Faith
and Doubt
“For
many people in our world, the opposite of faith is doubt. The goal,
then, within this understanding, is to eliminate doubt. But faith and
doubt aren't opposites. Doubt is often a sign that your faith has a
pulse, that it's alive and well and exploring and searching. Faith
and doubt aren't opposites; they are, it turns out, excellent dance
partners.”
Rob
Bell (What We Talk About When We Talk About God)
Some
branches of religion would have us never question—in fact, would
scare us with the notion that questioning is the work of the devil,
and that to question is a mortal sin. For those branches, the holy
scripture is the final and only word of God. Apparently, God said all
God wanted to say, and then went mute two thousand years ago. That's
a little difficult to swallow for me, on both counts.
Questioning
is what our big-ol' brains are designed to do. The more we question
and probe, the more active and healthy are our neurons. Besides,
accepting blindly without questioning, searching and exploring is
sloppy, lazy faith. It's faith that doesn't want to take the time or
expend the energy to think about the truth of things; or to accept
that no small amount has been learned in two thousand years that can
inform some of the primitive understandings of our forebears. And
there's more, much more, to learn if we humans manage to survive on
planet Earth.
Doubt
and questioning are symptomatic of robust spirituality. They are
steak and potatoes compared to the pablum of lazy faith. Questioning
does not make you evil; it means that you care enough about your
spiritual life to study and delve into it the same way you would any
subject that sparked your interest. I say, keep all your questions
close to your heart; ponder them, give them respect, and they will
lead you where you need to go.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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