There is a lot more beyond what one perceives as FAITH.
Faith is simply some STABLE DATUM that is serving to align otherwise random data for a person. Without that faith other data would seem to be quite confusing. A faith is as valuable to a person as it is restraining his/her confusion.
If you are able to look at the confusion you had, just before you acquired your faith, you will understand what I am talking about.
But a faith can be superseded by a higher-level faith which is able to align a lot more data for a person.
The point I am making is that the subject of faith is a very dynamic subject. If a person’s faith is remaining quite rigid over a period of time then there is something wrong with it.
A faith is only as valuable as the amount of confusion it is able to restrain. A person who is rigidly holding on to a faith is barely able to restrain his/her confusion. That person avoids looking at inconsistencies because they seem to threaten the existing faith. The person knows that if he allows his/her faith to be shaken he would suddenly be swamped with a tremendous amount of confusion.
An intelligent person would always search for a better STABLE DATUM that is able to align greater amount of confusion, while holding to the existing stable datum. Such a person is gradually able to improve upon the existing faith and strengthen it further.
One should not be afraid of examining inconsistencies. All it may do is possibly disturb one’s faith but toward a higher faith.
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Faith: Whatever keeps us centered.
You’ve put this in a very good perspective. My own Faith is that there is a Higher Truth — a higher-consistency-to-be-seen-if-I-look. This means that I am consistently looking for inconsistencies in my extant Truth. When I find them it is a source of joy and a reason for celebration.
When I was a boy, I helped finish furniture for my oldest brother. This required a lot of sanding. I used my hand to feel the wood I was sanding for inconsistencies. This might have been named the doctrine of Rough Wood.
Saint Peter said it this way, “On this Rock I will build my Church.” He meant the doctrine of the Blood of Christ, but his words work just as well for me when I mean the doctrine of the Rotten Apple. By this I mean the rotten apple represents the inconsistent datum in a more or less consistent field of thought.
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I like your doctrine of Rough Wood.
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Thank you.
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the search for truth does not begin from certainty but from uncertainty
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That is true, but then people are so certain about their beliefs that they overlook inconsistencies.
So, if there is a rough patch of wood at a certain location, he would say that it is supposed to be that way at that location.
They just have to take one more simple step and see, “What confusion is that belief restraining for me?” “How does this inconsistency relate to that confusion?” “Is there a better common denominator here?”
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Really good.
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Yes of course, but it is more important to homo sapiens to be certain than to wonder.
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Spot the stable datum and the inconsistency in the following examples.
*A DC ‘airport ticket agent’ offers some examples of why the US is in
so much trouble!* *
1.*I had a New Hampshire Congresswoman (Carol Shea-Porter) ask for an aisle
seat so that her hair wouldn’t messed up by being near the window. (On
an airplane!) *
2. *I got a call from a Kansas Congressman’s (Moore) staffer (Howard
Bauleke), who wanted to go to Cape Town*. I started to explain the length
of the flight and the passport information, and then he interrupted me
with, ”I’m not trying to make you look stupid, but Cape Town is in
Massachusetts ..” *
Without trying to make him look stupid, I calmly explained, ”Cape Cod is
in Massachusetts , Cape Town is in South Africa ..” *
3.* A senior Vermont Congressman (Bernie Sanders) called, furious about a
Florida package we did. I asked what was wrong with the vacation in Orlando
. He said he was expecting an ocean-view room. I tried to explain that’s
not possible, since Orlando is in the middle of the state.
He replied, ‘Don’t lie to me!, I looked on the map, and Florida is a very
THIN state!!” (OMG) *
4.* I got a call from a lawmaker’s wife (Landra Reid) who asked, ”Is it
possible to see England from Canada ?”
I said, ”No.” She said, ”But they look so close on the map” (OMG,
again!) *
5.* An aide for a cabinet member (Janet Napolitano) once called and asked
if he could rent a car in Dallas .. I pulled up the reservation and noticed
he had only a 1-hour layover in Dallas … When I asked him why he wanted
to rent a car, he said, ”I heard Dallas was a big airport, and we will
need a car to drive between gates to save time.” (Aghhhh) *
6.* An Illinois Congresswoman (Jan Schakowsky) called last week. She needed
to know how it was possible that her flight from Detroit left at 8:30 a.m.,
and got to Chicago at 8:33 a.m.
I explained that Michigan was an hour ahead of Illinois , but she couldn’t
understand the concept of time zones. Finally, I told her the plane went
fast, and she bought that. *
7.* A New York lawmaker, (Jerrold Nadler) called and asked, ”Do airlines
put your physical description on your bag so they know whose luggage
belongs to whom?” I said, ‘No, why do you ask?’
He replied, ”Well, when I checked in with the airline, they put a tag on
my luggage that said (FAT), and I’m overweight. I think that’s very rude!”
After putting him on hold for a minute, while I looked into it. (I was
dying laughing). I came back and explained the city code for Fresno , Ca.
is (FAT – Fresno Air Terminal), and the airline was just putting a
destination tag on his luggage.. *
8.* A Senator John Kerry aide (Lindsay Ross) called to inquire about a trip
package to Hawaii . After going over all the cost info, she asked, ”Would
it be cheaper to fly to California and then take the train to Hawaii ?” *
9.* I just got off the phone with a freshman Congressman, Bobby Bright from
Ala. who asked, ”How do I know which plane to get on?”
I asked him what exactly he meant, to which he replied, ”I was told my
flight number is 823, but none of these planes have numbers on them.” *
10* Senator Dianne Feinstein called and said, ”I need to fly to Pepsi-Cola
, Florida . Do I have to get on one of those little computer planes?”
I asked if she meant fly to Pensacola and fly on a commuter plane. She
said, ”Yeah, whatever, smarty!” *
11* Mary Landrieu, La. Senator, called and had a question about the
documents she needed in order to fly to China . After a lengthy discussion
about passports, I reminded her that she needed a visa. “Oh, no I don’t.
I’ve been to China many times and never had to have one of those.”
I double checked and sure enough, her stay required a visa. When I told her
this she said, ”Look, I’ve been to China four times and every time they
have accepted my American Express!” *
12* A New Jersey Congressman (John Adler) called to make reservations, ”I
want to go from Chicago to Rhino, New York .”
I was at a loss for words. Finally, I said, ”Are you sure that’s the name
of the town?”
‘Yes, what flights do you have?” replied the man.
After some searching, I came back with, ”I’m sorry, sir, I’ve looked up
every airport code in the country and can’t find a rhino anywhere.”
”The man retorted, ”Oh, don’t be silly! Everyone knows where it is. Check
your map!”
So I scoured a map of the state of New York and finally offered, ”You
don’t mean Buffalo , do you?”
The reply? ”Whatever! I knew it was a big animal.”
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See what you can spot in the following:
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Religious Fanatics
Ole is the Pastor of the local Norwegian Lutheran Church and Pastor Sven is the minister of the Swedish Covenant Church across the road.
One day they are seen pounding a sign into the ground, which says:
DA END ISS NEAR!
TURN YERSELF AROUNT NOW
BAFOR IT ISS TOO LATE!
As a car speeds past them, the driver leans out his window and yells, “Leave people alone, you Skandihoovian religious nuts!”
From the curve they hear screeching tires and a big splash.
Shakin’ his head, Rev. Ole says “Oh Oh! Dat didn’t work.”
“Yaa,” Pastor Sven agrees, then asks, “Do ya tink maybe DA sign should yust say, ‘STOP! Da Bridge Ahead Is Vashed Avay?
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now THAT was funny!
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FAITH AND BELIEF
These two words are often used synonymously but there are differences between them. For example, Belief appears to be concrete and absolute in a person’s thinking, whereas faith seems to be more abstract and open ended. Jesus was white, as depicted in most churches, seems to be a belief. You cannot describe it as faith.
One can have faith in the teaching of Jesus. I find those teachings very valuable myself. They contain great truths. But the belief that “Jesus is the only way to salvation” is more about symbols.
All religions share the faith in salvation being possible, even when their beliefs are different. You may find that religions share the truths also; only difference being how those truths are symbolized.
Beliefs deal more with symbols, whereas faith is about the underlying truth.
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