Faith, fate, fetes

Aug. 19, 2003

I believe that we all have to believe in something to
continue to survive. God and the mysteries of all of
the religions have continued to successfully evade
definition and explanation because, then, they wouldn't
remain mysterious, would they? Their very existence
depends on the mystery. They cannot afford to be
disproven. We also cannot afford that these things
we hold on to be disproven. And there are truths that
we certainly cannot handle. Like: Does our having
free will limit God's omniscience? And does fate
define the boundaries of our free will? Which came
first -- the egg or the chicken?

When we are born, our parents imagine the best for us.
When we learn how to imagine ourselves, we imagine
even better. We see ourselves as we could be further
down the road of life. We see ourselves to have
achieved goals we have set. That vision of our future
pushes us to continue to live. And if we were to look
at our life as just one long road with a beginning and
an end, on that last step is where religion, and, more
generally, faith earns its significance. If we did
not believe in anything- in what happens after we die,
in God, in karma, in lasting love, in memories, in
family and friends, what will hold us back from doing
just about anything that enters our minds now? The
world may be in an even worse situation than it
already is.

Only death and change are absolute, they say. May I
add making choices. We have to take sides, whether it
is regarding religion or consuming meat products. Our
choices define our experiences. Our experiences
define our lives. And we are part of other people's
experiences which define them. That's why we're here.
We are alive and we have choices to make. Let's live
responsibly and make responsible choices too because
we don't live alone.

Religion is part of our lives. It tries to fill a
void that will remain a void until we die and learn,
if at all, of other truths, that by then won't matter
anyway. But being human, we tend to justify our
actions and inactions now, and speculate on
repercussions. This happens most when we are treading
on uncertain ground, when we do not understand. And
then we also try to make others believe what we
believe to make us appear stronger in that belief.
But truth is as unique to each individual as there are
as many souls or as many as those who believe there
are souls. We get to choose what we believe in. So
choose. And believe.

I believe I know the chicken came first.