Faith enhances REALITY-awareness
Do faith and reality occupy opposite ends of the spectrum? Sometimes. But at other times, faith may accurately -- which is to say, faithfully -- represent the reality side of the spectrum. Assertions of simple truths qualify as expressions of FAITH when we remain faithful to reality in spite of amnesia-inducing pessimism, fear, and self-pity.
When fears run high, they obstruct our natural powers of both reason and intuition. A person overcome with fear can't think straight, or see straight. At such times, the offering and acceptance of an uplifting faith belief may be just what the doctor ordered -- and indeed, sometimes nothing else will help. A healthy, fear-contradicting dose of positive belief can restore a dispirited individual's capacity for rational thought, intuitive sensitivity, and well-reasoned action.
Example: A friend despairs about finding employment. He asserts, "I'll never get a job."
Your friend's faith, having turned negative, is now slanting the odds perilously against him. He needs an infusion of POSITIVE faith to even continue to seek employment. Moreover, to secure employment, he must have ENOUGH positive faith to earn the confidence of the interviewers that he is right for the job.
Fortunately, you don't share your friend's pessimism about his prospects. You reply, with confidence, "That's not true. You surely CAN get a job. I KNOW it."
Notably, this is an instance in which faith employs nothing more other-worldly than FACT to work its upleveling magic. The FACT is, the man CAN get a job. By reminding him of that fact, "faith" restores his realism. And the FACT is, his attitude will need to improve for him to succeed at getting a job. Here, by improving his attitude, faith makes real potential realizable.
Faith supports reality-awareness whenever you assure a bright person that she is bright, or when you convince a capable man that he is capable. "You had faith in me!" the person exclaims. "Yes, I had faith in who you ARE!" FAITH? All you really did was inform them about REALITY -- their own reality. But as a result of that merely factual reminder, they may be able to escape the prison of their negative illusions and reclaim their true perspective and powers! After THAT, even more wonderful things can happen, and terrible things -- like the tragic waste of great talent -- can STOP happening.