By Craig Hawthorne

All Rights Reserved – Published With Permission

Faith starts where reason ends. The fool has as much faith as the magician. The magician understands cause and consequence and as such is master of its effects, but the fool is yet to form an idea. Faith sustains them both as the fool has nothing else, he lives in a world where everything is. The magician in his world full of reasons, needs faith to keep order, or else falls into the pit, for if he has no faith then he becomes the master and for that he will struggle to find a reason and will strive to become the order.

But the fool needs also to be aware. For not yet having understanding or ideas the fool can also be an agent for innocent malevolence. But the fools' faith is short, in time an idea will form and the fool can no longer remain in innocent shape, for the fool must make a choice, the first time faith was pitted against his own reason.

Now the first time that faith and reason met, faith from the heart reason from the head, fear was born to cover both. For reason will always doubt faith, as faith will always undermine reason, so fear will drive both always onward.

To conquer fear is not to be un-afraid, but merely to bring reason and faith into balance, a unified point (or a still clear pool). Intention then comes into play. For when reason and faith are balanced, fear quelled, intention is thus revealed. Intention through force of will becomes action.

Reason is to know or understand the action of things.
Faith is to know or understand that there is a reason.
Love is the parent of faith, in its greater part, in its smaller a force of will.

So the fool, yet to know reason, through unknowing faith, be loved and loving. Yet when reason takes him on his journey, his first step will take him the furthest away. Through a maze of many colors will his reason and faith take him, shaping his fears and love, guiding his intent and his will. And so after time, the magician, (for which through mastery of reason and loving faith the fool shall progress to be,) may find himself challenging one of his pillars of being. For surely in the face of questioning reason, faith must surely wither. In time the magician may become tired of asking the eternally foolish question; What is truth?

The magician shall have no more answers if he discards his faith. Fear of reason, love of faith, love of reason, fear of faith oh how the magician will envy the fool, just as the fool looked up to the magician, each thinking the other held all the answers. The mage that discards his faith will in time catch a glimpse of faiths' power, and through his arts be compelled to imitate that which he discarded. Through reasoning away his faith, he diminishes his capacity of love, until in time; What is truth? Becomes Why love?

The magician who keeps his faith, will find the answer to that question and in his being will find reason to exist, for truth is in experience not of experience. So through his experience of loving faith and capacity for reason will he answer; Why love? Love is all there is.

With this answer the mage is no more than fool.