What they have is Faith: faith that effort is rewarded, that the dedication is worthwhile, that there is no creativity without risk and no risk without occasional failure. Faith is the human response to the phenomenon that defines the human condition: the constitutive uncertainty of our lives as we walk toward the undiscovered country called the future….. Faith is not certainty. It is the courage to live with uncertainty.

This passage moves beyond the earlier definition, and includes two other aspects. First, that faith (perhaps only religious faith) cannot be demonstrated. Now, at some level, this demonstrates what we will say below, that faith even by Sacks’ definition includes a cognitive element. More importantly, it suggests – perhaps like other commitments such as marriage or the like – that there is an element of insecurity in commitments we make and faithfulness we commit to in advance of acting upon that. This is kind of paradoxical. I can only succeed in complicated, long-term commitments if I accept to keep working through failure. (Pardon the reference, but to quote Grammy winning singer Brandi Carlile: “You might get further if you learn to stay.”) A real sports fan sticks with the team when it is losing. Second, Sacks says quite a bit about what it “feels like” to experience faith: “held in the arms, obligations, pay it forward, etc.” Particularly important in my mind is the combination of not pretending to be what you are not, not blaming others, taking responsibility for my own successes and failures. We can ask students to spell out what these different things are and how they relate to the notion of “faith” by Sacks definition. We can also ask them to think about how they experience such things in their own lives.

What things are we loyal to? What does that fidelity consist of? Think of friends, family members, a school, favorite sports team - what makes us loyal to these things? Where does that loyalty come from? What actions stem from loyalty? What would disqualify someone as loyal? 

This passage adds another element: that the question of whether to have faith is built into the human condition. That is, we all have dreams, values, goals, and the like. We don’t know whether those will succeed or materialize. Our relationship with the uncertainty of the future pushes us to confront the possibility of faith by asking ourselves why we remain committed to long-term goals despite uncertainty the future and how we might react to challenges or even failure along the way. There is an element of faith in every project or goal we set for ourselves. Asking students to articulate the kinds of things that they work for and dedicate energy to despite being unsure of the outcome would create an important metaphor for religious faith.