Just a few moments before I need to run and attend to some other things, but it is enough time to leave a comment or two and ask some questions.
Have you ever stopped to consider why you believe what you believe?
Are you able to express it so that it is clear to others? If you cannot explain it to others do you think that tarnishes it?
Do you feel like you have a purpose in life and if so, what is it?
How do you reconcile faith and science?
I ask because every now and then I stop and take an inwards look. Right now I am working through a few things. And to be honest I am not quite sure exactly what it is that I am looking for. I have an itch that needs to be scratched but I can't quite reach it.
So maybe in the course of this discussion something will come up and I'll figure it out, or maybe not.
What do you think?
11 comments:
A friend of mine told me that he doesn't believe in G-d, he just knows. And that's the difference.
Have I ever stopped to think about it - only since I was a kid!
I've worked it out for myself, and yes, I think I can express things pretty well to others (there aren't any other orthodox people in my office and they often come to me with questions).
It's a work in progress.
Can articulate it pretty well. And I'm still figuring out when I'm going to blog about it.
If you cannot explain it to others do you think that tarnishes it?
I'm guessing that that question is the key to all the others. There are things you believe with your heart that you cannot articulate with your mind and mouth, and you're wondering if you should figure it out.
I think it's good to bring the stuff that's inside of us, below the surface, to conscious awareness. But you already do that.
Lots of the stuff that boils up from our hearts can't be explained or defended in any definitive way. Roman Catholics often talk about the "mysteries" of the faith, meaning things that are paradoxical and defy human understanding.
And that's the problem, of course — a lot of the things that Roman Catholics "just know" to be true, are plain nonsense according to you and me.
I think we have to be careful not to do any harm with the convictions that we can't explain. But I still think it's OK to retain them, and not sweat over it too much.
So there you have my three principles: (1) Be aware of the stuff that drives you from within; (2) Be careful to do no harm with stuff that you can't explain, let alone defend; (3) With the above two provisos, it's good to continue believing what your heart tells you is true.
Yes to your first few questions.
As to your last question on faith and science, I don't have a strong science background, and in my daily life, I don't run into places where faith and science collide.
I'm not sure I believe. Sometimes I feel like I do, and sometimes I don't! I have more of a belief in God than in the afterlife. I'm a very confused person.
Once again Q has put it more eloquently than I, but expressed something much like I believe as well.
So there you have my three principles: (1) Be aware of the stuff that drives you from within; (2) Be careful to do no harm with stuff that you can't explain, let alone defend; (3) With the above two provisos, it's good to continue believing what your heart tells you is true.
That said I am often not good at his second principal. However I try not to condemn people that do not believe as I do. You can do a world of harm to someone with narrowness of vision.
Too often I react with emotion rather than thought, that said I like to think my devotion to things I cannot explain and what my heart tells me is true is rooted in some degree of rationality.
Christian findamentalists might say that the instinct of what your heart tells you is true is the work of the holy spirit, Other cultures blame animal spirits, and some the workings of enlightenment. I think that there is a G-d, I lean toward the Christian interpretation of him / her, but that is not important. Therefore He/She may be telling us things through our life experiences, but I think that what your heart tells you is true is a creation between you and whatever G-d you choose.
Thus I support a semi rational belief, that gives me some sort of acceptance of what I cannot understand fully.
I guess I am saying I believe in "faith" but not so called "blind Faith."
Does that make sense?
Well spoken, q.
Well there you go, again... just asking folks to answer the *easy* questions.....
[can you hear the sarcasm?]
I have deep faith, but I am going to have to grind on this for a while...
In my world belief just *IS*.
Jaime,
Whatever works for the individual.
Mata Hari,
A work in progress is a fair answer and something that I expect would continue.
Ezzie,
I look forward to reading it.
Q,
I like your three provisos.
AT,
Fair enough.
Irina,
I think that this kind of thought/belief is evolutionary in nature and confusion is just a step that can occur and reoccur.
Hi Bill,
I think that it can be hard not to react emotionally to some things. You make sense to me.
Richmond,
Just *is* a fair statement for this kind of belief
Vantilope,
It sounds like you have a handle on things.
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