Finding “Faith” in “Faith”

I was a quarterback in high school. I’m not sure I was a very good one but I enjoyed trying. I’m also someone who has deeply personal religious beliefs. As I have traversed through life, I have found these two things inexplicably connected by a central theme. And that same connection exists in Covid times.

Faith, by definition, is generally believing in something that you can’t feel or touch. As a quarterback, I had to have faith in my left tackle. In the few times that we threw the ball, I couldn’t see what was coming from the left side of my offense of line. As a right-handed passer, my back was turned. So, I had to have faith in the left tackle, that he would do everything in his power to make sure I didn’t get hit by someone I couldn’t see.  In the same regard, religious beliefs are almost entirely based on faith. I’m not personally aware of anyone who has had a sit-down face-to-face meeting with the Almighty. But I believe.

The same faith is what I talk to my children about. You can’t put your fingers on the love that my wife and I have for our two kids.  Or for the love between a husband or wife. But my kids, if you asked, know that it’s there. That’s faith.

How does Covid fit into this? I don’t understand the science of developing a vaccine. I am not educated or trained to know the techniques and process that goes into building out the medical breakthroughs and/or efficacy of treatments. But I have faith. I believe that the researchers, doctors, with appropriate supervision/regulations, provide the proper interconnected, inter-dependent processes to find the right solutions. I have faith in the intelligence and the dedication of those finding treatments and vaccines for this global pandemic.

Faith is a troubling issue, for me and many others, at times as well. True faith is giving up control. It’s trusting others, many of whom you may not ever know or meet. Faith can also be a fickle enemy when things may not go as one hopes, believing the convictions in others or in other things was misplaced.

It might seem funny, but it’s not meant to be. In some ways, I believe we all have to have a little more faith in “faith.”