Thoughts 2/28/2008 February 28, 2008
Posted by Kelsey Martineau in Religion.Tags: Religion
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What’s the definition of faith? Not a dictionary definition, but from a religious person’s point of view? I think faith is, more or less, believing in something that has a dice roll’s chance of being real or not. Of course, you’re probably thinking, “What is this, a state the obvious contest, Kelsey?” But seriously, think about it. The word “faith” is tied into Christianity far more than any other religion, and in my opinion, it’s because Christianity is one of the few (not the only, mind you) religions based on a deity that no one has seen, aside from Jesus of course. I realize that Jesus walked and talked, and I’m not denying that, but the whole trinity thing, God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, are sometimes seen as separate entities. That’s a whole different discussion though, that I’m not even going to get into.
Think about Buddhism, of course there was Buddha, and Islam had Muhammad. Depending on your point-of-view, one could say that Jesus didn’t technically start Christianity. Sure, he showed us the way, and claimed to be the son of God, but what about the followers of God before Jesus? Judaism, right? Well, what’s the main difference between believing in God before Jesus and after? The only reason Judaism exists along with Christianity is because the Jews chose not to believe that Jesus truly was the son of God. A little off topic, which I tend to do, but I think you get my point.
So, back to the faith argument? A lot of people say “You have faith in that chair you’re about to sit in. You believe that it’s going to hold you up.” Very true, but also I know the foundation of that chair. I know it’s strong enough to support me, and I also know that I have probably sat in that chair, or a similar one before. That’s where the whole problem with faith comes in for me, at times. I can have a relationship with my dad or mom, and love them, because I can see and touch them, but it’s hard to have a relationship with a being that is non-existent. However, isn’t it funny, that a lot of iffy believers like to blame God when things aren’t going well, even though they see-saw back and forth on the fact that He even exists? I’m not pointing fingers, I’ve done that. Everyone has. I believe that’s what is so attractive about Deism sometimes, it gives individuals that want to believe in God the right to say, God had nothing to do with this, whether it was good or not.
‘Faith is to believe what we cannot see and the reward of that faith is (then) to see what we believe.’ St. Augustine
We can spend our entire lives philosophizing but it must lead to living the concepts experientially. So long as we entertain ourselves with limiting ideas, we will never be able to escape the illusion of physical reality. I was like you, spending many years in speculation and not experiencing, even thinking that it was all a hoax. Don’t remain like Dale Carnegie who appeared to give up on finding the meaning of life saying,’Man is not made to understand life but to live it.’
One thing kept me going,that is the messages of the entity named Seth from the works of Jane Roberts. Many millions are currently in some state of relationship with the concepts therein. I myself spent more than 30 years and am beginning to free myself from limitation. Faith can only come by daring to conceptualize something which you can’t yet see. The condition of the physical world is literally a mirror of your own state of development, for your whole self is contained in the universe that you see and beyond, and not in your body alone. Let us purify ourselves thoroughly and remove the corruption that is within us. ‘The striving of one adds to the potentiality of everything that is.’ Your earnestness and sincerity will lead you to experiences transcending space and time and bring you to experience the true nature of GOD that is beyond human speculation.