You cannot ignore faith

When we say 'faith,' many think first of rituals or institutions. Here, however, it means something more basic: recognizing that life contains more than what can be weighed and measured. It is like trusting that a friendship is worth more than the price of a gift, or that a sincere 'yes' has a value no scale can capture. Faith is the openness of the intellect to meaning and value. It does not discard reason — it broadens it. By admitting that reality is intelligible and purposeful, we set mind and heart in motion toward truth — and later, if desired, discern a concrete religion.

If someone spends life avoiding God, ignoring prayer, and rejecting goodness, how could they expect communion with Him after death? It is like ignoring a friend for years and then expecting instant intimacy. God respects freedom: whoever does not seek Him, does not prepare to live with Him. Seeking God is like training for a desired journey; without preparation, arrival has no joy. Faith begins with an honest desire: 'I want to know the Truth.' Without that desire, eternity with God would be strange to one who always refused Him.

Consider two paths: living as if life ends in the grave, or as if it continues into eternity and judgment. If there is no afterlife, what has the believer lost? Virtue, balance, charity, strong relationships, and hope. But if there is, what has the unbeliever lost? Everything — the Supreme Good. It is like wearing a seatbelt: if nothing happens, it does no harm; if something happens, it saves. This wager is not superstition but prudence — recognizing that the cost of being wrong in unbelief is infinitely greater than that of believing and living well.

Every scientist works on the trust that nature has stable laws and that our minds can understand them. This is a rational act of faith: without it, there would be no experiments, no applicable mathematics, and no reliable prediction. Faith does not replace the laboratory; it makes it possible by admitting that the universe is intelligible. Historically, this trust flourished in a theistic culture that saw the world as God’s ordered creation. Believing that 'there is meaning' is not anti-scientific; it is the soil in which science grows.

When the heart stops seeking higher meaning, it compensates with easy stimuli: endless screens, food for anxiety, relationships without commitment. It’s like drinking seawater: the more you drink, the thirstier you become. Pleasure is good when ordered, but without faith or purpose it becomes addiction, fatigue, and sadness. Psychology confirms that purpose sustains us; pleasure alone cannot. Faith does not rob joy — it gives it direction, like rails that let a train run freely without derailing.

A monkey may use tools, but man composes symphonies, creates art, keeps promises, and dies for ideals. The difference is not only of degree but of kind. We plan for the future, seek beauty, and question ultimate meaning — signs of a spiritual dimension. If we were only refined instinct, food, drink, and sex would suffice for happiness. Yet the epidemic of anxiety and depression proves that we crave truth, love, and goodness. This points to an immaterial principle: the rational soul.

Christian tradition describes creation in ascending order: matter, life, sensitivity, spirit. Man unites them all: body, senses, reason, and spiritual freedom. Thus he loves the visible world yet longs for something higher. It is not contempt for the body but its elevation — like an instrument tuned by the soul. This vision explains why we flourish when we unite virtue, beauty, and truth: we were made for a good that embraces the earth while pointing to heaven.

If everything is chance and force, why shouldn't 'the strongest wins' be right? Without reference to the Good itself, rules shift with convenience. Faith in God asserts that there is a Good that precedes us, a law written in the heart, a just Judge. This does not eliminate ethical debate; it grounds it. Like road signs, objective moral law prevents everyone from inventing their own way at every turn. Thus human dignity, justice, and rights cease to be preferences and become obligations.