The Book of Mormon tells us that to have faith is to "hope for things which are not seen, which are true" (Alma 32: 21). To which someone might quickly counter, "How do you know what's true, if you can't see it?"

We all, actually, exercise a little faith on a daily basis. Or, at least, we exercise hope for things that we can't immediately see. We hope for things that we're not guaranteed to have.

We can't see the sun at night, but we hope and we trust that we'll see it again come dawn. We've seen it rise so many times, of course, that the concept of it actively vanishing during the night, never to return, isn't one that we entertain. We have no reason to believe that the sun will not rise.

Is this faith? Likely not as we believe in the sun much like we believe in air or the ground. We're certain it exists and will continue to exist. It's a part of our physical reality that isn't likely to change. But as an intellectual exercise, it's a beginning.

What if we couldn't see the sun, but could feel its effects? What if the sun didn't stare down bright from the heavens, but we could feel its warmth at some times and not others?

Then belief in the sun might, indeed, be more a matter of faith. We don't see God, we did not live as contemporaries with Christ, but we can feel the effects of His love and see the marks of His hand on the earth. What do Mormons believe? That all things witness the glory of God and exist as the workmanship of His hands.

We do not see God, but, as we feel the warmth of the sun, we feel the effects of His presence. But the difference between faith and knowledge lies in that concrete evidence. We do not see God. We see the evidences of Him and we hope for Him.

And we live largely by hope. We hope that we won't get into a car accident on our way to work. We hope that we stay healthy. We hope for many things. Faith in Christ is more directed a vague hope for something to happen. It is a hope for salvation, a trust in Christ, and a willingness to obey His commandments.

"Faith precedes the miracle" is a common saying in the Mormon Church. God will not force us to believe. In Mormon belief, rather, miracles come after belief in God, after obedience, after we have experimented on our faith and acted on it. For faith is an active hope, not a passive one. If we truly believe in something or someone, we will act based on our beliefs.

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