For all intents and purposes, I should not believe in God. Let's go over the reasons why:
1. I am too analytical
I am far too analytical, skeptical, independent-minded, and disenfranchized to think there should be a higher power, let alone an all-knowing, loving, anthropomorphic one who cares about me individually.......and made me in his image no less! It sounds like a lot of hoo-ha. And I have a "Zero Hoo-ha Tolerance Policy."
2. I've got this indignation....call it wrath, or maybe rage?
On top of my hoo-ha policy, I've got this rage. It's the same rage you have--where you know something isn't right, but it SHOULD be. And you see how it could be, and it's not. And someone should do something about it, but who? And if there WERE a living God who actually cared, the way they say he does, well.......there would be something to SHOW for it.
My rage comes from tragedy. The kind that makes your world turn upside down and shakes out the change of the giant pockets of the great denim sky. Your rage may be from something else. But it's justified. We get it.
3. Believing in God is Not Cool
On top of the hoo-ha, and the rage, I've got this desire to "fit in" and be "cool" just like anybody else. It has occurred to me more than once that life might seem a lot easier for me socially (and otherwise) if I were to ditch the whole "theistic" thing I have going on and just join the crowd--"fit in," as it were. Because believing in God--believe it or not--is just NOT the cool thing to do these days.
Top Cool Things to Do in 2017
- Visiting Dubai
- Hangliding
- Owning a yacht
- Growing a manbeard
- Being a whale on STEEM
- Being an atheist, nonconformist, anarchist who does what he wants on his own terms and answers to no one but himself
I think that might be fun for a few minutes. But the fun wouldn't last...for me, anyway. I would become selfish and self preserving. I would think less about others and too much about myself. In my opinion--not gospel, just me--selfishness comes from a sense of desperation, which for me comes from not knowing if there is more than the minute you are in.
You might be a great atheist. You may feed the hungry, nurture the sick, give to the poor, help those in need. Or maybe you just keep to yourself and mind your own business, which is better than most.
But I think I'd be a selfish one. I have too many things in my life that I'd like to straighten out on my own accord, that would require me to lie, cheat, and manipulate to get my own way. I'd turn into someone I didn't like. The only reason I have not resorted to those behaviors in this difficult circumstance is because I believe in God. Period. I knew he had something in store for me, and that I just needed to hang in there and let things play out. And things would turn out all right in the end. And I'd be fine.
And I am fine. I'm better than fine. But for awhile there, I wasn't. And I wanted to take matters into my own hands. I'm glad I didn't. But I might have, if I hadn't had the moral compass that was based on a higher power and hope of Christ and the beyond.
4. Live for the Moment
It sounds like a great slogan. But it's a bunch of hoo-ha. We're supposed to live IN the moment. Not FOR it. There is a big difference. Living FOR the moment means you may not get another one like this, so live it up! It may be gone tomorrow! Living IN the moment means being in the present and soaking up the moments you have as if they actually mean something.
Believe in God
Believing in God boils down to two things for me: 1) it makes me a kinder, more patient, compassionate person, and 2) it makes me try a little harder than I ordinarily would.
This isn't necessarily because I'm so eager to please a higher power. It's because I know he's eager to please me. He's got a lot in store. What I don't accomplish here, I'll accomplish there. What I don't get here, I'll get there. That's just how it works.
Knowing there is more to this life than the 80 short years I've got, makes me dig deeper, shoot higher, and reach farther than I normally would. If I thought this was all there was to life, I might feel a little more inclined to horde for myself rather than give. I might aim for self-preserving, self-rewarding things.
But I KNOW there is enough for everyone, life extends to eternity, someone is in charge, and it is all bigger than me. When there is ENOUGH, my heart has room to give. Plus, we'll all see each other on the other side, and I'd rather have a bunch of friends I can hang out with and want to be around. You included.
And for gosh sakes, pray once in awhile. It's not that hard to do. You don't have to be Mother Theresa or anything. Just drop a line now and then. If you worship a different idea of someone or something than I do, then that's fine. I don't really care. Just carve out a little time and do it!
Prayer is the Soul's Sincere Desire
Prayer is the soul’s sincere desire,
Uttered or unexpressed,
The motion of a hidden fire
That trembles in the breast.
Prayer is the burden of a sigh,
The falling of a tear,
The upward glancing of an eye
When none but God is near.
Prayer is the simplest form of speech
That infant lips can try;
Prayer, the sublimest strains that reach
The Majesty on high.
~James Montgomery,