Uncertainty and Faith

Uncertainty and faith seem to me to go together – maybe because it takes faith to live with uncertainty.  Faith, here, is not a matter of belief, unless it is the belief that life is meaningful whether we understand why or not.

I have enough experience and intelligence to know that nothing in life, except change, is certain.  I know this, but don’t often live from this knowledge.  I’m more apt to push such thoughts from my mind with the use of distractions.  Occasionally, I will try to find a rationale for denying this basic truth altogether.

Finding distractions is easy.  It’s actually hard to avoid them in our culture which pushes us into busyness.  Then there are movies, TV, computer games, the web – to name a few.

Every faith tradition has these distractions and rationales.  It’s one way we humans deal with the terrors of ultimate questions.  And every faith tradition also has ways of seeing beyond these distractions, since they will ultimately fail to satisfy.  But these are the more difficult teachings that, historically, few have sought, let alone attained.

This has been changing.  More and more people are wanting more and different answers.  There is good news and bad news here.  The good news is that this may indicate a shift in levels of consciousness possible for the species as a whole – a real evolutionary step that just might help us avert disaster!  The bad news would be if all this interest ends up just creating another, different set of distractions.

Here’s where the faith comes in.  If I can trust that there is meaning in the universe, whether I can understand it or not, I can approach any question (even the fate of the species) with interest and energy instead of fear and worry.

When that happens, creativity just explodes on the scene.  I’ve seen it in myself and in many people I know.  This creativity is our work.  Getting on with it is what gives me a sense of fulfillment.  And this is precisely what I’m looking for, anyway.