Daf Insights - Berachos 2

The Gemara notes the contrast between the opening Mishna of Berachos and a later Mishna. The opening Mishna, discussing the appropriate time for reciting Shema, first discusses the Evening Shema and then discusses the Morning Shema. The Gemara points out that this is similar to the way Creation is described ויהי ערב ויהי בקר, it was evening and it was morning. By contrast, later, when it comes to explaining the ברכות, blessings to be recited before and after saying the Shema, the Mishna first discusses the blessings associated with the Morning Shema and then the blessings associated with the evening Shema. Tosefos notes that this is similar to קרבנות, sacrifices, in which the night follows the day. The Gemara explains that the Mishna began by discussing the time for the evening Shema, moved on to the time for the morning Shema, once it was already on the topic of the morning Shema it spoke about the blessings for the morning Shema and then went back to the blessings for the evening Shema.

I would like to suggest a deeper understanding of this Gemara.

There are two approaches to אמונה, belief in God. One way is referred to as אמונה פשוטה, simple belief. It is belief that starts in the deepest parts of a person, ליבא לפומא לא גליא, and it is then the task of the person to allow his belief to permeate his entire being and manner of life. Simple belief is symbolized by the declaration of Shema and, since it begins in the internal, hidden, part of the person, the Mishna discusses the belief first at night, when it is not visible, and then by day, symbolizing the belief of the person becoming so much a part of himself that it is visible to all.
But the blessings of the Shema, focused as the are on the Creation and Acts of God that are visible in the world, are there to bring belief into a person. The words he says are meant to affect how he sees the world, the ideas and experiences of which the blessings speak internalize his belief. This is similar to a קרבן, sacrifice, in which the person is meant to utilize the act that is being performed as means לקרב, to bring him closer to God. The external affecting the internal. That is why a sacrifice can only be brought in the daytime when it is clearly visible and only later moves on to the night, when visibility is not an option. So, too, when it comes to the Berachos of the Shema, we begin discussing the blessings  in the morning and then discussing the night blessings to show the transition of using the external to bolster the internal belief.
The pasuk says, וידעת היום והשבות אל לבבך, you should know today and instill within your heart. This would appear to indicate that the ideal is for a person to have belief in his heart first and only subsequently to do what it takes externally to instill it further within his heart. Therefore the Mishna begins with the Shema at night, to discuss the hidden belief in the heart, then it moves on to the daytime Shema in which that deep belief has permeated the person and is visible to all those who see him. From there we move to the morning blessings of the Shema, the external actions and words that are utilized to, finally in the evening blessings, internalize those beliefs again.