day no. 16,255: the gift of second sight

Hebrews 11:6

Without faith it is impossible to please Him.

"Faith in antagonism to common sense is fanaticism, and common sense in antagonism to faith is rationalism. The life of faith brings the two into a right relation. Common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense; they stand in the relation of the natural and the spiritual; of impulse and inspiration." -- Oswald Chambers, My Utmost for His Highest

Faith is not unreasonable. Faith, for sure, is more than reason, but it isn't less.  Those who abandon reason in the name of faith embrace fanaticism. Those who abandon the faith in the name of reason embrace materialism. Common sense, however, is common grace and since it is a gift, it is not necessarily a given, as those immersed in materialism often eagerly demonstrate.

Christians walk by faith, not by sight, but they don't have to close their eyes in order to do so. Faith is the gift of second sight. It isn't being blind to material reality, it is seeing the spiritual reality in or behind all things visible and invisible. Second sight does not replace the first. It isn't instead of, it is in addition to. The materialist is blind to the spiritual. The spiritualist may be blind to the material. The Christian sees all things simultaneously without confusing the categories. The Christian sees the wine and the blood, the bread and the body.

Ironically, the materialist denies the cross and the spiritualist denies the resurrection.

2 Corinthians 5:7

We walk by faith, not by sight.

Faith is not walking in blindness. It doesn't deny sight, it surpasses it. It is binocular. It reconciles two worlds into one vision. It sees the situation and its significance. It simultaneously looks at the object and its abstract. It is logical and poetical. It is fact and romance. It is principle and passion.

Faith is holistic. It is a way of seeing that is superior to the material or the spiritual in isolation. Faith sees in stereo; it boldly refutes gnosticism and Darwinism by seeing what they are blind to.