As I wrote in my previous post, I recently had a conversation with my grandparents, while my wife Maria and I we were visiting them for Mothers’ Day. Somehow we got to talking about God, about Christianity and Judaism, and about Jesus, and I brought up some concepts from some other religions which I’ve learned about. My grandparents are evangelical Christians, and we were debating on a lot of topics regarding religion and spirituality. Although it was a conversation I enjoyed, as I always love talking about these things with people, usually with family, we simply could not come to any kind of agreement. Normally, this would not upset me, but what got to me is that they made it seem as if I just don’t have enough faith if I don’t believe exclusively in Jesus as God, like I just don’t get it. My grandma also said that there is no need to learn or do research about any other religion, since one has to be sure that the Bible is exclusively God’s word and Jesus God incarnate, no questions asked. Some other religious beliefs were labeled as absurd or weird, and that was that. Then they lent me a few books to read in order to strengthen my faith. I don’t mind at all, of course, and I do intend to read them among the other books on my list of planned reading. It wasn’t like I got mad at them at all, I love my grandparents, but I just left there feeling like either I just don’t get something so obvious, something my grandma claims to understand and believe wholeheartedly, or she is just not debating in a logical manner, since there is really no way that we can ever know the truth about God simply by believing in a religion. I didn’t put down any specific belief system during our conversation, I just asked: if one hasn’t learned at least the basics of any of the other religions that exist, then how can one be sure that one’s own is the one and only true religion? My grandpa did admit that the majority of people simply believe what they were brought up to believe, depending on where they were born and raised, and he even questioned whether this could be his case. Although I didn’t get mad, I was bothered by the fact that, although people might love each other, there is always some disagreement between every person and everyone else. Of course I know this is what makes us unique, and that it’s an essential part of life. But why can’t we all know the truth when it comes to death and God and the meaning of life, and whatever follows it? Why do we have to guess, and why do we have to believe differently from one another and even fight about and kill and die for these beliefs? Why can’t it be all so simple? I don’t identify with any specific religion because I believe they can all teach very valuable lessons for humanity, but also because I cannot claim to know beyond any shred of doubt that any one religion is exclusively true. I don’t think anyone really can know either. In other words, we are all living in a reality which we are conscious of, yet none of us, absolutely none of us, know why we are here and who put us here, if anyone at all. No one knows for certain, and this is the only certainty of life. Many people have come to believe that they know for certain, and perhaps they are convinced in faith or blind belief that they do, but perhaps they really don’t. Yet we all defend our beliefs with a clenched fist! I wonder why we were placed on this earth without at least knowing the reason for our existence. Is it so that we may spend our days in search of God? The Bible does say to seek God first, and all else will be added. Yes, right now we could be living our fiftieth reincarnation, unaware of all our previous lives, but it could also be true that we have never lived at all, and that there are actually millions of people living up in heaven now or below us in the fiery depths of hell, that Jesus and the Father God of the Bible are watching over us from up there, knowing our every thought and action. It could very well be that the Bible is, in fact, the word of God, uttered through his prophets in ancient days, but it could also be true that what many believe to be divine is really just a collection of texts written from the minds of many men who believed sometimes contradictory things, or it could even be an ancient work of fiction. I am not promoting any of these views, I am simply making you aware of the fact that all these possibilities are valid ones, seeing as how none of us know for sure what there is in this universe, and what the structure behind its design even is, apart from what we experience in our daily lives or the little that we know of this planet which we inhabit. What lies beyond this? It could also be that there is nothing beyond this, and that all the people who have passed have simply ceased to exist forever, gone into nothing, blank. Could life be a meaningless and random nothing? Could our lives be God’s dreams? The Kybalion states that “The Universe is mental. Held in the Mind of the All.” There have been and there will continue to be many theories, man will always be on the search for meaning, yet the only undeniable fact is that we still don’t know any more than we ever did. We all need to humble ourselves and to search sincerely. We all try to conceive of a God, of a religion to identify with, a God to worship. Yet we ignore those things which are cherished by all, which are essential to human life and which should never be ignored, no matter what. We ignore the very essence of God within us, all the good in our hearts, all the love we have available to give. If God is real, I believe that God is love, and pure goodness. We can all recognize within ourselves an understanding, a gut feeling, that good is better than bad, that love is the strongest force there is.
To be continued tomorrow, on Day 4.
~ Rebel Spirit.
rebel eye 