"God, to whom our lives may be the spelling of an answer." -Abraham Joshua Heschel

Saturday, January 29, 2005

The Myth of Certainty

Tonight, I find myself quite restless and unable to sleep. I spent a good deal of time tonight reading and pondering Dan Taylor's The Myth of Certainty. Phenomenal book, I highly recommend it. It has caused many other questions to arise within me. I know that I am, by nature, a skeptic and a questioner, but to what degree do I allow myself to be as such? I have endless questions within me, but how much do I actually dare to voice them to the world around me? Even if I dare to voice them aloud to the infinite starry sky, that in itself is frightening, because to even speak something aloud, even to no one at all, makes the doubt REAL. Also, how much am I willing to voice my questions, doubts and opinions to others? I have to admit, I have lived in Christian communities long enough to know that questions about God and Christian faith do not just rattle belief structures, they seem to threaten reality and identity as we know it. When I question the existence of God, or the theology of Calvinism, or the doctrine of complementarianism, or lo que sea, I find that I am often met with either misunderstanding or blatant refusal of my question. Perhaps, for many people, such belief structures become almost definitive of their being, who they are, what they stand for, and what they reject (i.e.: troublesome cynics like me.)
I am not on a mission to attack those who are "certain" in their beliefs. I am only hoping to ask: for those who hold certain beliefs (myself included), WHY do you hold those beliefs? Not because others (family, church, institutions) have instructed you to believe in such a manner; but rahter, what is it that drives you, impels you, causes you to seek out something to believe in? When we have ceased to search, we have diminished the possiblities of God.
Who are we, but simple, seeking sojourners? "To have arrived" is an illusion in itself; I do not believe that this life is about arrival, per se. It's about a journey. . . . .
I very much resonate with Pascal, because at the moment, "I have seen to much to deny, too little to be sure. . . ."

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