Shining Thru

Does God exist or simply created in the minds of those who do exist?  Like a dream that feels so real when you wake up you need to check the facts of the day before to make sure that it didn’t really happen?  Is God created out of habit, need for something to be in control, need for something bigger, need for someone to blame???  Or does God exist rather people want to admit it or not?

There are many interesting short stories about if God exists or not….Some proving that God does exist, some trying to encourage faith, and some trying to prove just the opposite and leave people without any confidence in their faith….

None of these stories can actually answer the question of if God exists or not….Can anyone or anything prove the existence of God?  On the other hand, can anyone or anything prove that there is no existence of something higher than what we can see?

What creates faith?  What creates God?  Does the existence of God really matter if people have faith in something, isn’t it the faith that gives that thing the power?  Or does that thing reign with power even when there is no faith?  Does faith give God power, or does God strengthen faith?  Is there a God or not?  Does it matter as long as people believe in a God?

“There it is.  We get used to everything.  We find hope in anything.”  -  Ender’s Shaddow by Orson Scott Card.

I thought this was a very interesting quote as I was reading along.  I was wondering if it was actually true.  I can remember when a teacher once told me of a motif found in Crime and Punishment which was a square foot of space, someone being trapped in a small space, praying for death, but then when faced with it, they choose to stay where they are.  I wonder if that is how it works for most people?  I wonder if most people will adapt and “get use to” ANYTHING rather than choosing death, or not being alive at that time.  …. it can’t work for everyone, or there wouldn’t be suicide….those people have obviously not been able to adapt, and just get use to their situation…or do they just snap and not give themselves time to get use to it? 

As for hope, it’s a concept that I’ve wondered about quite often…what makes us hope in something…a situation, a person, a religion, a higher being; whatever the thing may be that we find great hope in….what is the reason behind it?  Do we need to feel that there is hope?  Or is there really reason to hope?  What good does having hope do for a person?…..

Are there certain emotions and feelings that we search for in life and don’t feel complete until we find them?  Are some people designed to only search for some of those things while others crave to experience all of them?  Does everyone have need of “hope”?  What if they are in their perfect situation?  What about a person who has gotten so use to not having something that they no longer feel hope for anything, have no ambition, have not need for the emotional comfort of hope, since it has only let them down in the past?  What about the people who secretly hope, but don’t want to admit it to anyone, sometimes even themselves?  They want to hope, they still have this “need” for it, but have been let down so many times that they don’t want to give it another chance to knock them down again. 

Are these things instilled in most of us and we just adjust to what we do with the needs and desires we are designed with?  Or are they things that society has drilled into us as needing?  Maybe it’s neither of these options….

I never realized that there could be so many different interpretations of the same text…namely the Bible, more specifically the story of Adam and Eve…I was watching the history channel tonight and it had a very interesting story on it about the Adam and Eve…and how there is a story that is very similar that comes about a thousand years before the Bible was written….what does this mean?

What really makes a religion?  Is it that you can prove your point of view…that you fight with all other religions in a race to prove that you know what you are talking about and somehow they are wrong?  Or is it simply in believing?  Is it the traditions that give people faith?  Or is it believing?  What makes a religion worth while?  Since no religion can really be proven…I have to wonder why people spend so much time trying.  Why not just be ok with believing what you want to believe.  And accept that not everyone is going to believe exactly what you’re going to believe.  What is so wrong with having different beliefs alive and well in the world?  If you are ok believing and really have faith that you are right, why can’t that be enough?

I have to wonder why many people need to find ways of proving themselves, their personal beliefs, especially their religious views (even though it does happen in other areas, like raising children, etc.)  If you truly believe that you are right, and you’re secure in that belief, why is it so important to win everyone else over to your beliefs and religion?  I never understood the point of shoving your own beliefs down the throats of others.  What good does it do…it doesn’t seem to have done any good for any world leader who has ever tried it…maybe belief by force worked for them at first while the fear held out…but you can’t make people believe things by force or fear….maybe by logical arguments, but if people don’t like you they probably wont listen to you.  Which is why any great leader has been charismatic have been able to work a crowd, rather you agree with what they may have done or not done is irrelevant, what matter was that they got people on their side at the time. 

So the last thought, what is the difference between a belief, faith, and religion?

What is Hope?  Why do we hold onto a thought that has no guarentee what so ever?  Why do we create things to believe in?

I think that it is built into people to hope in something; whether that’s a person, greater being, religion, idol, routine, or event. 

Do you need faith to have hope?  What should we hope and believe in?  Does hope only lead to heartache or do we simply need something to believe in at times, even if there is no logical reason to keep hoping?

Hope is an odd thing, although it can cause a lot of pain when things don’t pan out the way we want them to, I don’t know many people who want to give up hope.