Chapter 10 - Hope/Faith/Believe
Now standing over the priest, Lempo looked down with tears in his eyes after hearing those words. In a broken voice, he said, “My eyes are being opened to the world of metaphysical beliefs, but how will these beliefs make me happy? How do I get rid of the emptiness inside me? How are these going to take away all the pain and feeling of loneliness in my life?” Falling to his knees, with his hands cupping his face and sobbing, he continued, “I need to know how to be happy.”
After some deliberation, Father Plesta said, “Very rarely will a single metaphysical belief significantly help an individual, unless it is a very powerful belief, such as love; and even then love is an unstable belief, depending on who or what you profess it to. A system of metaphysical beliefs, more commonly called a religion, will be the best way to find what you are looking for.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t know if I can believe that. I’ve always heard how religions are bad for humanity because of all the wars and ignorance they’ve caused.”
“Do not blame religion for the drawbacks of humans. Religions do not encourage people to be warmongers, nor is their purpose to keep a populace ignorant. Both of these are done by people who claim to be followers of a certain religion, but in reality only want to legitimize their own personal agenda by claiming it is done in the name of their religion. Sometimes the perpetrators of these atrocities have been deceived, or deceive themselves, and misinterpret their religion’s creed. Jesus Christ, Buddha, Mohammed, Krishna, Confucius, and others created, received, or rationalized systems of metaphysical beliefs that are productive, necessary, and a benefit to humanity, don’t let a human deceiver or hypocrite ruin the righteous systems they taught, laid out, and lived.”
“Why is religion necessary?”
“How else will people acquire a meaningful purpose to life if not through religion? Otherwise one will walk through life aimlessly, with the sole purpose of chasing fleeting pleasures and wealth, which has been proven not to bring happiness.”
“Didn’t you say philosophy could do this too?”
“Yes, I did, but the problem with philosophy is that it requires people to spend a lot of time and brain power contemplating the nuances of life. Unfortunately, the majority of the people don’t have the time to spend studying and reflecting on philosophical matters; and, it’s hard to admit, but the fact is that a majority of the people are not trained mentally to be able to philosophize. The reason religion has been more successful in inculcating metaphysical beliefs is due to the genius of each religion’s founder and how they understood the capabilities and needs of humanity. In addition, their teachings were so simple and versatile, that they can be easily understood and interpreted in many different ways. Their teaching can also change with the times and adapt and will therefore maintain their luster and validity. It doesn’t matter if its 2000 years ago or ten days, religions will continue to give people a much needed hope and meaning.”
“What does hope have to do with anything?”
“It has a lot to do with everything. An explanation of hope, and the doors it opens, will help you understand why religion is necessary to humanity, and how its benefits greatly outweigh its misgivings. This explanation will also begin to answer your previous question on how metaphysical beliefs can bring happiness. I know this conversation has taken longer than you expected, but please bear with me for there is still quite a bit to discuss.”
Gathering his composure, Lempo responded, “I have nothing else in my life going for me. Take your time; I want to hear everything you have to say.”
Patting Lempo’s back, Father Plesta then began, “Hope is what draws people to metaphysical beliefs. Hope is longing for what one doesn’t have; it is also an expectation of receiving what one longs for. Hope is itself a metaphysical belief, one that is necessary in every culture and generation. In this unstable and unpredictable world, a person who only hopes for a good education, a prestigious career, a big house, fancy cars, a beautiful wife, successful children, and continuous pleasure, will find himself very disappointed, especially if that person hopes these things will bring them lasting happiness and a fulfilling life. People with no metaphysical beliefs, and more importantly, with no religion, hope for things that can be lost or taken away. Even if they do attain and retain everything they hope for, they will still never be satisfied because the pleasure from those material wants will never last, and they will also lack a meaningful relationship with their loved ones and their friends; and will feel alone and distant from them as a result. People need more than the material benefits and pleasures this world has to offer; and this deep ancient longing for a better life is alleviated by the hope a religion offers.”
“What is this hope that religions offer?” asked Lempo.
“It all depends on what religion, or system of metaphysical beliefs, you are introduced to. But all religions pretty much give people hope that it will lift them above their primal nature, shifting circumstances, and this seemingly unpredictable purposeless world, and in return give them something full of meaning and purpose, permanent and stable. Religion also provides a sense of control over people’s circumstances and the world around them. People have always needed this hope that religion offers because it is universal and does not respect a person’s situation, meaning that no matter if one is rich, poor, strong, weak, smart, or dumb, you can still receive the promises of hope that religion offers. Everyone without metaphysical beliefs will reach a point in their life where they find themselves alone and miserable, like you now, and realize that everything they’ve worked for in life is useless and pointless; naturally they feel something’s missing. They find that missing element in the extreme hope that religions offer, specifically heaven, paradise, nirvana, or a well-balanced life. When you grasp at the hope a religion offers Lempo, you will see how instantly liberating it is; how it lifts all your current burdens and pains up off you. It opens the door to a new life, full of meaning and purpose. Obviously, depression is a powerful mentality and not easy to get rid of, but when you acknowledge that there is hope beyond anything you could’ve imagined, you can begin to heal and see a life void of depression.”
“After you grasp at hope, you will then begin to learn, and instill in your life, a system of metaphysical beliefs. Doing this you will begin to make the connections we talked about earlier and start living these beliefs out in your daily life; and as a result of all this, you will no longer live a meaningless life. At the same time, as all of this is happening, you will naturally search for places that are associated with your chosen religion and in these places they will offer help, answers, and more importantly, a community. This strong metaphysical belief of community is very important because it connects you to other believers and this community keeps you from feeling alone in the world. This concept of community will also improve your relationship and connection to your family and loved ones. I don’t want to go into a long explanation on what community is, but it pretty much plays off of love and loyalty, which I explained earlier, and creates a sense of belonging and closeness not found anywhere else. These people, if they are real followers, will genuinely love and accept you. You will no longer feel lonely when you become a part of this community; although in some religions, such as Catholicism, you are rid of loneliness immediately because in our belief system, an all-loving personal God is right there with you at all times.”
“Accepting the hope that religion offers, takes your burdens away, including the feelings of pain and misery. No longer will you see a future with misery, pain, and despair; you will begin to see light in the darkness that was once your life. Thus you will no longer walk through life chasing after fleeting pleasures, material objects, wealth, power, and wasting time on your phone trying to escape this world. You won’t have to think about the misery and emptiness in your life, because you will have real purpose. As you delve deeper and get a better understanding of your religion, you begin to attain meaning and purpose and a new outlook on life and even your past memories will seem happier. You will also begin to have more meaningful relationships with family and friends, in addition to new friends from the community of fellow believers; therefore you will no longer feel lonely. With the pain, misery, emptiness, and loneliness gone, it is only natural that you will begin to enjoy life and happiness will exist in every aspect of your life.”
Lempo waited a little and then said, “If what you say is true, then why are so many people who attend churches and all those other religious institutions full of misery, still chasing after you’re so called fleeting pleasures and only care about material things and accumulating wealth? Why do I see a lot of former or current church goers out in the streets, or in their home, strung out on pills, drunk, or doing all those other drugs? Why does it seem like every other person is an alcoholic, but these same people fill the pews? Why does it seem like they are just as lost and without meaning as me? If what you said is true, then why are all these things happening?”
Giving Lempo a smirk and letting out a sigh, Father Plesta said in a cheerful voice, “I am well aware that religion, along with metaphysical beliefs, have become sterile from the inside and outside; and it is not only the fault of the parents, school, and institutions, but also the religious organizations and the leaders/philosophers who are supposed to teach and spread their beliefs to the people.”
“What do you mean religion has become sterile? So why are you telling me to be part of something that is dying out from the inside and outside?”
“I didn’t say anything about religion dying out. Religion will never die out because eventually the people will realize that most of their societal and individual troubles are due to a lack of metaphysical beliefs, and, more importantly, a system of metaphysical beliefs. I already told you how religion has become sterile from the outside, which basically boils down to the spread of a material philosophy that does not see past the individual and his direct experiences with the world. This material philosophy implies that truth can only be derived from scientific facts, and the goal is to improve humanity’s material circumstances in order to increase everyone’s overall pleasure and decrease pain and suffering. They are blind to the fact that humanity needs more than merely just pleasure and physical well-being; although I’m not saying these are of no importance, naturally metaphysical beliefs will affect these too. Now, there are many reasons why religions have become sterile from the inside as well, but I will just mention the three most important reasons. The first has to do with religious organizations concentrating too much time and effort proselytizing, but neglecting to cultivate and inculcate the metaphysical beliefs of their current members. Most religious leaders have forgotten that religious growth and belief is attained by each individual, not by the community as a whole. Individuals do not gather into one mentality and are taught and receive spirituality as a community; on the contrary, individuals gather into a community in order to be taught together, but receive spiritual awareness individually. Religious leaders spend most of their time speaking to groups, but very rarely do they speak to the individuals in the groups! Another thing religious leaders fail to do is to reprove their fellow believers who are not striving to live a righteous life and not living up to the moral standards of the religion. They fail to recognize and correct the hypocrisy and immorality that is rampant in their religious community. The second reason religions have become sterile is the materialization of rituals and the concentration on basic traditions, while forgetting that these two were meant to inspire and increase one’s belief in the religion’s doctrine. Rituals are meant to represent metaphysical beliefs, but now they have become so commonplace and repetitive, that they are seen as just another physical action, with no subjective importance; and the same has happened with tradition. The third reason is how religious leaders and teachers have started to view their responsibility of spreading, teaching, and cultivating metaphysical beliefs as a regular job. The tending to people’s inner being/soul should never be seen as a job because this will cause many people to see it as a burden to be performed daily, and not do it out of love; therefore they will only put minimal effort and at the end of the day, barely help anyone. Seeing it as a job will also cause many people to do it only for the money, where the result will also be that not many people will be helped. Most people can readily notice when religious leaders and teachers don’t have their heart in it when they minister and they get discouraged to be part of that religion, or any other religion. And if those leaders are good at hiding their disinterest, people might stay, but rarely be changed or moved to rid themselves of their misery.”
“Now there has been one prevalent reason coming from within the community which has been the number one reason keeping people away from religion and religious communities. In mostly every religion there is a code of conduct which must be adhered in order to be a follower of the religion one claims to belong to. The problem is that many people don’t even try to meet their religion’s code of conduct. These followers, in name only, don’t change their ways; instead they continue to act with hate, pride, racism, egotism, and other negative human qualities. For example, Christians are supposed to be full of love and live a Christ-like life, but when non-Christians see people claiming to be Christians who are hateful, abusive, and racist (which are all contrary to a Christian life), for some reason these non-Christians blame this hypocritical behavior on the religion and therefore avoid it. This resentment brought about by the many hypocritical religious followers has been one of the main reasons that people avoid religions altogether.”
“Two other reasons have caused many people to stay away from religions, they also come from within the communities. The first is the hate, racism, and violence that some religious organizations adopt and spread. This has either been caused from misinterpretation or a mixture of bad philosophies with a religion’s original teachings. Also, some people’s hate has become so great, commonplace, and blinding that they convince themselves that they are still true adherents of their religion; even thought their words, actions, thoughts, and beliefs say otherwise. The other reason, which has kept many intellectuals away, is the fact that religious organizations have adopted, maintained, and defended, sometimes violently, beliefs that are none of its concern and instead fall in the realm of physical and natural laws. For example, Bruno being killed by the Catholic Church for professing that there existed many suns with planets around them or Galileo being tried and convicted of heresy for claiming that the Earth revolves around the Sun. These types of physical laws are for scientists to prove or disprove, not religion. If you take into account each of these reasons I discussed, or even combine them, still none of them discredit the importance of metaphysical beliefs and religions.”
“I’m going to change the topic with my next question,” said Lempo
“Go ahead.”
“You say religion is supposed to make someone happy, but Eflen accepted your religion with all its metaphysical beliefs and was still miserable. How do you explain this?”
Saddened from the memory of Eflen, Father Plesta nodded slightly and then looked down at the ground. After a short moment, he said, “Yes, I know this looks contradictory to what I said, but this continual depression of hers was not directly caused by the words she heard or read in the Bible. The depression and disillusionment with the life she had before she became a believer transferred and intermixed with her newly held metaphysical beliefs. Even though she wholeheartedly believed in God’s word and what He had done for her, she failed to see the world as a place where she could live for God. Just because she lived in the world didn’t mean she had to follow with the worldly values, such as seeking pleasure, material things, wealth, or power. She didn’t think she could be close to God living in this world because she failed to mix her metaphysical beliefs, from her religion, with her experiences, actions, and life in this world; therefore she couldn’t see how her life with God, with all the actions, decisions, and interactions that come with it, would have raised her above this world while she continued to live her mundane life. Of course, I also fault myself for Eflen reverting to her depressed outlook on life. There were plenty of passages I could’ve shown and explained to her that might have changed her mind. Like the one found in Romans 8:13, ‘For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.’ She would have also been help by the words of Paul in Romans 12:2, ‘And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.’ This passage was directly talking to her and her failure to understand that she could indeed live in the world, while not letting it affect her and her ability to live a God-filled life here and now. The first passage would’ve shown her that she could live in this world through the spirit and not do what worldly people do, thus rise above the misery, despair, and emptiness.”
Lempo then asked, “So you don’t think the things of this world, like money, carnal pleasure, power, and material possessions are bad? Earlier you made it seem like you thought these things were bad and only metaphysical beliefs should be desired.”
“I like your inquisitive mind Lempo. I’m not saying feeling pleasure, acquiring wealth or material things are bad in themselves, but I do think it’s bad when acquiring these becomes your sole purpose for living and your only goal in life; or if you only seek these things because you’re trying to fill a void that only metaphysical beliefs and religion can fill. Obviously some of these things are needed for living, like money and material things such as clothes and a home, but it becomes wrong when you believe that these will bring you happiness. And not all pleasures are bad, but when this becomes your only purpose for living and all you do is seek after fleeting pleasures, trying to find happiness, this is wrong because pleasures must be a part of a metaphysical belief for them to have meaning and thus lead to real happiness. But of course this is just my belief, and there are some systems of metaphysical beliefs that teach money and worldly pleasures are always bad, although there is no religion that makes pleasure in itself its only goal to life, because this is naturally a materialistic belief of people. Metaphysical beliefs, such as love, will always change the interpretation and meaning of pleasure and the experience of living in a solely material world. But like I said, there are many different systems of metaphysical beliefs and many of them say different things.”
Lempo asked, “How are there so many different religions?”
Father Plesta replied, “Because there is more than one way of rationally and metaphysically interpreting the world around you; and deriving what the end goal in life is; and the morals one should follow throughout one’s life.”
“But which religion has the true interpretation?”
“There is more than one true interpretation Lempo. Metaphysical truth is not the same as other truths you’re used to understanding, such as scientific truth, where there is only one truth. Metaphysical truths are true if it is actually true for the believer in a way that it changes his entire outlook in life and helps him acquire a purpose and meaning. Not only this, but a system of metaphysical beliefs must be one that takes a person from their empty, lonely, miserable, pain-filled state and provides an uplifting state of mind throughout a healthy, well-lived life full of meaning and it’s open for anyone to follow, no matter their circumstances.”
“If there are many true religions, then why does everybody claim that their religion is the only true one that
should be followed?”
“In order for a system of metaphysical beliefs to be truly believed, it must be seen as the only true one because if it’s not, and you believe many are equally true, you will end up confused and perplexed, not knowing which goal to attain, or what outlook in life to have, or which moral system to follow. An amalgamation of many religious beliefs is not possible because most religions have widely different beliefs that affect one’s outlook in life, goals, and morals; and it is not possible to wholeheartedly believe two opposing views. For example, you can’t believe Jesus was the son of God who died for your sins, if you also believe in Islam, which states that Jesus was just a prophet and Mohammed is the last prophet who brings the true message of God. Anyone who thinks they can hold both beliefs as true is delusional and in the end will have no system of metaphysical beliefs due to his confusion. Only if a person believes one system of metaphysical beliefs, while at the same time see all others as false, will he have enough belief in them to make them a part of his life and allow it to permeate through his entire being, actions, thoughts, words, emotions, and experiences.”
“The best way to explain this situation is: Have you ever heard of this new thing people say, that all religious/spiritual paths lead to the same God? (Lempo nodded) What these people realize is these different paths are parallel lines leading to God, meaning that they don’t intersect or combine into each other. So, imagine that God can be known in many different ways, just like you, or anyone, can be known in different ways. You can be known as a friend, brother, son, cousin, acquaintance, lover, business partner, coworker, etc.; and in all these different ways, you are not going to act the same. You are not going to have the same relationship with your friend as you would have with your mother or your girlfriend, because we present different aspects of our personality to different people. We are a single individual, but we are a different person to different people, not because we are trying to deceive anyone, but this is just how it is. It’s hard to explain, but I’ll try my best. The person my friend knows is not the exact same person my mom knows because I naturally act different toward, and around, my friend than I do with my mom. So my friend sees one side of me and my mom sees another. My friend has a connection with me because he’s gotten to know that side of me and the same goes for my mom. Now, let’s say my friend also sees the other side of me that I show when I’m with my mom. Yes, he might know it, but will not feel any connection with that side of me because we have a connection as friends, not as son and mother; he doesn’t know me as a son nor can he see me as one, so the ‘me’ he knows is his friend. What I am pretty much trying to say is that we get to know, and attain a personal relationship with people, by the interactions we have with them and they are a different person to different people and if we try to see them as all these other people, we will lose sight of them; and in the end lose our personal relationship. Now take this analogy and apply it to God and the many different paths people use to reach God. Just like you can only meet one aspect of a person, and have a personal relationship with this one aspect, without losing sight of who they are, you can only know God using one path. If you try to follow every path to reach God, you will never attain a personal relationship with God. If you try to see and know someone in all their different personalities and faces they show to different people, how will you ever know them personally? Same with God. I know I got a little wordy, but what I was trying to make you see is that to really believe in a religion, or path toward God, and reap the benefit and reward of this belief, it has to feel personal; like it’s the only true system of metaphysical beliefs. If it’s not personal, you will never feel attached to it and if it’s not the only one you believe in, your belief will wax and wane leading you to doubt. When you truly believe in one system, you will naturally see it as the only way; it is not a conscious effort. This is due to the passion in a belief needed for a religion/system to become a part of your being.”
The stoic face Lempo had worn up until that point was beginning to fade. After carefully taking in the priests words, he said, “What you are saying contradicts with itself. First you say that there are many true religions, then you say in order for anyone to totally believe in a religion, they have to believe only one exists. So, where does this leave you, who are a Catholic priest, but still believes that many different religions hold the truth? According to what you say, you should doubt your belief in Catholicism, right?”
Father Plesta gave Lempo a smirk that showed no defeat. He said, “Boy, you ask the perfect questions. I can see why this would be hard to comprehend and this is something many people do not understand. Metaphysical beliefs are not believed by our rationality, empirical senses, or by using logic; instead they are believed through something called faith. What I can know and what I can believe in through faith are two completely different things.”
“What do you mean? What you say doesn’t make any sense.”
“Don’t worry Lempo, I am aware that this concept of belief through faith is hard for your generation to understand, especially since you are taught to only believe in what you can touch, taste, hear, smell, or see. Unfortunately for you and your current mindset, metaphysical beliefs, and especially systems of metaphysical beliefs such as religion, can only be believed and held through faith.”
“What in the world is faith and how can you believe something through faith and not know or believe in it with one’s senses?”
“I know I told you I wasn’t going to teach you from the Bible, but the best definition, which can be applied universally, is in the epistle to the Hebrews. It is found in Hebrews 11:1 and says, ‘Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.’ That, my friend, is the best way to describe faith. Faith turns what you hope for into a reality for you; and it proves to your mind the metaphysical beliefs you hold are true and real. Hope, powered by faith, is what keeps you going when everything is working against you; when you find out you have a terminal disease; when you get divorced; when you realize you’re a full blown alcoholic/addict; and even when you’ve lost a loved one. This combination of hope and faith help a person move forward and continue living, even through the worst crisis. Without faith, no one can truly believe any metaphysical belief, or have hope for a better life; and there would definitely be no consolation for our misery, pain, and death. This last concept, death, is very important to religion and I don’t know why I’ve neglected to mention it until now. The fear, darkness, and mystery that surrounds death bring many people to the doorsteps of faith. Obviously, you didn’t have this problem; I could see it in your eyes. You were ready to welcome this darkness as long as it would take away the pain, misery and loneliness. Maybe this is why I didn’t mention it earlier, because your despair was not for death, but for life; and this is far more difficult to cure than the former.”
Lempo looking livelier, said, “You still haven’t told me how someone can believe something through faith, while not being able to believe it through the senses or rationally?”
“Before I fully answer that question, I will give you one example of this. My belief in Jesus Christ dying and rising from the grave after 3 days is completely irrational and even more ridiculous when it comes to being empirically unsound and scientifically improvable. Despite all these things, I still believe in Jesus’s death and resurrection as a fact that happened sometime in history. You may ask yourself, how is this possible and I’ll tell you how; because, by faith, I willed it to be true, therefore it became true for me and it has changed everything about me, from the way I act, speak, and think to the way I see the world and all my relationships. All metaphysical beliefs held through faith begin with a desire to believe. No one, unless you’re Jesus, Mohammed, Krishna, Lao-Tzu, etc., can accept a metaphysical belief outright. No one, after the 1st century, saw Jesus rise from the grave, no one saw Moses receive the Torah from God, no one saw Mohammed being ministered by an angel, and no one could feel and experience Buddha’s or Lao-Tzu’s enlightenment. Instead, the people who heard of these masters and their teachings, listen to these irrational tales and experiences and long to believe them, hoping they are true. As soon as these beliefs enter a person’s mind, even if they are skeptical, they naturally begin to take effect and do what metaphysical beliefs do best, which is to change the entire fabric of someone’s life. As this change slowly, or sometimes instantly, takes place, this person goes from wanting to believe, to actually believing; and this change from wanting to believing is called faith. But the work of faith does not stop here because it is also faith which helps a person maintain those metaphysical beliefs.”
“I need to go somewhere alone and think about everything you’ve said,” Lempo muttered as he tried to muster a smile, but his depressing thoughts didn’t let him. He continued, “I think this could change everything.”
Father Plesta said, “Very well Lempo, I will leave you with this last warning.”
“What is it?”
“Metaphysical beliefs will force you to look within yourself into the innermost parts of your very being. You will be forced to evaluate your every action, thought, and intention done from here on out. No part of your life will be left unexamined. Many people falter because they cannot handle what they find in themselves or are afraid of what they will find. This is the cause of many people’s decision to distance themselves from the full potential of metaphysical beliefs. Do not allow what is inside to imprison you Lempo.”
Lempo gave him a reassuring nod as he lifted himself from the ground, next to Eflen’s grave. Father Plesta showed no sign of moving, so Lempo began to walk away. Taking a few steps, Lempo turned around and asked, “Does heaven really exist?”
The priest smiled and replied, “My answer will not satisfy you, for that is something everyone must find out on their own.”
Lempo did not reply and continued toward his house. Replaying the entire conversation he had with the priest made the trip feel shorter than it really was. As he entered his home and finally reached his room, Lempo realized he hadn’t even thought about his phone. He noticed he had many calls and messages, but Lempo decided it was better for him to be alone. At last a smile prevailed on Lempo’s face as he said, “I choose to believe.”