Can you prove any of the stuff youFrom StoryPeople.
believe in? my son asked me & when I
said that's not how belief works, he
nodded & said that's what he thought
but he was just checking to make sure he
hadn't missed a key point.
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Beliefs (opinions, private affirmation of traditions) are justified by the kind of life they encourage adherents to live. As inspiration, it doesn't matter whether the story actually happened. But people who go around saying that the story happened probably should offer some evidence that it did. Lots of people repeating the story is an example of group-think, not evidence.
ReplyDeleteWhat if I say I believe the story happened, but I can't prove it? What if I say I believe because it's a lovely story?
ReplyDeleteMy evidence is in my heart, in my change from a heart of stone to a heart of flesh. My evidence is how I live my life because I believe the story. Not that I'm good or holy, because I'm not, but that I'm a far better person because I believe the story. The story changed my life. That is my evidence.
Everything in our minds is story -- we understand and remember through language. The lives we live, the things we do, these are reality. You've got that right.
ReplyDeleteI think that good people reflect credit on their traditions more than that they are products of the tradition. The best priest I ever knew, one who drew me and many others to the Episcopal Church by his example, was (I came to realize) a product of his German Lutheran youth. There are good people in all traditions -- and none. Whatever happened in the past happened -- NOW is the time we live in.
Everything in our minds is story -- we understand and remember through language. The lives we live, the things we do, these are reality. You've got that right.
ReplyDeleteAmen to your words, Murdoch.