Most of us think of faith as a possession.
You either have it or you don’t.
It’s strong or weak. It grows or disappears. It’s something we protect, defend, or sometimes lose altogether.
But what if we’ve been looking at it from the wrong direction?
What if faith isn’t a thing at all?
What if it’s an activity?
In this short video, I introduce one of the central ideas from Chapter 2 of The Last Turtle: Zero, Zen, and the Culmination of Faith—that faith is best understood through the Zen teachings of Joshu Sasaki and his description of Zero:
Zero inevitably splits into naturally opposing activities, which inevitably disappear back into Zero.
Rather than asking what faith is, we begin asking how it functions.
Every activity begins with conditions already present. Something then disturbs those conditions—a question, a crisis, an unexpected insight, or a moment of uncertainty. From that disturbance, naturally opposing activities arise. In the case of faith, those opposing movements might appear as trust and doubt, commitment and hesitation, acceptance and questioning.
Eventually, the activity produces an outcome before dissolving back into stillness.
Seen from this perspective, faith is not the opposite of doubt.
It is the activity that becomes necessary because doubt exists.
This simple shift changes everything.
It means faith is not limited to religion. Scientists exercise faith. Skeptics exercise faith. Investors, physicians, parents, students, and Zen practitioners all assign authority whenever certainty runs out.
The real question is no longer:
“Do I have faith?”
Instead, it becomes:
“When uncertainty appears, where do I assign authority?”
That question sits at the heart of this chapter—and, perhaps, at the heart of the human condition.
If this perspective resonates with you, I invite you to watch the accompanying one-minute video and consider where the activity of faith is unfolding in your own life.
As always, thank you for reading and for exploring these ideas with me.
The Last Turtle: Zero, Zen, and the Culmination of Faith is now available on Amazon.
