The Wisdom of Uncertainty

From the time I was a child, I was led to believe that knowledge is power. Knowledge of things as they are, an understanding of truth, are to be sought for a number of reasons. And there is truth in that. But somehow, I missed the counterbalance to that lesson.

It took many years of experiences that sometimes knocked on my beliefs and my worldview to come to understand the limitations of knowledge. A study of philosophy helped. I began to see that knowledge, if it exists, is very rare. Much more rare than I had previously supposed. I began to see that certainty, far from being the power I had once imagined it to be, was very often a weakness.

There is great wisdom in uncertainty.

I had been taught that faith was powerful. And developing faith could eventually lead to knowledge ... certainty, which ultimately destroys the faith that built toward certainty.

I still believe faith is powerful. Not because it approaches knowledge, but because it falls short of it. Faith is powerful because it understands its limitations. It avoids certainty.

I used to think doubt was the opposite of faith.

Then I learned that faith's opposite was closer to fear.

I think both of those are true in some sense, but a few years ago, I came to the realization that the opposite of faith was more like certainty.

Faith is powerful. It recognizes the wisdom of uncertainty. And it fully embraces its lack of certainty, its lack of knowledge, and enjoys the humility that comes from not knowing.

Faith is powerful.

And uncertainty is the beginning of wisdom.

What do you think? What does faith mean to you? Is the opposite of faith doubt? Is it fear? Is it certainty? Is it something else?

Do you think certainty is a strength? Is it potentially a weakness? Can it be both?