What do I have faith in?
... what do i trust to make things better?
if I have to finish the sentence, "if we had more _____, things would get better." how would I fill in the blank?
Technology?
Love?
Democracy?
Kindness?
Knowledge?
Money?
Freedom?
Science?
Education?
God?
Honesty?
Hard work?
Friendships?
Determination?
Good manners?
Phrased another way: "What things have a tendency to promote life?"
What is faith?
Faith is to believe in the good in something. Faith is being convinced that adding more of that something or another will make things good - improve the situation.
By improving the situation we mean to enhance and develop and tend towards Life. By "Life" we mean the sustenance of self... the sustenance of me... the sustenance of what belongs to me... the continuance of my bodily form, my mind, my world, my consciousness.
And by "continuance" we mean, the tendency to also improve the circumstances so that life itself will continue - even possibly thrive.
Life - continuance and the hope of further continuance.
What do I trust in, believe in, have faith in that ultimately promotes Life?
If God is the embodiment of that total Good within the universe that all of life strives for and the rule of God is the reigning of those things that promote life then God can reign both in our hearts and in this world.
This God is easy to love but not easy to have faith in.
I am not convinced ultimately that life and good prevails in the end.
This is my battle between dispair and faith.
This is my wrestling for a faith in God.
So in your mind, are things getting better? or are things getting worse?
Do you have faith?
Dang... i think i make sense then i read this sh*t the next day and though i still know what i mean, it doesn't make sense....
ReplyDelete... i think it's about time i end this blog....
Don't.
ReplyDeleteDO NOT!!!
ReplyDeleteFellow Mid-night Rider:
Faith to me: is Action, Based upon Belief, Sustained by Confidence in God's Word and His promise to perform it.
What I have never lacked in my life: food, clothes, love, friends, a roof over my head or a shelter, an education, party times, hard times (death), family, a sound mind, money, a job, instant gratification in anything I want at any time, etc, etc...Have I ever really used FAITH??? Have I ever been so despaired that I had to have instant Faith?? NO!! I don't think I have. But to answer your question..."Do I have faith?"...I would say YES...Tony W
How about if we had "less"? And, that less is concentration of power? Faith in the kindness and compassion of most people is noble. Faith in individuality and the industriousness of mankind is noble. Faith in love is noble. Faith that in a world where there is no concentration of power, that goodness prevails over evil.
ReplyDeleteWhat we are feeling is a society is that something is wrong. Goodness is no longer an anticipated outcome. That maybe there is something wrong with each of us because we don't believe it the dream of freedom and goodness.
It is because the root of all evil is power. And concentration of power has become the norm of our society. Government, police, companies. And, what we see as outcomes has us questioning our beliefs. Our beliefs are sound. It is the world around us that has to change.
Make the world what you want it to be. It starts at the grass roots level. There is a truth that good triumphs over evil. And, in a bout or irony the very fact that you question it is validation of it being so.
God is not what society and power has made him out to be. He is the life force in all of us. He is in nature, in you, in me. He is the universe. Now, is that a shape we know that we are created in the image of? I don't know and frankly I don't care. I do believe there is an intelligence to all of this madness but not what concentration of power that religion has made him out to be. That is control and not truth.
And, you know what? It was Christ and Buddhism which both recognized this fact.
Now faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen
ReplyDeleteEvery body ought to know this
BUT
We choose rather to continue in our deception
speculating there must another way
We wish things were the way we want the goodness we understand good to be
What is good of frail humanity
We are far from the GOOD we all seek
So I say Faith is confidence in our presumptions
Or I should say confidence in our stupidity This is our faith
Our failed humaness wants and hopes for in vain
The only and final conclusion is to
trust in God who we can not seen or understand
Thus He(it) had to condisend He(it)
Had to show himself to us
This is the message of Jesus
The real question is not Fatih
The question is Who and how??
Do we TRUST this Jesus?
Is what we have heard of Him
the truth?
This is where my confidence rests not in what I percive to be good or bad But that this someone is far more capable than I to run the cosmos
You make a lot more sense than any of these bozos if that helps.
ReplyDeleteoddly, I think i understand all these responses .... rightly or wrongly I contemplate them all ... thanks for the feedback and the encouragement to "walk on".... it does help.
ReplyDeleteI love all you guys :)
mitch
The ground work is laid and
ReplyDeletestage is now set
The Good can not be explained except in relative terms
Faith, however on the other hand is
What then?
Mitch do you really have an
tangible definition?
I think from I read even this
remains relative.
The argument remains the same
and definitons alude me.
How can we get to a place of
concrete discussion without
substanitive defintions that we all agree to?
Before We truly begin a journey into the unkown we must of necessity (like a person in total darkness) find something to get a hold of.
Bring your embers to camp
we need light and so far ...
Who has it?
I'm listening