In the Mind of a Fish

There is a kind of faith that faces the past and a kind that faces the future.  There isn't a faith for right now.
When we believe something that we want to happen will happen, we have hope.
When we don't believe something that we want to happen will happen, we are wishing.

The past facing faith is really a belief in something you can't prove but you believe it anyway. The faith in the past looks at what has happened and believes that it happened because of a certain reason. When I look back at the glass of milk that I drank just now, I attribute that glass of milk to the whole process that brought it to the store I bought the milk in. I have learned once more that I can trust that process, so I say I have faith in the process. Saying that I have faith in that process to provide milk is really saying that I have faith that I can repeat the process in the future and get the same result.

The faith that points towards the past is really an acknowledgement of a faith that once pointed towards the future. When I get into the car, and I know that cars are meant to start by design when I turn the key in the ignition, that knowledge turns into faith for the future action of turning the key. I also know that I have turned the key in the past and it has always started. That knowledge further supports the faith I have that results in my future action of turning the key.

At the time I get into the car, the turning of the key is still in the future. At that point, I have hope that the car will start. If I doubt that the car will start, I would not have hope and I would probably not turn the key. If I doubt that the car would start and I put the key in and turn it anyway, then I would be acting on a wish out of desperation unless...

If I take my car that won't start to a mechanic, who then works on it, he may tell me to turn the ignition. If I do it, I would be expressing my hope of the car starting because of the work the mechanic has done. I would be trusting the mechanic to fulfill my hope. If I didn't believe that the mechanic fixed it, I would have no hope in it starting and I would probably not turn the key except for the social pressure of the mechanic telling me to. At that point, I would be completely surprised that my wish came true.