A friend recently posted that those words can annoy her.
I definitely don’t want to annoy her. I think she is correct that we may actually distance
ourselves from the other’s pain when we give advice or repeat bland platitudes
like “Have Faith.” I try to sit
and be present when a friend shares the space around a wound. And I find it most difficult to keep my
mouth shut. When I do keep quiet sometimes
I feel that I’ve failed at being sympathetic.
What does it mean, to “have faith”? I guess it depends on your definition
of the word, and having different meanings to our words is one of the hallmarks
of our language. Faith.
I tend to think that faith is connected to having belief in
something unseen, and there might be different levels of faith. I’ve heard that having faith in the law
of gravity to keep me grounded is one thing, but it’s a whole different kind to
jump from a 20-story building with faith that God will catch me.
I think the scientific method is the best way to learn about
the natural world but I guess I have faith in the science community to follow
the scientific method in exploring our universe. I don’t know from personal experience that all or even most
scientists actually did a particular experiment or bit of research, but I have
faith that someone in the community reproduced the results satisfactorily. I
have faith that they would not stay silent if the experimenter was wrong.
To one extreme, faith beyond belief might be called
knowledge. On the other extreme,
faith might be called insanity.
Which way is which? I have
faith that we humans have the capacity to figure it out. I could be insane.
I don’t want to annoy her, so I won’t say it. But I’m thinking it real loud.
Dennis
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