Doubt is frequently paired with faith as an opposite, bearing oppositional qualities, or reflecting two ends of a spectrum.
We do this to speak of certain aspects within belief or to create confidence in the outcomes of our decisions. Decisions that come from characteristics we call doubt or belief.
This, however, is limiting, rigid, and smooths out the rough edges of reality, experience, and how humans live within a natural world full of paradoxes and conflicting developments. In other words, it is simplistic and distorting.
While doubt and faith serve as simple opposites for definitional purposes, they more accurately reflect complimentary aspects that reflect how our brains actually work.
Doubts are not opposites of faith, but present a fundamental aspect of an active, living faith. We take the time to listen to the questions that come up and interrogate them with veracity and care. Working with doubt is howe we best determine what we believe.
And in the same way, faith is necessary for us to let go of certainty long enough to question our experience. Much like one’s confidence in gravity is not fundamentally tested by watching videos of astronauts in space, our faith is not tested by doubt so directly and conclusively. We explore and experience and discover with an openness that only faith can accept.
So when we vilify doubt, we do so in ways that also vilify faith. Because they are both present and necessary for belief. For trust. As we listen, discern, and respond.
Faith and doubt are neither true opposites or even compliments. They are necessary aspects; of the same substance of belief; making it possible to trust in anything at all.