Blind Faith

Hebrews 11:1 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 

Describe your faith. Has it changed over the years?

It's pretty common these days among Christ-followers (which is in itself a way to distance us from narrow-minded evangelical fundamentalists who know everything) to entertain periods of doubt. In fact to say you are absolutely sure about something is to invite an argument. Doubting is normal, many say, natural. Yet Hebrews 11:1 seems to present the principle that faith and certainty are synonymous, that even the word hope means sure expectation, not maybe. It all seems to hinge on that last clause: what we do not see. That's the rub. We say it's hard to believe in things we cannot see.

Some who would say they are not religious in any way seem to have faith. The person who would ridicule biblical creationism in favor of an evolutionary model has great faith that the "science" of evolution is true, that if we only had enough "time" we could "see" the evidence.

If God is the one who spoke creation into existence with a single word, could His spirit impregnate a virgin? If He holds the subatomic particles together, could He stiffen the H2O molecules for a few brief moments so that His Son might demonstrate his power and walk on water? I guess it takes a little faith to believe that.

We know a sperm cell must penetrate an egg cell for fertilization to begin. We can watch the cells begin to grow and then somehow ascertain the DNA make-up and even mess around with the results. But why fertilization begins...why life? We need some faith to answer that.

We can go outside on the deck on a dark moonless night to look at stars and the light impacting the back of our eyeballs is millions of years old. It least that's what they tell us. Few of us earthbound humans have seen the original. It takes some faith to believe that.

When we die, our flesh begins to decay at a much greater speed than when each cell was being fed by the complex interaction of organ and agent. The process is irreversible and life that was there is gone, over, kaput. Life has left the building. But we can't really document just what made life start way back then when cell met cell; why is it so difficult for some to believe there is life after death?

A good scientist will tell you there are more questions than answers. And when questions outnumber answers, is faith the answer?

Do dogs need answers...dolphins? What drives men and women and their need to know why? Some say it is intelligence that makes humans different than animals. Maybe it's not. Maybe it's faith.