Today's topic is faith. Not religion, but faith. Faith isn't so much what you believe, but how you believe. That faith could be in yourself, the basic goodness of human nature, or that your sports team is somehow superior to another sports team. People often confuse faith with religion, but atheists have faith; they have faith that there is no god. No faith would be closer to agnosticism.
Faith of some support is essential. It's a form of trust. It is a release of control that is inherently uncomfortable. When you marry someone, you are having faith in them. I have faith in my family and friends, who never let me far further than I should.
Faith in yourself is equally tricky business. I have often said that I am insecure, but confident in my insecurities. It's not as paradoxical as it appears. Confronting weaknesses is the only way to ever defeat them, so anything I find weak in myself, I will acknowledge and try to get better. It's that faith that I am capable of change and progress. It's faith that things will work out. And they do.
You can live without a lot, but I can't imagine surviving without faith. Whether you believe in a god, or an afterlife, or whatever- there has still got to be a purpose. If there was no purpose to life, we wouldn't try to improve. We wouldn't strive to be better- at anything, be it comparative analysis or playing backgammon. It's that hope, that faith, that possibility of change that keeps us hungry (literally and/or figuratively) and keeps us growing. Curiosity is faith that there is something to be learned. Exercise is faith that your body can change and develop. Love is faith itself- by loving, you show your faith in its existence.
So, faith. Have it.
And honestly, my internal organs are going to be mushy enough to suck through a straw if I keep this shit up, so tomorrow, I am discussing whatever I can find to be most sarcastic.
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2 comments:
as a lifelong agnostic (i neither know nor care whether there is a god... i know it seems odd but my sister feels exactly the same way so maybe there is something genetic to this mindset), i have to say i disagree. i don't know what is going to happen to me after i die and it doesn't matter to me. there is no way to know for sure so why waste my time worrying about it?
it's not faith that gets me through the day and want to make myself a better person. i do want to improve, both personally and in terms of my relationships with other people. i think what motivates me is just wanting my life to be as good as it can possibly be at any given moment.
so maybe i have faith in the possibility of improvement? i don't know. now i am confused.
i am not referring to a faith in a higher power, a faith in an afterlife, or the like.
it's more like faith that that improvement is possible. otherwise, what makes you think your relationships could improve? without some sort of faith, it's all a matter of chance. by the mere attempt to be proactive, you are acknowledging that change is possible- so a faith in change. i'm not even remotely talking about god here. more along the lines of faith in having a hand in your fate.
faith is a belief not based in proof. whether it's that there is life on other planets or that true love exists. whatever.
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