03-02-2010, 03:00 AM
I like this thread.
I take the passage to mean that in this density of existence, faith is necessary because we don't get certainty - perhaps due to the veil.
Before you can choose to have faith, you need to recognize that there is not enough evidence for either reason or emotion to draw a conclusion with certainty. Only at this point of emptiness can the Will of one's Spirit take its stand.
Any understanding we have of spiritual matters from "down inside here" (I picture kids reading with flashlights under the covers) is only a tentative way to imagine what we can only take on faith.
To claim that we know for sure is to deny that we don't know, and therefore to try to wash away faith by pouring on ignorance or arrogance.
Humility, awe, an emptying of certainty: these are symptoms to help diagnose a presence of faith.
I take the passage to mean that in this density of existence, faith is necessary because we don't get certainty - perhaps due to the veil.
Before you can choose to have faith, you need to recognize that there is not enough evidence for either reason or emotion to draw a conclusion with certainty. Only at this point of emptiness can the Will of one's Spirit take its stand.
Any understanding we have of spiritual matters from "down inside here" (I picture kids reading with flashlights under the covers) is only a tentative way to imagine what we can only take on faith.
To claim that we know for sure is to deny that we don't know, and therefore to try to wash away faith by pouring on ignorance or arrogance.
Humility, awe, an emptying of certainty: these are symptoms to help diagnose a presence of faith.