Faith: Easy to imagine, hard to do.

Faith is an utterly human exercise.

Anyone who owns a dog or has a baby knows something about object-permanence. This is the state of mind in which a being understands that just because they can’t see or touch something that the thing hasn’t disappeared. Babies haven’t developed object-permanence yet, so when Mom and Dad leave baby with someone else, it’s as if they’ve vaporized. Dogs act as if their owners have come back from the brink whenever they come home from work.

What is faith?

Babies and dogs don’t believe their beloved will come back. However, with nurturing and love, babies develop trust that the people they love and the things they hold dear will still be there even if they’re not holding on tightly.

Simply put, faith is the belief that something continues to exist or does exist even if it cannot be perceived with the senses. It’s a sense of “knowing” that something is without any empirical evidence.

Humans have faith. This something we have evolved to have. It has helped us deal with the uncertainties of life. For example, when my wife goes to the gym, I don’t know for certain that she will return after her yoga class until she gets home. I believe that she will because I trust her to keep her word. Moreover, I believe that she loves me and still wants to live with me, surprisingly. Thus, I have no anxiety about her leaving home in the morning.

Why is faith important?

Life would be very hard in the Bouchard house without it. Suspicion and fear of abandonment would predominate, making it hard for love to grow. It would also be difficult for me to do my work. I can’t rely on the universe to take the shape of a person and tell me things point-blank. Why would I? Most communicate isn’t direct.

Most importantly, having faith is important when consulting a psychic. Just as faith opens the heart in a marriage, faith opens the mind, allowing the universe to come in.