This node gave me pause to think.
My salvation experience was quiet, yet complicated by the maelstorm going on in my home as a child. My father was gone for long periods of time and we moved changing schools as many as three or four times a year so there was no opportunity for me to learn from teachers or a helpful aunt to answer my questions as to why I was not being loved like I wanted. Dad made sure I went to church whenever he was home and believe me I attended churches of all faiths...it was simply a matter of finding the nearest church on Sunday and going so I could say I have an ecumenical affection for religion and eclectic beliefs. It was in the midst of all this clamor, heartbreak, and confusion that I finally gave up and on a hot and muggy Georgia afternoon at the age of 7, I went upstairs to my bedroom, knelt and asked Jesus into my heart. I became a Christian.
That leap of faith was to have what I yearned for so much with all my heart. To be loved like I wanted.
For me this was contradictory to common sense. For to continue to love the person whom I wanted to love me as I wanted had terrible consequences and as a result I had to turn away to survive.
Faith coalesces where one knows and has experienced the limitations of rational thought.
A leap into faith occurs
when one passes beyond the merely religious, faith goes beyond sensible processes that leads to a conclusion, and becomes a conviction. All rational thought is provisional and open to debate. Hence, it is a leap into a paradox: I know by not knowing; I believe because I cannot know - but due to this unknowing, I have established an unspeakable and direct relationship with that which is beyond thinking, but which leads me in the relationship. A leap into faith is truly a non-rational act of choice, possibly also in the light of the fallibility of the arguments for God's existence.
Faith is defined in many ways. It can be belief and trust in and loyalty to God, belief in the traditional doctrines of a religion, firm belief in something for which there is no proof, or simple trust.
Jesus said, Let the little children come to me; I came and still remain a child in my faith.....there is always something new for me to discover and learn.
I also believe God has an awesome sense of humor;)
Thank you xunker for such a thought provoking and interesting question.