FAITH ?

I'm a sinner - in every sense of the word. But I don't think that I'm a bad person.
I'd heard that one could learn patience by having to be patient - so, I thought that I could learn to be nice by doing nice things. (It didn't work.)

If forgiveness is given freely by the grace of GOD - what's the use of prayer and faith?
Didn't Plato argue in Republic that knowledge and faith were the same thing?
So what is faith?

Is faith just a tool used by those in power to keep their power?
Or is it a tool for those without power to gain new power?
I can buy neither opinion - but I can see the application of both (or each).
As faith in our institutions seems to be crumbling - the question becomes; "What next?".
In what are we supposed to believe?

If a child believes what his parents tells him - does the child have faith in his mother or father?
If the child has faith in his parents' teachings - does the child have knowledge?
If the knowledge is incorrect - what value is this supposed knowledge?
(Just because someone is said to "Know" something - this does not make such knowledge true.)

But what can we say for inspiration, or prescience, or instinct (or the generally accepted meaning of these words)?
What causes someone to keep going when others quit?
Or when the popular theory is in opposition?
Or when doing so would seem counter intuitive?

I have some young cousins who were having problems in school and sports.
Their test grades were low and they were having problems playing in games up to their potential.
They would try their best on their tests and during games - but they kept coming up short.
Why?
Because they were playing (and studying) backwards. They were focusing on doing their best in the time of greatest struggle or stress.
The key in sports is; to work your hardest in practice - and then to just "play" during games.
In school the key is; to work your hardest in class and on homework - and then to just play around and show off what you've learned during the tests.

How do these examples relate to faith?
Because the knowledge of their work during their preparation frees them to relax and (almost) unconscious play during moments of greatest stress. Without the stress, they're free to leave worry to others. They don't have to believe that they're prepared - they'll know it (without "knowing" that they know it). Kind of a muscle-memory thing.

Above is the example used in an earlier post. The image is meant to illustrate the point that -many people create an answer before they are asked the question.

An example of this is seen in watching a batter trying to hit a fastball during a baseball game.
When does the batter begin his swing? No, not when the ball reaches the plate, not when the ball is is flight, but at the moment a pitcher releases the ball.
So how does a batter "know" where to swing?
Does he guess? Well ... the great hitters don't.
The great hitters would seem to "know" where a pitch is being thrown - even before it's thrown. Great hitters are able to "predict" the future in "seeing" the balls projected path.
Put this way - prescience sounds as though it could be universal (or common).

But this is definitely a "Ears to hear, eyes to see" situation.
Think of it as the scene in the Matrix where Neo seems suspended in mid-air and us seeing the whole interaction from an hundred different angles.

Can a man "slow" time down to more manageable increments?
Of course.
How many times during stressful situations has time seemed to creep by in slow motion?
It's as though you're having an out of body experience.
In sports it's often called "being in the zone" or "being unconscious".
That's the point where even the things you do wrong... seem to work out right.

But what does all this have to do with faith?
Well... I'm trying to point out that Plato was in fact correct in his assumption that faith is knowledge (Even if you are unaware of your using of such knowledge).

Imagine that you could see every color including ultraviolet, vacuum ultraviolet and infrared radiation.
Would your perspective of the world or causes of actions be different?
Would your ability to see more clearly be a benefit?
Are visions just a variation of such eyesight?
If this ability to have "Eyes to See" were possible - wouldn't what others see as faith really be your knowledge?
If prayer is a valid way of attaining this better than 20/20 vision - is it really faith at all?