We take Everything on Faith

In the end, we take everything on faith. Some beliefs seem more certain than others, but when you really look at it, what have you got?

What you "know" is a conclusion you've drawn from your seances, your experiences, your intuition, and/or the testimony of others.

Consider your sources:
- You ever been wrong about anything you saw, heard, smelled, tasted, or felt?
- You ever said to yourself "I used to think that way, but not anymore"?
- You ever think "this isn't going the way I thought"?
- You ever regret taking someone's word for it?

The High Aldwin said it best "Forget what you know, or think you know." - Willow (1988).

The lunatic extreme would say "We're not really here. We just think we are." I don't agree but what could I possible say to the contrary? I am here? I am real?

"What is real? How do you define real? If real is what you can feel, smell, taste and see, then 'real' is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain." - Morpheus, The Matrix (1999).

For the sake of my point, I have made up the following definition.
Certainty:
a) the belief we are most comfortable with;
b) the only possibility we are aware of.

I will call on Othello a thousand times as the perfect example for this. From Othello's point of view, the evidence was clear that his wife was unfaithful:
- He hears from a trusted friend that she is unfaithful,
- He sees her with Cassio (the suspected lover) all the time,
- She constantly pleads for Cassio to be reinstated as Lieutenant after he was demoted due to his involvement in a drunken brawl,
- She refuses to produce the handkerchief (his first gift to her),
- He hears Cassio boast his conquest of her, and
- (the smoking gun) He sees Cassio holding the handkerchief.

The point Shakespeare was trying to make was that jealousy (possibly other emotions) can warp your perception of events. I agree. But look at that list again. A sober jury would say that the evidence is beyond a reasonable doubt; she is guilty of adultery. And yet all of it is untrue. All of it orchestrated by one man with evil intentions. Othello got played.

We take everything on faith. I am relatively sure I am real. I can never be sure any of you are real. Are you as real as I am? Do you still exist after I leave the room? If I am not there to hear it, did the tree really fall? Is the world being loaded and rendered around me like a video game? Is that why my vision is so low? So that I don't notice anomalies and even if I do I conclude that "I must have seen that wrong"?

After I get over the existence of others, questions arise about what "I know." Was George Washington the first president of the United States? I only know what I have been taught. But why would anybody lie about that?

Not even the scientific method is immune. The second step is the hypothesis: what we believe may happen. You really have no idea what will happen until you flip the switch, push the button, run the program. Hume taught that past experience has no effect on the future; what we expect to happen might not.

We take everything on faith.

We take EVERYTHING on faith.

We believe in the future, so we plan and execute.
We believe the cars behind us will also stop, so we decelerate when the light turns red.
We believe our messages will be delivered, so we type them up and hit Send.
We believe, so we do.

I believe I was build by a benevolent creator.
I believe he was given me a mind to perceive and free will to choose.
I believe Jesus chose to die for my sins.
I believe that act grants me an invitation into his kingdom.
I believe that until his kingdom comes, am I to follow his example.
I believe I must make His kingdom known to others as it was made known to me.
I believe you are capable of making the same choice.
I believe that for as long as the door is open, that choice is up to you, and you alone.

That, among many other things, is what I believe ... and I could be wrong.
I could be wrong.
I could be very wrong.
I could be dead fucking wrong!
But that is the nature of faith.
"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." (Hebrews 11:1).

You don't have to believe what I believe, although I wish you would. But at least consider what I said. We take everything on faith.

Be Wrong on the Other Side

The other title we could give this rule is "Don't rush me when I'm naked."


At 07:46 I called one of my sister in Christ for two reasons:

1. This week I was tasked with preparing the slide show for today's service at 10:00. I wanted to confirm that the songs on the slide show were in the proper order and to get the name of the last song which she was supposed to e-mail me, but never did.

2. I asked her what time she was leaving her house, as she would be my ride to church. She said 09:20.


That gives me an hour and a half to do a few errands around the house, have breakfast at the diner down the street, come back and shower before pickup.


I admit that breakfast took longer than I would have preferred to be served. But it was delicious and I still had time. I walked back home, jumped in the shower and started scrubbing away.


At 09:06 the sister calls me to say she's downstairs waiting for me. Yes, I took my phone into the bathroom with me. It goes where I go. Get over it.


Let's take a moment to reflect: I am in the shower. I am naked. I am wet. I have shampoo in my hair. I am the furthest thing from ready there is. And now I have to rush so as not to keep the sister waiting.


Now, because I am a simple man, I was dressed and in her car at 09:13. But now I'm praying to God I didn't forget anything, that I didn't leave something behind. In her mind, she is late. In my mind, I am unprepared.


All of this could be avoided with a simple approach. Be wrong on the other side. If she said 09:00 and showed up at 09:06 there is no harm done. I'm make sure to be ready by 09:00 and wait 6 minutes. No harm done. But showing up 14 minutes before expected, forces me to rush, or to make her wait. It is bad for everybody.


All of that said, I thank the sister for her assistance, as other modes of transport in this city are inconvenient and expensive.