Faith

feɪθ
Faith

What does faith mean? Being modern, I did not go try to locate my dictionary under my pile of books, and looked at Dictionary.com definition on the internet. Faith is the "confidence or trust in a person or thing" such as having "faith in another's ability."

The definition on the internet says that faith can also be a "belief that is not based on proof," such as in "He had faith that the hypothesis would be substantiated by fact." However that fact has not been revealed yet, so there is no telling what the truth really was.

I recently had an event where I acted out in faith, but upon further investigation, discovered that my faith had been mislead, or had been based on faulty information. Where does "confidence or trust in another person or thing," come into to play when we find out the evidence that confidence is based on is not fact.

The first thing is the importance of discovery process of truth. In my process of investigation of the situation above, I discovered much about myself deepened my relationship with God through prayer. It is important to ask even if pain is sometimes involved. As I was writing this blog, my mother asked me, if Santa Claus was thinking about delivering anything for her for Christmas. I was at that point in my focus to finish the blog the rest of her information got a bit fuzzy - something about bulbs.

In the past, Mother and I have wrapped up household items, so when I heard light bulbs, it didn't faze me too much. I realized though I had not heard the entirety of her statement, so while it did not matter if I understand fully if Santa was bringing her something, I decided it might be prudent to discover what were the things that Mother actually wanted to get for Christmas. I looked up from what I was doing and said "Okay, Santa's giving you light bulbs and what." Mother had this hurt look come over her face, and said, "Flower bulbs, . . . amaryllis, tulips." I then had to give Mom a big hug, and tell her I was sorry, but I was glad the confusion stopped now - although it would have been really funny on Christmas.

When we say "In faith, he is a fine lad." We also mean "In truth" or "Indeed, he is a fine lad." Faith can also be "a system of religious beliefs such as the Christian faith or the Jewish faith." There is a standard to which faith must agree with truth to some degree - or maybe in total. It's just that the facts may not all be visible at the time to prove that the boy is a fine lad, but all evidence points to the fact that he is. While it is possible to have faith in something that is not true, as to the fact that I thought my mother had said light bulbs, faith must be in some measure be endowed with truth - and it is the process of discovery that we discover that truth. We just must be willing to take that journey or discover what that truth is out there - or else be resigned to stay in our ignorance, and safe boxes of believing only what we can see and understand.


Reference from http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/faith, November 16, 2010