Faith and Reason: The truth explained

"Believe the person who says he's searching for the truth. Doubt the one who says he's found it." Andre Gide.

Everything we do in life is based on reasons we consider to be true.

My behavior towards other people is based on something I consider to be true.

If I didn't think it true that a person hit me deliberately I wouldn't hit him back.

But how often am I wrong? How often is the reason I attribute to someone's behavior the true reason for his behavior? Can I really know the true reason for a person's behavior?

In the light of these doubts isn't it better to admit that I don't know the reason rather than to make a mistake and to settle on the wrong reason?

What is worse for me to live in doubt- and so continue searching for the truth or to feel sure of the reason however wrong it may be and so to act wrongly?

If I consider the reason not to be true I won't hit him back. I will live in doubt and continue to search for the true reason.

Unfortunately, no matter how correct this logic might be human beings, illogically insist on living in a world of certainty even if it means adopting wrong reasons and hence wrong actions.

Living in a world of uncertainty seems to scare people more than living in a world of wrong certainty.

The only thing that can help us live in uncertainty is faith.

Faith is saying we don't know and being happy in not knowing.

When Jesus said "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" He meant that He wished that they would have faith.

His disciples were in the midst of stormy seas seas of doubt and uncertainty, as all mankind is when they admit that they don't know the reason for some occurrence.

If they had faith they would be able to live in uncertainty. But they didn't have the faith He wished they would have so it became necessary for Him to make a miracle which would give them certainty. He therefore makes the required miracle:

"Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm." (Mat 8:26)

This means that He made the miracle of calming the seas because his disciples had little faith and so weren't able to live in a stormy world full of doubt and therefore needed a miracle.

The message here is that it's better to have faith and live in doubt than to have no faith and live on miracles.

Miracles are only necessary if we don't have faith to live in uncertainty.
If we have faith we'll continue to search for the truth instead of being dependent on miracles.

By having faith we'll continue to search for the truth instead of grabbing the first reason that comes to mind and acting in a destructive way.

If we have faith we'll continue to search for the truth and we'll make the world a better place and not destroy it by adopting wrong reasons and so taking wrong actions while waiting for God to make it better by a miracle.

Faith doesn't mean trusting God to make a miracle. Faith means living in uncertainty, searching for the truth and making the world a better place ourselves.