Saturday, February 25, 2012

Honest Doubters

Can I make a confession? I am not always certain about matters of faith. Early in my life I was a skeptic. There are few things I believe today that I have not at some juncture of life doubted. I no longer live full-time in skepticism, but I still revisit this domain periodically. To put it plainly, there are many questions for which I have no answers.

We live in an era and a part of the nation where honest doubters are often portrayed as unstable wobblers, almost as atheists. This lust for certainty makes me nervous. It isn't fun for these people to stand in no-man's land, yearning to be won over by one of the opposing arguments, but instead only seeing degrees of merit in both sides.

Life is messy and issues do not always sort themselves out cleanly. There is usually merit in both sides of an argument. Often truth is found in paradox, in some blend of the two extremes.

Contrary to popular opinion, spiritual faith is not the same as certainty. Real faith cannot be proven. It's just faith. As a matter of fact, none of the things of ultimate importance in life can be proven.

If you know honest doubters, be kind to them. Better yet, demonstrate love to them. It will help them understand faith.

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