'The sun, at that stage, appeared bright orange/red and it seemed to almost touch the buildings at either side of our street...' Photo: Ian Britton / flickr CC.
Belief
Bill Bingham reflects on the idea that belief is a matter of choice
A man I spoke to recently told me that he was not a ‘believer’. I said: ‘That’s too bad, I thought everyone was a believer.’ The response I got told me (with a look of incredulity) that I must surely belong on another planet! The truth, of course, is that we are all believers, but we do not, necessarily, believe the same things.
However, if we are to become healthy functioning human beings, I think it is important that the things we believe in point us towards becoming creative human beings.
When I was about five-years-old, I was playing in the street with my friends (this was before TVs, smartphones, or computers, and children actually had fun playing in the streets) when an older boy drew my attention towards the setting sun.
The sun, at that stage, appeared bright orange/red and it seemed to almost touch the buildings at either side of our street. Indeed it looked as if the ‘great ball’ was almost filling the whole sky; but perspective played a part in this – although I didn’t know, at five years of age, what the word ‘perspective’ actually meant.
My older friend then proceeded to tell me that this ominous appearance of the sun meant that the world was coming to an end – and I believed him! I never slept a wink that night because I was so scared that I never would see the light of day ever again! Belief, then, is a very important thing, because it affects our state of mind, and also our behaviour, for good or ill.
That was seventy-five years ago and I’m glad to say that the sun is still shining in the sky and the Earth (our home) is still spinning gracefully around it, just as it has done for many billions of years.
The great sadness is that the Medieval Church did not understand the truth of this, and saw to it that ‘heretics’, who taught something altogether different from its doctrines, were burned at the stake for stating what was obvious to a few brave men with telescopes.
It has always been a great puzzle to me that people who claimed to follow the teachings of a man who was himself considered a heretic by the religious authorities of his day, and who was himself cruelly tortured to death, should see it as their religious duty to burn those whose convictions (their ‘beliefs’) were somewhat different to their own. It seems incredible, but there you are.
Belief is a very important thing because it is essential to healthy functioning. To put it as simply as I can, if you believe you are a ‘miserable sinner’, then a miserable and self-centred sinner is what you will become. If, on the other hand, you believe that you are a loving, caring, ‘heathy functioning’ human being, then that will be your ultimate destiny.
The choice, I believe, is yours.
Comments
For me, belief is the rope with grappling hooks which we use to climb to the peak of The Mountain.
Once the peak has been reached, the rope can either be discarded, or handed to another climber who might find it of use. Belief is very helpful and powerful, as we who study placebos can easily attest.
However, I ‘believe’ that belief is not an essential. Some sure-footed (or unsure, but careful) pilgrims can ascend the mountain like a goat, reaching the peak by their own effort.
Faith is wonderful but not a sine qua non. Knowledge, be it physical, scientific or spiritual is paramount.
Nobody says, “I believe that food nourishes all life”.
By andavane on 10th February 2018 - 13:13
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