Faith
April Ambles: Reflections of a Philosophical Forager — Day 29
The prophet Paul speaks of faith, hope and love, in that order. We have spoken of hope in a previous article. Today we amble into faith, a vast area with varied interpretations.
The Oxford dictionary defines faith as “complete trust or confidence in someone or something”. Faith has also been defined as “a firm, cordial belief in the veracity of God”.
Perhaps in defining faith, it might help to question how faith differs from hope. Some people say that it is possible to have faith without hope, but not the inverse. I disagree. Faith without hope would be a sad state, and hope without faith might be considered, by some, the more realistic view.
Faith, I believe, is more difficult than hope, and at it’s finest, is a more enduring state. Hope might come and go (faith as well), but it is likewise a state of being.
Are we born with faith? I think not. Are we born with hope? I like to think so. We hope that we will have another meal. We hope that someone will pick us up and hold us. Do we have faith that these things will happen?
Perhaps if enough of our needs are met at an early age, we develop faith. But what if our needs are not met? Can we still develop faith?
Hope, it seems, has a question mark accompanying it. Faith has a period, although people are known to question their faith as well. Both are intangible. Is one greater than the other? Can there be one without the other? Are they possibly one and the same, at the core?
Perhaps the most marked difference we might come up with is that hope projects to a moment in the future, whereas faith is where we are now.
At best, hope and faith are intertwined, each one contributing to the other.
For more amblings from the author, check out Child of the Woods: An Appalachian Odyssey.
