What is Faith?

After working a cure miracle, Jesus usually said, "Your faith has cured you. Go in peace." The gospel reading  today is an example. When Jesus was heading Jerusalem, he passed by Jericho. A blind man, not a born blind, sought Jesus' help despite discouragement from the bystanders. At last Jesus cured him and we hear Jesus say "Go your way; your faith has made you well" (Mark 10:52).
Such stories make Jesus look like a faith-healer. Elsewhere, we read of the inability of Jesus to work miracles because of the lack of faith of the villagers of Nazareth where Jesus spent his childhood.up until he became an adult (Mark 6:1-6). We conclude that faith is the key to open up God's power. To the ears of unbelievers, faith is superstition. Believing in God is irrational, unscientific and thus not appropriate for modern life in the society.

To celebrate the golden jubilee of the opening of the Second Vatican Council, Pope Benedict XVI kicked off the Year of Faith in October 11, 2012. So, the Catholic Church will spend the next 13 months (October 11, 2012 to November 24, 2013) to rethink their faith in God. Is the Catholic faith in God a superstition? Is faith irrational and unscientific? I have no intention to bore my readers to death through philosophical discourses on the complementality of faith and reason. I just happen to remember a famous story in ancient China that illustrates the importance of faith in any endeavour, the story of He's Jade 和氏璧.
In around 750 BC, Bian He 卞和 discovered a piece of precious jade which was encrusted with rock. He offered it to King Li of Chu 楚厲王 who told his royal craftsman to examine it. The craftsman reported that it was just a piece of ordinary rock. The king was angry and ordered to have the left leg of Bian He amputated. After the death of King Li, his son King Wu 武王 succeeded. Once more, Bian He offered the precious jade and this time, his remaining leg was amputated as well. King Wu reigned for 51 years and died in 690 B.C. King Wen 文王 who succeeded King Wu heard that Bian He had wailed for 3 days and nights. King Wen sent an officer to ask about it. Bian He reportedly said that he did not wail for the loss of both legs. He wailed because the precious jade was mistaken as a piece of ordinary rock and a loyal officer was mistaken to be a cheating mandarin. King Wen ordered his craftsmen to remove the crust and the precious jade at last came to light.
This is a well-known story in Chinese History. How does it relate to faith?

Religion and science are not mutually antagonistic. The same goes to faith and reason. They are pairs of legs for us to walk on. Without one, we are crippled. It is well known that many great scientists are deeply religious. In fact, without faith, whether in God or in some other intangible belief, an experimental scientist would miss the chance of discovery. It is well known that many discoveries were made after hundreds of experimental failures. For example, Dolly, the first successfully cloned sheep, was the fruit of 277 attempts. Had the scientists given up after 276 failures, they would never have cloned Dolly. Faith, the confidence/belief in something unseen, something intangible, sustains these scientists.
Perhaps now you begin to see the story of He's Jade in a different perspective. The story tells us that Bian He had faith in his judgment. He also had not lost faith in his kings. He believed that no matter how stupid the previous kings had been, there would still be one king who would understand. His story also tells us one more important thing about faith. In defending his faith, Bian He had paid a heavy price. Faith exacts a price from all who insist. Are you prepared to pay such a price which may be unknown at the very beginning?

Dear Lord, faith in You does not come cheaply. Help us be willing to pay the price. Amen.

Appendix:
楚人和氏得玉璞楚山中，奉而獻之厲王，厲王使玉人相之，玉人曰：「石也。」王以和為誑，而刖其左足。及厲王薨，武王即位，和又奉其璞而獻之武王，武王使玉人相之，又曰「石也」，王又以和為誑，而刖其右足。武王薨，文王即位，和乃抱其璞而哭於楚山之下，三日三夜，泣盡而繼之以血。王聞之，使人問其故，曰：「天下之刖者多矣，子奚哭之悲也？」和曰：「吾非悲刖也，悲夫寶玉而題之以石，貞士而名之以誑，此吾所以悲也。」王乃使玉人理其璞而得寶焉，遂命曰：「和氏之璧。」【韓非子‧和氏十三】