Article February 28, 2000 Issue

Faith—blind or enlightened?

Faith meets you where you are—and moves you forward.

By Carol K. Cummings

Many years ago, some friends were comparing notes about funny childhood memories. One man volunteered that as a child, when he sang his favorite hymn, which begins "Shepherd, show me how to go," he could remember singing the lines "I will follow and rejoice / All the rugged way" as "I will follow Ann Rejoice all the rugged way." He had thought that Ann Rejoice was probably Mary Baker Eddy's sister! (Mary Baker Eddy wrote the poem/hymn referred to; see Poems, p. 14.)

There is something so dear about a little boy—with all the faith, enthusiasm, and trust of a child—singing out about following an imaginary person just because he believed it was the right thing to do. But this anecdote also suggests a fallibility to some kinds of faith. Can faith mislead us? In this instance, the boy's mistaken faith was harmless and easily corrected. However, is it possible that faith might cause us to make mistakes that are potentially harmful? Remembering this little story recently, caused me to consider the idea of faith. Is faith good or bad—reliable or unreliable? Is faith something to embrace or to shun?

Here's something that Jesus says about faith: "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you" (Matt. 17:20). This idea of faith is clearly powerful and absolutely reliable. It makes all things possible. This is quite different from the little boy's mistaken faith. Paul calls faith "the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen" (Heb. 11:1). Paul's view of faith as a solid entity is also different from the ephemeral nature of the boy's faith. These comparisons suggest that there are different kinds of faith.

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