That Isn't What Faith Means

Note: the following post is not meant to stir theological argument although such discussion could become interesting. It is just where my thoughts took me in response to a question, or two questions really. See if you agree. This post is not meant to demean those who have religious faith but to explore what the word does and doesn't mean.

I saw this question posed on FB: "Without faith, how do you find purpose in life? What gives your life meaning? What gives you hope?"

There were any number of responses, and unlike what is often the case on that site, they were mostly pretty calm and rational. And that is not where I am heading in this post.

But in the course of comments and replies, I saw this response: "Doesn't everyone exercise Faith everyday?"

I think I know what the person means. Things like this.

Don't you have faith that when you hit the light switch that the lights will come on?

When you're driving the car and put on the brakes, isn't your trust that they will engage, faith?

I wouldn't call that faith in the sense of the original question; we're talking about something different than that concept of faith..

I assume that the original question has to do with heaven and a personal God with a personal plan for your life. The belief that you will see all of your loved ones and live in eternal bliss gives meaning and purpose. Or something like that.

Maybe you believe that or not, but that's neither here nor there for the moment.

What I am getting at is that that sort of faith is based on hope or at least belief. You might think that you've thought it out and that your belief is well considered and totally rational. And maybe you have and  maybe it is. But it is not based on experience or palpable evidence. At least not the light switch or brake analogy kind of evidence.

On the other hand, experience has taught us that we have a legitimate expectation that the lights will come on or that the brakes will work. Occasionally, the bulb may have burnt out, but we know where to get another one, and we expect based on experience that the new one will work. The light will come on, even if not immediately in a few rare cases.

The same with brakes. Have you ever had yours fail? I grant that it must surely happen on extremely rare occasions, but most likely not really to any one of us. Based on countless repetitions, we have a most reasonable expectation that our brakes will work. Every time.

To answer the question above, the second one I mean, that is not the same kind of faith as believing in unseen things for which you have no concrete evidence. So no, in that sense we don't exercise faith everyday. In point of fact, in the humdrum everyday course of life, I suppose that most of us exercise faith hardly at all.