On Faith -an article

Or, the basis of believing anything

No, this is not anti-evolution. But evolution is just a theory. It hasn't been proven. Neither has the existance of God, god, Zeus, Artemis, Sophia, your house, your chair, or your best friend or even Significant Other.

There once, a story I heard goes, a famous sophist who was talking with a friend on the deck of a ship. The friend said, "So, you don't believe anything exists except you." The sophist affirmed this. The friend went on, "Just one question- when you're holding your wife in your arms at night, do you ever remember that she is just a figment of your imagination?" The sophist looked stricken and replied, "Yes."

Poor man. See, sophism is the belief that states, "I am alone in this universe. Everything is illusions spawned by my mind to keep it busy. In real reality, I could be nothing more than an intelligent grain of sand in the middle of nothingness quietly dreaming away to itself."

Sophism came from the Greeks originally, but was revived by the scepticism of the Renaissance. The ONLY thing in this world that can be proved absolutely is the existance of "I". Rene Descartes- "I think therefore I am." Beyond that, nothing can be proven. Not absolutely.

That's where faith comes in. I have faith that the chair I am sitting in will not suddenly disappear for no reason and drop me the two feet to the floor. I believe that the internet exists and that people will be able to read this eventually. (People might never actually read the silly thing, but they can if they want to.) I believe that I am a human being, not a slime creature from outer space. If you happen to be a slime creature from outer space, no offense, you understand. In fact, I may want to hire you to get rid of a couple of people..

Anyway, that's one kind of faith- faith in reality. I believe the world I perceive is a real world. It may not be the only world, but it is, for all intents and purposes, real. My boyfriend is real. (Unless there's something he hasn't told me, yet.) My parents are real. My brother is real. All my cousins are real ( at least, I think so, though sometimes some of them seem incredibly plastic).

Then there's the next step up- faith in people. This one is a bit more difficult. Who can you trust? Do people really like you or are they just too polite to tell you they hate your guts? Believe me, I struggle with this one quite a bit, though I've never actually gone into true paranoia, yet, where I think they're out to get me. I just wonder if they really like me. In this world, it can be hard to have faith in people. We often don't have faith in ourselves. Ask yourself- do I really know myself? Can I trust myself? If no, then find out who you really are. If yes, then you have something incredibly precious- don't waste it and don't forget it.

I do my best to be a 'real' person, somebody other people can have faith in without having to worry about me the way I occasionally worry about others. Maybe, if they can trust me, I can trust them. I certainly hope so. And I hope so every time even though I've been proven wrong from time to time. And that's another kind of faith- faith that people can be real. Remember the Velvetine Rabbit? Remember his question and the answer he was given?

"How do you become real?"

"Love makes us real," answered the wise old rocking horse.

There really isn't much difference between that last kind of faith and love. If you're willing to have faith in someone, love comes along naturally, and, if you're willing to love someone, you'd better be able to have faith in them!

And then, there's the most difficult kind of faith. I can already hear the groans about all us crazy Christians. Look, it's not just about God, it's about something much, much more basic. It's faith in the fact that there's a purpose for existance. That we aren't just here because of some cosmic accident and that the universe is intrinsically a cold, unpredictable, uncaring place. If the purpose to existance is simply to exist, then what is there? Why even go on living?

I do believe in God. Why? Because God is love, and I believe in love. I believe in the power of love. I believe the purpose of existance is to love as many people as you can so they won't be alone, so they don't have to be scared, so they don't have to be empty. Whether you call God by other names doesn't matter. Love's the ultimate truth I believe in. I have faith in love.

Why?

Because someone once had faith in me.

On a lesser note, I do believe in most of the rest of the orthodox Christian beliefs as well, because they make logical sense to me. I may talk about that later, but this one's about faith.

Faith, hope, and love. Hmmm.

Anna Collins