Fourth Entry: How does faith relate to the world in which we live in?

This is originally a reply I had written after reading one of Jihyun's posts. But I was inspired to expand more about this word faith afterwards, so yeah. (a lot will overlap)

"Faith" to me, had always something to do with religion. Moreover, it isn't real; it's abstract. I have always been inclined to think that "you believe in something that you can't see because you're weak." At times this statement would even motivate me to work harder because I have been such a bigot; "I need no help from anybody, and I can do anything on my own. I'm not weak, I don't have to rely on anything or anybdody." Therefore, faith didn't really have anything to do with my life and my world because I have never been religious, and I find difficulty trusting something that has not yet been proven.However, after reading Jihyun's post, I have realized that just like everyone else, faith drives my actions literally EVERYDAY. The examples she gave, such as in the Trust Game, doing business, forming friendships and relationships, were more than enough, very true, and very accurate. I was completely taken aback when I found out that EVERYDAY, I have always been doing what I had thought was silly, weak, abstract, unreal, impossible, and illogical - I hated to discover that I have always contradicted myself. But now, I don't think so. I now think and agree with you that faith is the very essential factor that enables the life cycle to keep going around. I have even realized that we fail when we have no faith. I can make a hundred free-throws when I have faith that I can do it. I can't when I'm scared and nervous and starting to doubt about my abilities. I can do a hard math or physics question (hopefully) when I have faith in my brian. I can't when I think it's just too hard for me and is beyond my capabilities and give up.

Then, I questioned myself, if God is the one who governs the world and most importantly, ME and MY LIFE, aren't I supposed to deduce, based on what I've learned about faith, that if I have no faith in God, I will fail in life? It strikes me odd, because there are numerous people who are financially successful, (well I know money isn't all in life, but some of these people are satisfies with this, and I value satisfaction most in life.) and who are satisfied with that. And I know somewhere in the world there must exist some people who are completely content with their lives because they believe in some other religion.

One thing is for sure. Now I feel more "secured" or "logical" to believe in Christianity or any religion, because I now admit that I have always believed in other things about life, such as "I don't care how much you raise now, because I have faith that the next card will be a 5, which will complete my straight, 4-5-6-7-8, and take all your money (it's poker, haha). And it makes much more sense to me to put faith in what is essential for me and my life, what really counts, what really matters, what really is important, if I have been putting tremendous amount of trust everytime I play a pointless card game - I don't wish to contradict myself again.

Faith now gives me a headache, but it's definitely something I should ponder about more often :)