Faith is a matter of attitude

What do you think of God," the teacher asked. After a pause, the young pupil replied, "He's not a think, he's a feel (Paul Frost)

 Would You like to comment on this?

 Yes, I do. But I think that's what you want too?

 Oh I sure do. Actually, it seems clever of that student, but I still find it debatable. I believe that being busy with God, thinking about God, knowing of God and feeling God in your heart, is certainly not a matter of feeling alone. Often enough I don't feel anything when I'm busy with You or when I'm praying. But I do experience that You hear me and that You exist, no doubt about it.

But in my eyes you are not One of my emotional life. The bottom line, I think, is that I have accepted You with my mind, I am concerned with You with my mind, and I accept and acknowledge with my mind that You exist. And then before, during or afterwards all kinds of feelings, sensations, ecstasy or beautiful energy are added. Thank goodness.

But I see very clearly around me that the people who do not believe are, without exception, people who trust very much in what they think themselves. And they don't like to give up that trust, often thinking that they know better than others. In short, in my opinion, faith is not something of thinking or feeling, but of "the surrender of the mind", trust, giving the control  away, modesty that you don't know things, something like that.

You have said it, My son. That egg has been laid. Good for you.

To be busy with God is certainly something of the mind, or the surrender of the mind, as you say. However, being busy with God is also something of feeling, because faith without feeling quickly becomes a bloodless thing. The feeling gives colour to the faith. Without feeling, faith becomes a law- and regulation thing. And that's a shame. In short, the student in the quote also has a point.

But being busy with God is above all an attitude to life, an attitude issue, a combination of thinking, feeling, but also willpower, also intuition, also impulses of the heart. In short, as is so often the case with man, you are all a little bit right. Isn't that beautiful?

 My blessings to you all 

No 568

Faith sees best in the dark (Kierkegaard)

My God, I read in a newspaper that Biden has this note hanging on his mirror. He lost his wife and child and later his adult son. Could You comment on this quote? 

My son, why don’t you start? 

Certainly, of course, as You prefer.

How can anyone disagree with this? If you are doing well, you will continue to believe in the outer world and take everything for granted and as a human being you will also believe that this is all thanks to your own ability and will. But by now, I know better.

When you are tempted as a human being, you are drawn into your inner self. And then you see a lot of suffering and sadness but also hope and you will feel more inner strength. Yet I have noticed, this will always be the case, sometimes even in the deep valleys of despair. And than it seems as if you are making more contact with your faith, with the spiritual support you receive, you are going to feel that too, a comfort and love that comes from a spiritual source. Is this what You meant?

This will do. Yet there is something more about it.

In the dark, you're going to use different senses than your eyes. And in physical terms you could say, with your eyes you see the world but with your ears you hear God. And this is even more true in the case of spiritual darkness. 

In the spiritual light, when you are happy, you see the beauty of life. But in the spiritual dark, you can't see that, and then you can hear the beauty of life. And that is the voice of God, the voice of the spiritual world, the voice of your inner self, the voice of the eternal. Then faith gets the best chance. That's why faith sees best in the dark.  

Kierkegaard is blessed. 

My blessings to you all

No 504