn\u2019t completely wrapped up in religion or formal dogma. I think the Lord meant a man should have faith in himself and in his loved ones as well as in Him.<\/p>\n
READ MORE: ROY ROGERS ON FINDING FAITH<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n If somebody else has faith in you, it will go a long way toward making you a success. This has been proven to me in my own life. The first round-up that\u2019s necessary is the people who have faith in you. Listen to them. At least three persons showed belief in me when I wasn\u2019t sure about myself.<\/p>\n I left my father\u2019s Oklahoma ranch to work for the Frisco Railroad as telegrapher at a whistle-stop station, Chelsea, near Claremore. I was playing my guitar and singing one quiet night in that little station when an inconspicuous man entered.<\/p>\n He wore a soft felt hat pulled down over his eyes. I didn\u2019t observe him closely. While he was writing, I went on singing.<\/p>\n \u201cSay,\u201d he said suddenly, \u201cyou don\u2019t sing so bad. Why don\u2019t you go into show business?\u201d<\/p>\n I laughed. I had seen very few shows and never gave much thought to the theatre.<\/p>\n This fellow smiled and drawled, \u201cI think you have talent, son. You keep on singing and playing that \u2018gittar\u2019 and have faith in yourself, and you\u2019ll be a real entertainer one of these days.\u201d<\/p>\n He left the station, and the minute he had gone I knew there was something familiar about him. I looked at his message, and it was signed, \u201cWill Rogers.<\/a>\u201d<\/p>\n Have faith in myself, he had told me. I thought about that in the next few months. What was having faith in oneself? Was it cockiness or egotism? I decided that, for me at least, faith meant that I should realize the Lord gave me health, fair intelligence, a liking for singing songs, and a capacity for hard work.<\/p>\n If I combined all four I might get somewhere besides a telegrapher\u2019s job in a little Oklahoma town. I liked the idea of singing for my supper. If people wanted to listen, so much the better.<\/p>\n READ MORE: JOHN WAYNE ON TRUE COURAGE<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n I started out as \u201cOklahoma\u2019s Yodelling Cowboy.\u201d It was tough. Sometimes I sang, but didn\u2019t get my supper. The Depression had started.<\/p>\n I still had faith; otherwise I would have been completely discouraged. I wanted to make phonograph records, so I went to New York, an ignorant country kid, because I thought that was where you started in the recording business. I got the brush-off for sure when I struck Manhattan.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t blame them now, those busy executives whose offices I stormed. I wore my \u201cstore\u201d clothes, tried to seem like another Rudy Vall\u00e9e, and it just didn\u2019t go over.<\/p>\n A kindly gentleman finally listened to me. He was Arthur Satherly, who was, and still is, in charge of \u201cCountry Music\u201d for Columbia Records. He\u2019s a sort of talent scout for the hill and prairie belt.<\/p>\n He told me that I should stick to the songs I knew best, and if I did so, he believed I could become a successful exponent of Western tunes.<\/p>\n I didn\u2019t think much of that idea, but I recognized he had faith in my field. I returned to Tulsa and eventually, as he had advised, landed a sustaining spot on a local radio station. I specialized in the songs of my childhood. Soon I was making records.<\/p>\n The culmination of Art Satherly\u2019s faith in me occurred just a few months ago. On behalf of his company, he presented me with a gold phonograph record of one of my early songs, mounted on a plaque; it was a proud moment, to stand beside Art, shake his hand and thank him for believing in me those long ago days.<\/p>\n When I got my own sponsored radio program in Chicago, I married Ina Mac Spivey, a girl from back home. We set up housekeeping in Chicago. I didn\u2019t make a lot of money, though it seemed a great deal to me.<\/p>\n READ MORE: WALTER BRENNAN ON PERSEVERANCE<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n One day an executive of a new Hollywood film company offered me a chance to make a \u201cmusical Western\u201d movie.<\/p>\n Now, I wasn\u2019t and still am not an actor in the artistic sense of the word. I was never trained in speech or stage business. I liked the Hollywood proposition, but I was scared to pull stakes and go out to California. I discussed it with Ina. She\u2019s a forthright person with a world of faith.<\/p>\n She said, \u201cHoney, of course we\u2019ll go to California, and you\u2019ll be a success.\u201d<\/p>\n So we went. I shall never forget the rushes of that first movie I made. They were terrible. I sat in the comforting darkness of the studio projection room, holding Ina\u2019s hand for dear life and wishing I\u2019d disappear into the floor. For once, it seemed that you could carry this faith in yourself too far.<\/p>\n I whispered to Ina, \u201cLet\u2019s go back to Chicago. I\u2019ll never make a go of this.\u201d And she whispered back, \u201cLet\u2019s not. Let\u2019s stay. You WILL be a success. I believe in you.\u201d<\/p>\n Her faith fanned mine when it was at low ebb, and helped me over the biggest hurdle\u2014my own lack of self-confidence.<\/p>\n In the long run faith is a rule or creed which a man adopts for himself. It has bolstered me all my life, especially when I\u2019ve had to make decisions or have been mixed up and confused, like in the war when we went overseas, or when faced with a business crisis, or the hundreds of tough situations that arise each day.<\/p>\n Faith in what you know you want to do can take you a long way, but I think there are a lot of others besides myself who would have bogged down along the way if it hadn\u2019t been for those who believed and had faith in us.<\/p>\n Did you enjoy this story? Subscribe to <\/em>Guideposts<\/strong><\/a> magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n