What I learnt about Faith

Today as I read from the Lecture “Errors” from the Grail Message, I got to deeply understand the word Faith. As explained in the book, “Faith should really become conviction. Conviction however demands the keenest examination. Where even one gap, one unsolved riddle remains, conviction becomes impossible. Therefore, no one has genuine faith as long as he has a question unanswered.” 

This struck me deep as I remembered the popular saying “blind faith” where people would be encouraged to just believe despite their lack of understanding. Naturally, this statement never sat well within me as I struggled to have faith in what I didn’t understand, for instance, there are many versus from the Bible people have explained to me which made no sense based on the explanations given, but upon examining this versus myself, I discovered that the error came from their explanation and understanding of the Bible versus which led to their misinterpretations. 

To blindly have faith in something one does not understand is “unsound”. As the Lecture from the Grail Message admonished, “Faith must be alive, as Christ already once demanded, otherwise it serves no purpose. But to be alive means to bestir oneself, to weigh and also to examine! Not dumbly accepting the thoughts of others. the Lecturer further goes on to explain that... Blind faith plainly means lack of understanding. What a person does not understand, however, cannot bring him spiritual benefit either, for through lack of undertaking, it cannot come to life within him.”

Through this knowledge I just gained, I am reminded once again to work even harder to understand the Lord and His Will as it is, and not drag it down to my level of understanding.