Article February 12, 2007 Issue

VISIONARY FAITH

BY DAVID ROBERTSON

MANY SINCERE THINKERS and observers of the human condition have noted that the most important things about us are intangible—that is, beyond what the eye can observe.

Eventually, it will dawn on everyone that what matters most are the spiritual qualities we can perceive in one another. These qualities represent the eternal nature of each one of us. And among the most endearing and enduring of these are faith and trust in God, particularly needed during difficult times of prayer and searching for an enlarged view of life.

When we first meet someone, we generally identify him or her by physical attributes. Asked to describe a new acquaintance, we might say something about that person's height, weight, skin color, hair, and eyes. Yet as we get to know that individual better, the descriptions begin to change. We start to include some of those intangible yet more permanent attributes, such as kindness, a sense of humor, graciousness, willingness to help others. Qualities like those come to light through a deeper appreciation of individual character. They reveal the more infinite, eternal nature of our own existence, and of our abiding relationship to one an other as children of God.