In English
Faith is essential for human progress
Seeing a glass half filled with water, the optimist is glad that it is half full, while the pessimist is sad that it is half empty. Though both statements are correct, the optimist hopes to fill the other half too, while the pessimist gives up in despair. The one has faith; the other has no faith to sustain him. So, we must develop faith by steady effort. Faith must lead to effort. Faith is essential for human progress in every field. Knowledge, and through knowledge, wisdom can be earned only by means of faith and effort. Equipped with these, man can venture into the heights and emerge victoriously. Of course, one has to be warned against cultivating too much faith in things that are merely material. One has to develop it deep in the eternally valid Truth, God. Faith is power. Without faith, living is impossible. We have faith in tomorrow following today. That is what makes us take up activities and projects that extend beyond this day. People with no faith cannot plan; they court misery by their want of faith. A rich man in South Africa once heard a divine voice which promised him a gold mine, if only he would dig at a certain place. He dug at that place to a depth of 200 feet and failed to discover any vein of gold. His faith waned. He doubted the authenticity of the voice. He talked to others how the voice had played false. When another rich man heard his story, he developed great faith in what he believed to be God's command. He dug in the same areas and laid bare a rich gold mine barely three feet below the surface of the earth. That became the richest and the most famous of the gold mines of South Africa.