In a discussion, someone said about emuna that knowing that we are maaminim doesn't help him. It's a concept, not a reality to him.
Which led to the question - do we cultivate emuna or generate emuna?
Cultivate would mean to develop what is already there. To generate would mean to produce it when it wasn't there before.
I was surprised he said what he said. I think we think differently about emuna if we know it's inherent, and not something external that we have to acquire. If I had some way of knowing about a latent talent that I have, for music or art or anything else, I would try to cultivate it! If I had some way of knowing that I had no ability in a certain area, I wouldn't put my efforts in that direction.
We are told that we are "believers, children of believers." That's who we are. Emuna is not extraneous to us. It's right here.
Perhaps when you suggest that emunah comes naturally and must merely be cultivated, you can clarify your intent in the word "emunah". Studies have found that all children--not only "believers, children of believers"--naturally conceive of nature in terms of a Designer: http://www.evolutionnews.org/2014/04/story_time_psyc084701.html
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