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Friday
March 19, 2010 Since 1922 |
One giant leap
By Luke Hales
Published November 17, 2009 Howdy, y’all.
I’ve been somewhat introspective lately, which may have been obvious if you read my last column. I remain centered and focused, and my sense of inner peace has not wavered. So I got that going for me, which is nice.
If you haven’t seen “Caddyshack,” disregard that last statement, as it will make no sense. If you have, feel free to laugh. Or don’t. Whichever.
Anyway …
Been thinking on faith a lot. I have to be honest — faith is a tough sell to those who don’t have any. Most times those people don’t think they need any, since they’ve got along just fine without it.
But they haven’t been getting along fine. And they don’t know it.
I’m not a proselytizer by any means; believe what you want to believe, whether it’s in God, Buddha, Allah, Vishnu, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Hey, and if you happen to be an atheist, then believe in yourself — a LOT.
But belief — faith — in something is the key.
So where do I get off exactly, writing all this stuff?
I’ve columnized before on religion. It’s a big interest of mine, and discussions on the subject can go on infinitely. After all, there’s a lot of questions that need asking.
And it’s those questions specifically that can undermine faith — or make it stronger.
I think everyone goes through a phase where they really wonder if believing in a deity does any good. For most — at least the people I’ve spoken to about it, it usually ties in with this question right here:
What if, when I die, nothing happens? Ever?
That’s a scary thought. I mean, I guess it’s scary if you’re expecting something. If you’re not (see the atheist thing up about two paragraphs or so), then I guess you win. But for the rest of us, we kind of expect a reward at the end of the trip. That’s human nature; we come to think that a hard day’s work finishes with the satisfaction of a job well done. The same applies to a hard life’s work, I suppose.
So then, the question remains: what if, when the party’s over, they turn out the lights and … ?
Of course, that’s not the only question that plagues our minds. Other top sellers include the perennial favorite, “What’s the purpose of our existence?” and that top ten single, “How do I go about believing in something I never see in reality?”
Well, see, that’s the real kicker. In order for you to have faith, you have to be willing to not only place your stock in the concept of a master planner of the whole everything, but also to fervently follow that plan to the best of your ability.
I don’t know about you folks … but I like the idea of having a plan.
I’m not one on foresight. I’m pretty good at getting through the day — in fact, I dare say that when it comes to making it work, whatever it is, I’m on my game — but not so much on the what happens after that stuff. I’m okay with it, because thankfully I don’t have to sweat it. My deity’s got it covered.
That’s not to say that we don’t have to do some stuff ourselves. It’s our job to figure out how to live, thrive, and survive while we’re here. And, if we seek guidance from our deity, then we get the answers we seek.
We have to pay attention, mind you, because most times those answers aren’t immediately given. It’s not a Magic Eight-Ball (But that would be really, really cool, wouldn’t it?); sometimes what we seek isn’t all that apparent. Until, of course, someone says something in conversation, or a song comes on the radio, or we read something in a book, or, in some other way, our deity says hello.
Really, all it takes is paying attention. And, of course, having that faith.
That may be the very definition of faith itself: knowing that out there, everywhere, in us, in others, someone has the solutions to life’s problems. And those solutions show up when we need them, in unexpected places. And believing — really believing — that no matter how bad it is, no matter how much we hurt, someone’s looking out for us.
That’s when a lot of people lose it, I think. When your world falls apart, it’s really easy to try to handle everything by yourself. In times of crisis we grasp whatever we can to take control. The problem, of course, is that we can’t control everything, and trying to do so just makes things more difficult to handle.
But that’s when you need faith the most. After all, how can you appreciate the sunrise without the darkest night? How can we know joy without knowing its opposite? And how can we know triumph without tragedy?
I think of it like bungee jumping. You can’t look down, because it’s a big scary void down there. And if you don’t hurry up the guy behind you gets all antsy. So you summon your courage and take that step.
And then you fly.
It’s a leap of faith, after all.
Luke Hales is the assistant managing editor for The Baytown Sun.
Published November 17, 2009 Howdy, y’all.
I’ve been somewhat introspective lately, which may have been obvious if you read my last column. I remain centered and focused, and my sense of inner peace has not wavered. So I got that going for me, which is nice.
If you haven’t seen “Caddyshack,” disregard that last statement, as it will make no sense. If you have, feel free to laugh. Or don’t. Whichever.
Anyway …
Been thinking on faith a lot. I have to be honest — faith is a tough sell to those who don’t have any. Most times those people don’t think they need any, since they’ve got along just fine without it.
But they haven’t been getting along fine. And they don’t know it.
I’m not a proselytizer by any means; believe what you want to believe, whether it’s in God, Buddha, Allah, Vishnu, or the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Hey, and if you happen to be an atheist, then believe in yourself — a LOT.
But belief — faith — in something is the key.
So where do I get off exactly, writing all this stuff?
I’ve columnized before on religion. It’s a big interest of mine, and discussions on the subject can go on infinitely. After all, there’s a lot of questions that need asking.
And it’s those questions specifically that can undermine faith — or make it stronger.
I think everyone goes through a phase where they really wonder if believing in a deity does any good. For most — at least the people I’ve spoken to about it, it usually ties in with this question right here:
What if, when I die, nothing happens? Ever?
That’s a scary thought. I mean, I guess it’s scary if you’re expecting something. If you’re not (see the atheist thing up about two paragraphs or so), then I guess you win. But for the rest of us, we kind of expect a reward at the end of the trip. That’s human nature; we come to think that a hard day’s work finishes with the satisfaction of a job well done. The same applies to a hard life’s work, I suppose.
So then, the question remains: what if, when the party’s over, they turn out the lights and … ?
Of course, that’s not the only question that plagues our minds. Other top sellers include the perennial favorite, “What’s the purpose of our existence?” and that top ten single, “How do I go about believing in something I never see in reality?”
Well, see, that’s the real kicker. In order for you to have faith, you have to be willing to not only place your stock in the concept of a master planner of the whole everything, but also to fervently follow that plan to the best of your ability.
I don’t know about you folks … but I like the idea of having a plan.
I’m not one on foresight. I’m pretty good at getting through the day — in fact, I dare say that when it comes to making it work, whatever it is, I’m on my game — but not so much on the what happens after that stuff. I’m okay with it, because thankfully I don’t have to sweat it. My deity’s got it covered.
That’s not to say that we don’t have to do some stuff ourselves. It’s our job to figure out how to live, thrive, and survive while we’re here. And, if we seek guidance from our deity, then we get the answers we seek.
We have to pay attention, mind you, because most times those answers aren’t immediately given. It’s not a Magic Eight-Ball (But that would be really, really cool, wouldn’t it?); sometimes what we seek isn’t all that apparent. Until, of course, someone says something in conversation, or a song comes on the radio, or we read something in a book, or, in some other way, our deity says hello.
Really, all it takes is paying attention. And, of course, having that faith.
That may be the very definition of faith itself: knowing that out there, everywhere, in us, in others, someone has the solutions to life’s problems. And those solutions show up when we need them, in unexpected places. And believing — really believing — that no matter how bad it is, no matter how much we hurt, someone’s looking out for us.
That’s when a lot of people lose it, I think. When your world falls apart, it’s really easy to try to handle everything by yourself. In times of crisis we grasp whatever we can to take control. The problem, of course, is that we can’t control everything, and trying to do so just makes things more difficult to handle.
But that’s when you need faith the most. After all, how can you appreciate the sunrise without the darkest night? How can we know joy without knowing its opposite? And how can we know triumph without tragedy?
I think of it like bungee jumping. You can’t look down, because it’s a big scary void down there. And if you don’t hurry up the guy behind you gets all antsy. So you summon your courage and take that step.
And then you fly.
It’s a leap of faith, after all.
Luke Hales is the assistant managing editor for The Baytown Sun.