Actions Speak Louder than Words
And I think that is true in the spiritual life as well. We have a number of readers who are seeking to enter the Catholic Church, and with that seeking (depending upon the background from which the people emerge) there are often difficulties with some of the teachings of the Church. Sometimes, particularly when we are uncertain of a teaching or uncertain of our own belief, we need to take positive action that would result in a positive change. Sometimes we may doubt God's mercy or His loving kindness. Our doubts come, from our experience of ourselves. We know that we are not so good and not so unalloyed. However, when we act upon something as a matter of truth, we are transformed. Sometimes we may have trouble with a doctrine or an idea put forth by the Church. If we act upon it, however mildly and place it in God's hands, we can be converted, through grace alone, to the reality of the supernatural world.
An example from my life: I was raised a Baptist and entered the Catholic Church not fully in tune with all aspects of Catholic Doctrine. Most particularly, I was virulently anti-Marian. Through time, I came to be cooly neutral but said to myself, "This is not enough." So I took up the practice of praying to God to reveal to me what He would have me know of His Mother and I bowed before her statue with an "I salute you, even if I am unsure of you." Through time the "I salute you" became, "I love you." And, of course, the other half of the phrase vanished entirely. I did nothing myself to encourage that love, but now I have an image of Mary in nearly every room of my house and feel that those places lacking Marian presence are somehow empty. I went through the outward motions--obedience, after a fashion--and God did as He would with the interior. We must act on belief and pray for the interior change that makes that out action more real. We are finite--as much as we like to think we know it all, we do not--and there is no shame in not knowing. The shame comes from insisting upon our ignorance and acting upon it in such a way as to cause scandal and division.
