William Carey a devoted Christian said that but the power of any true faith is that it is universal. You don’t even have to believe in God to figure out the truth. If this world we exist in is great then we can only expect great things. Attempting great things makes a lot of sense then. Actually not attempting them sounds like pretty silly and going against nature itself. Of course we always have a choice. Albert Einstein figured out that there are only two ways to live your life: one is as though nothing is a miracle;
the other is as though everything is a miracle. The truth is that he is joking. Life is a miracle already and if you choose to ignore it you are an idiot.
We don’t know everything and that’s OK. We make errors and that’s OK too because only those who do nothing make no errors. We are just human. The beauty of our challenge hidden in the urge to strive towards perfection knowing the impossibility to ever achieve it thus making our quest eternal should not lead to frustration but be a source of motivation.
Greatness is how the universe goes about its business so it is just natural for us to take over that law and attempt to use it for our own ends even if they may be mundane and seemingly insignificant. Everything is a miracle and has its place in the glorious harmony of the world even if you choose to ignore it. “How can you see clearly,” asks Mark Twain “if your imagination is out of focus?” You can’t of course. Not only you can’t see clearly if you don’t use imagination and ignore the miracle you will have trouble communicating with others because who will ever believe you if you don’t see the truth and don’t tell them the truth? And who will help you when you need help and who will ask you for help so you can feel needed if we don’t share that truth?
And our most powerful tool for discovering the truth are our dreams, propelled by our imagination, made real though reason. “If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that is where they should be. Now put the foundations under them.” says Henry David Thoreau and if you haven’t built the castles yet, the miracle of reality must eluding you.
Because: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” as Eleanor Roosevelt observed. And reality is only yesterday’s future.
I know where to come to get encouraged. So many people get excited when they find a faith that works for them, that gives them power and confidence and purpose. For some it turns into the need to make other join them becuase they believe that their faith is the answer to everyones problems, or it can be just an ego trip. I never intended to be that person but I become a Christian who wanted to help people see the truth. Some of the truth was great and powerful, some of the truth was questionable and oppressive but I did not know the difference until I took a step back. I realized that the new habits that I formed were not for God or the bible but from my attempt at becoming spiritual.
ReplyDeleteI am grateful for that time of mistakes and misinterpreted doctrine because I grew spiritually in ways I don't think that I would have otherwise. Even though I have never had all the answers I understood that in every religion I knew of there existed a universal truth. In every religion people were becoming there best selves and learning to love the world around them. Every religion taught me something that I had trouble getting from Christianity alone. I don't believe that God or the bible is flawed i think people's reasoning and logic is flawed. We make the worst mistakes when we create a belief system to answer all the things that don't make sense to us. There is a lot of power in saying these three words, "I don't know".
Faith! what?! UNiverSAL!!? if faiths anything, its not universal. What's faith? faith is hope. Hope in something, anything. That will help you get through challenge. A challenge, like a marathon or an essay or life. That hope will pull you towards it, towards an end, or the end. Whatever you believe. Each faith is particular to the individual because the individual is individual not universal. Trapped in this shell, alone, we cannot know or feel the same way others feel. There for we cannot have the same type of faith as others, therefore its not universal.
ReplyDeleteThe world is great? Who gave it that title, that award? Did you? What right have you to give awards to the world? Surely you must agree that only god could do such a thing. You can't know what god thinks or doesn't think. because god is god and you are you. Obviously god might not think, god might do something else or nothing else, I don't know, I'm not god.
Attempting great things? Well obviously that depends on what some one thinks great is, and of course what their "good" is. But your actually asking if someone should follow their good? Well, do they have a choice? No.
And again, who gave life the award of miracle, was it you again? same argument as before.
Plenty of people will help me if I don't tell them the truth and tell them what they want to hear.
The castles bit was just a bit silly. If you mean imagining my self being great in society or something, yes, that helps with that faith and hope stuff.