What is Faith?

Hebrews 11:1 gives a straightforward answer: Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen.  But is faith all about convincing ourselves of the reality of things we can't see?  Too often modern Christians hear the second half of this verse, and neglect the two critical words in the first half: assurance, and hope.

I'm continuing to contemplate the idea that there may be no real gap between the Divine Reality (God) and the human reality (us).  God does not have to bridge an infinite distance to reach us, and we are not forever alienated from the Source of our Being. (see previous post) If that's true, however, then it has implications for how we define "faith."