On Trusting Things We Don't Understand

Every now and then, I come upon a teaching that I can’t quite grasp.  Not in the sense that I can’t grasp mysteries (these are never completely ‘graspable’), but in the sense that it seems contrary to logic.  It’s like when I was in grade school, learning about negative numbers.  I just couldn’t understand how you can multiply a positive by a negative number, and end up with a negative number.  It didn’t compute.

Even though I wanted to understand it, my teacher finally explained that if I simply follow the rule (regardless of what “felt” right) my equations would work out and I’d get the right answer.  My understanding of the concept didn’t actually contribute to the final solution, as long as I could remember the rules.

The teacher also explained that I would eventually come to understand negatives.  All I had to do was keep at it.  But if I waited to understand negatives before moving on, I would be stuck for a long time.  And I would fail math, because the rest of the class couldn’t wait for me.

The teacher was right.  I followed the rules, temporarily ignoring my understanding.  In fact, I would say that I sacrificed my own right to follow my own logical route in exchange for the right answer.  And low and behold, one day while I was working out a problem, it just kind of clicked with me.  I saw everything all at once and was able to make sense of all the answers I had been giving.

It’s kind of like that with faith, which is why we give personal adherence and assent to God’s truth.  We don’t always understand it, but we know we’ll walk in the light as long as we stick to it (even if it seems to go against our natural understanding of something).

This is the proper way to form a conscience.  And I can tell you from personal experience, it’s the best way to come to a fuller understanding of the Church’s teachings.  If you’re struggling with something, try backing off.  Say a prayer for understanding, and then just let your faith do the work.  Eventually, something will click.