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Gilyon,
Faith, hope, love, dream. These are things atheist and religious alike speak of. It has been said without such things our lives are meaningless, we are adrift. In fact almost anything we do worth doing requires elements of all these things before the act itself makes any logic sense. A vacation, climb a mountain, cure a disease, enter a marriage, run a race, run for office. Doing any of things without having faith, hope, a love, a dream in action (vision) makes any sense.
We dream of doing something. If we do not have faith we can do it, then it is unlikely we will either attempt it or very likely our own doubt will thwart our effort if we try it(as opposed to doing it). It remains a dream. If we have faith, then the dream can become a vision - a goal that we believe we can achieve. It is then our love for obtaining that vision that keeps our faith alive, keeps us going, gives us hope.
Once we start to act towards that goal, it is that love we hold on to that gives us hope, makes the dream real for us, and ultimately allows us to achieve that goal.
Loose that hope and our success of reaching that goal is in jeopardy. We get derailed, go off track or even turn around or give up. We never get there. Our vision becomes clouded. In order to see that vision again, we have to then rely on our original love we had for that dream to rebuild our faith, to rekindle the hope before we can get back on track towards that goal.
We can all see this is true and apply it to our lives whether we are atheist, agnostic or believers. The interesting thing is the inability of some to imagine that these things would apply to life itself as a whole. Ultimately all religions attempt to answer what is the hope, the dream which becomes a vision for each of us in this life. Very basically, why am I here? Intellectually that question requires an answer and any answer that ends with our death is intellectually dishonest.
The answer that it really does not matter either way (agnostic) is not really honest either. Did the search for a cure for polio matter to those saved by it now? The vision (that polio could be cured) has mattered a great deal for many lives. Does the search for a cure for all cancer matter to the person attempting it who has died without finding it? It certainly has already mattered for the people who have already been saved by that vision.
You are not alone in life. We all face garbage, difficulties in life. Yes, some greater than others but we all have to deal with bad things. It is no different with any endeavor, and life is certainly an endeavor. And like any other endeavor it is our hope, the love for the vision we have put our faith in that keeps us going. A priest once suggested this to me and have found it helpful, perhaps you will too. When I have been feeling really bad about myself or life in general, start my day and then any time I look in a mirror, look myself in the eye and repeat "God loves you" three times (out loud if possible).
May God bless you.
Faith, hope, love, dream. These are things atheist and religious alike speak of. It has been said without such things our lives are meaningless, we are adrift. In fact almost anything we do worth doing requires elements of all these things before the act itself makes any logic sense. A vacation, climb a mountain, cure a disease, enter a marriage, run a race, run for office. Doing any of things without having faith, hope, a love, a dream in action (vision) makes any sense.
We dream of doing something. If we do not have faith we can do it, then it is unlikely we will either attempt it or very likely our own doubt will thwart our effort if we try it(as opposed to doing it). It remains a dream. If we have faith, then the dream can become a vision - a goal that we believe we can achieve. It is then our love for obtaining that vision that keeps our faith alive, keeps us going, gives us hope.
Once we start to act towards that goal, it is that love we hold on to that gives us hope, makes the dream real for us, and ultimately allows us to achieve that goal.
Loose that hope and our success of reaching that goal is in jeopardy. We get derailed, go off track or even turn around or give up. We never get there. Our vision becomes clouded. In order to see that vision again, we have to then rely on our original love we had for that dream to rebuild our faith, to rekindle the hope before we can get back on track towards that goal.
We can all see this is true and apply it to our lives whether we are atheist, agnostic or believers. The interesting thing is the inability of some to imagine that these things would apply to life itself as a whole. Ultimately all religions attempt to answer what is the hope, the dream which becomes a vision for each of us in this life. Very basically, why am I here? Intellectually that question requires an answer and any answer that ends with our death is intellectually dishonest.
The answer that it really does not matter either way (agnostic) is not really honest either. Did the search for a cure for polio matter to those saved by it now? The vision (that polio could be cured) has mattered a great deal for many lives. Does the search for a cure for all cancer matter to the person attempting it who has died without finding it? It certainly has already mattered for the people who have already been saved by that vision.
You are not alone in life. We all face garbage, difficulties in life. Yes, some greater than others but we all have to deal with bad things. It is no different with any endeavor, and life is certainly an endeavor. And like any other endeavor it is our hope, the love for the vision we have put our faith in that keeps us going. A priest once suggested this to me and have found it helpful, perhaps you will too. When I have been feeling really bad about myself or life in general, start my day and then any time I look in a mirror, look myself in the eye and repeat "God loves you" three times (out loud if possible).
May God bless you.
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