P.S. I myself don't really understand what I believe in. So I really don't expect anyone else to. But writing this post felt nice in a way. In the end it's just my view.. but I have a strong feeling I'm not the only one out there who shares this feeling right now :)
- “All the religions of the world, while they may differ in other respects, unitedly proclaim that nothing lives in this world but Truth.“
- “Each one prays to God according to his own light.”
- “Every formula of every religion has in this age of reason, to submit to the acid test of reason and universal assent.”
- “Faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into.”
- “Faith… must be enforced by reason… when faith becomes blind it dies.”
- “I believe in the fundamental truth of all great religions of the world.”
- “I reject any religious doctrine that does not appeal to reason and is in conflict with morality.”
- “In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart.”
- “It is easy enough to be friendly to one’s friends. But to befriend the one who regards himself as your enemy is the quintessence of true religion. The other is mere business.”
- “One’s own religion is after all a matter between oneself and one’s Maker and no one else’s.”
- “Spiritual relationship is far more precious than physical. Physical relationship divorced from spiritual is body without soul.”
- “The essence of all religions is one. Only their approaches are different.”
And so now I realise it doesn't matter whether there's a 'God'. You don't need to imagine, like say a figure in the heavens who is watching over us and listening to our stories. Perhaps God is in everything (turns out there's a name for that belief), perhaps God is the universe, perhaps God is inside us, perhaps God is the earth. But it doesn't matter. Because we (I?) come to a stage where we recognise humanity, we recognise that this life and our existence, the beauties of the world (now I'm thinking of the grand canyon and how small, and how insignificant I am next to nature) could not possibly exist without something else.. and so I truly believe that there has to be something greater than ourselves. And that is religion/God/faith for me at least.
I don't know. Even if I doubt whether there was a Jesus, whether the bible was just morality stories, the Bible is so wise and so knowing that I value its lessons for what they teach me.
In the past month, when people asked me whether I'm Christian, I say yes - but I hesitate. Because I honestly don't know if I am Christian. But I do believe in God. And I do pray. And I believe so much in God's values and morals. And I don't need to try to believe any more, because as Gandhi says 'faith is not something to grasp, it is a state to grow into'.
