COMMENT:
Perhaps people can be re-assured through their belief in God, but that does not mean that the belief is true.
REPLY:
True. Time however is the best test of truth; otherwise it could simply be a relative truth, or one that appears true for some time. History has had many gods and beliefs and not all have survived. Very few remain, compared to what has been. Time reveals what is true. This is not only true for our own individual short lives, but also for universal time spanning eons and epochs. We may grow to see that some things we held to be true, when we were young, are indeed false, or vice versa. The same goes for our world and history. Faith in Christ has inspired countless peoples throughout the ages and has changed history far more than we can ever understand. It continues to change people’s lives and give hope to our world and to the millions of people which live in it. Mother Teresa is a recent example. Faith in Christ can be argued to be the very roots which support the tree of our own modern world and it’s striving for justice, equality and freedom. Christianity changed the world forever, and we are inherently anachronistic in our remarks, or rather, we tend to remember only the things we deem to be important. The atheist sees only the bad side of religion, whereas the believer sees only the good. To borrow from Nietzsche, one could also argue that truth should be something which exists beyond good and evil, and despite what we think about religion, there is a truth about it which has made its way through time and the fleeting fashions of the human mindset.
Despite the atheist’s inability to see it, faith is not a void concept, it is embodied in the hearts of all believers and its effects are existentially felt in their life. It bears fruit. There is countless evidence that belief in God has been a major motivator of human actions throughout history, despite their content. It has the ability to make people better human beings or push them even further into darkness. Beyond the perceived good or evil of its contents, belief in God seems to do something to the human being. There is something in it which speaks truth to the human heart. Unless you have felt the changes that belief in God makes within you, you will always argue the contrary, despite the overwhelming evidence which illustrates its power in people’s life. We can argue that one is free to believe what one wants, but true belief which inspires saints is not something that one is capable of on their own – it is purely a gift (grace), which even when given, can remain unopened. It is important that we also realise, therefore, that belief in God can mean so many things, and my argument only has weight because I am talking about the faith that makes people shine in our world and bring peace and security to human life. I am specifically talking about the faith that comes only from Christ, one that makes all things sacred and its fruits are no other than the ones detailed in the New Testament. This faith speaks truth in our world.
Religion is not innocent of the evil which plagues our world. It was in fact one of the major players in Jesus’ murder. I do not claim to be a member of a healed community – I am a member of a sick community which seeks the healing that only Christ can bring. Despite the stigmatised language, despite the blood on its hands, despite all its trials and failures, I will not abandon it and seek within it the Good News it has to offer, aware of its past. Just as I am a sinner in my own life, and the church is made up of human beings like me, I do not choose to reject it because of its failures, but look towards how I can make it better.
The effects of faith in ones life are not always logical to the human mind, which itself is a fallible instrument. The proof for faith lies in actions and words. When our mind collapses in our old age, it is not logic which keeps us alive and wanted; it is the goodness that has been nurtured in other people’s lives, the result of the Spirits subtle and often hidden work in people’s hearts. The truth, therefore, is not how logical another human being is, but rather how good he or she is. A human being is not simply a logical creature, but also one that is moved by motives and emotions. Although faith may not always arm us with the same logical mindset which the atheist foolishly takes so much pride in, it brings goodness with it, and people can feel this in their life. It is not an illusion. It is like believing in air, despite our inability to see it, our body feels it in our lungs, and we believe. For the people that feel this presence of Christ in their life, and are moved to become better people and work towards a better world, the contents of this faith are true, as history itself has illustrated by choosing to adopt them as the aspirations of our very own free world.
Words are a humanly distinctive feature. Too often however, our words become hollow and empty. Our lips seem to create them at their own leisure with little thought behind them. We usually utter words and phrases simply out of habit or even to satisfy the perception we give to others. Too often our words become rogue deceiving devices.
An empty word is a word that carries little weight, a word said simply for the sake of saying something, a word that comes from empty conviction and brings little conviction to the listener. Empty words come from a place where there is no conscience, no sense of honesty and truth, and no fear of God, which itself is the first sign of wisdom. Empty words come from hollow people, people who think little about what they say and never examine their words in light of the gift of a beckoning conscience.
We need to take possession of our words again, and realise the power they carry. They are the very foundation of our being and display our characters to the world and the people we know. Words are what make us human. Words are instinctively creative and have a potency which can make them either destructive or peaceful. Whether we realise it or not, our words do something to the world once they leave our mouths. Empty words lead only to harm both for their owners and the people that put their faith in them. Meaningful words, or words which carry weight, come from an honest place and they create trust and peace, rather than destroy it.
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Posted in Aphorisms, Philosophy, Relativism, Social Commentary, Spirituality, Thoughts, Words