On Monday, I said that true faith believes in less than everything, but more than nothing.  That’s true as far as it goes—and we would do well to avoid those errors.  But that can’t be all there is to it—otherwise, believing in unicorns and bigfoot, but not dragons or leprechauns would seem to count as faith.  So, there must be more to it than that.

When St. Gregory of Nazianzus said that “faith is to believe what the eye does not see,” he wasn’t encouraging us to simply believe in fictitious characters—he was thinking of what Paul said in his second letter to the Corinthians:

“We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are seen are transient [that means temporary; they don’t last], but the things that are unseen are eternal.” 2 Corinthians 4:18

Unicorns and bigfoot are unseen because they don’t actually exist; but Gregory and Paul recognized that the unseen things that do exist…are actually more real than the stuff we see, because unseen things last forever.  And it is those things that ought to be the object of our faith.

Think of your mom or dad: Which is more real—the money in their pocket? Or their love for you?  Sure, in a sense, the money is real—and you can definitely see it.  But they could burn it, or shred it, or lose it…and it’s gone.  Your parents’ love, on the other hand, is more real.  You might not be able see it in the same way—I’ve never seen my dad carry around his love for me in his pocket; but I know it’s real and it can’t be destroyed with a fire or scissors.  And so, between the two, we should have more faith in our parents’ love than in their money.

But there’s something—or someone—even more real than our parents’ love…and that is the eternal God who loves perfectly and without failing.  True faith—faith that is a virtue—is belief in the one, true, creator God, who is unseen and yet more real and more lasting than anything in creation.

So, is that it?  Believe that God exists and you have the virtue of Faith?  Not so fast…we’ll consider why tomorrow.  For today, give it some thought…

And have a wonderful day.