A Question of Faith
Sometimes you need to ask yourself a question. Is it more important to understand the mechanics of how things work or to just have faith that they do.
Do you need to know why they sun rises and why it sets or can you rest easy knowing that it will.
On a personal level I am a contradiction. I like to know how things work because I have a burning curiosity and a mind that is reluctant to shut down, but at the same time I also find it relatively easy to just accept some things.
I am a fighter. I am a warrior who hates to be chained, a dreamer who despises authority and a father who understands that sometimes we must all bend the knee.
I seek the answers to how things work so that I might better understand how to harness their power and make them work for me but again I also find that sometimes it is just better to go along to get along.
It is not easy for me. Tell me what to do and my nature is to do the opposite. Sometimes I feel it so strongly that it is not just mental but an incredible physical effort.
I don’t need to constantly search for proof of G-d because my head and my heart work together, at least on that. I believe even in the face of logic that seems to defy reason. It doesn’t mean that I do not question nor does it mean that who I am today is who I intend to be tomorrow
The river never stops running. Today it looks one way but tomorrow it may be different.
Irina Tsukerman January 21, 2006 at 3:44 am
I think it really depends on the situation.
Jack's Shack January 20, 2006 at 7:32 am
Z,
Well said.
jaime January 19, 2006 at 9:12 pm
I have always felt a connection to your writings Jack, especially those that touch on more sensitive and introspective moments and thoughts in your life. I, too am full of contridictions. I want to feel comfortable in a spiritual relationship but something always blocks me from it. I don’t neccessarily need logic and scientific knowledge to explain our existence but nor can I just succumb to faith. Perhaps it’s the control freak in me.
Zeruel January 19, 2006 at 3:46 pm
You should always have an open mind and never stop learning and questioning. Your life will be richer of it.
Jack's Shack January 19, 2006 at 3:44 pm
And I generally don’t believe things just because they are written somewhere or because I am taught to.
It is not always easy, it is just something that I do.
Hi Q,
It would be nice to be given proof that was incontrovertible, but for now we must simply make the decision with the evidence we think that we may or may not have.
Stephen (aka Q) January 19, 2006 at 3:34 pm
… a father who understands that sometimes we must all bend the knee.
Well said.
When it comes to God’s existence, I certainly like to evaluate the evidence as objectively as it’s humanly possible to do. I don’t mean that I want proof — that would be terribly dull — but I do seek enough evidence to suggest that faith is a reasonable possibility.
And I think we have enough evidence to meet that objective. But there’s still plenty of room for doubt, so ultimately one must choose between faith or unbelief.
People who think in terms of certainty — whether they’re certain that God exists or certain that God doesn’t exist — such people aren’t looking with an open mind.
Stacey January 19, 2006 at 2:10 pm
Is it more important to understand the mechanics of how things work or to just have faith that they do.
Good for you that you can just have “faith.” I have never much liked that word.
And I generally don’t believe things just because they are written somewhere or because I am taught to.
I believe in science. I believe in math. I believe in proof.
But that is great that faith comes easier for you.