Faith and Belief

 Often I go back over thoughts and see how they might have shifted and morphed over time. "Krapp's Last Tape" again, with the emphasis - maybe - on Krapp. Faith and belief. My thoughts on these two always expressed simply, as I see them as opposites. Faith lets go and has the potential to heal and unite. Beliefs cling, and undoubtedly divide and bring conflict.

Many seem to equate the two, use the words interchangeably, but I never have, this from long ago reading a book on the subject by a Christian theologian John Hicks. I've never found the need to amend my thinking in any particular way.

I knew this guy once who was a biblical literalist. He believed that donkeys and snakes spoke "because the Bible said so". He had a deep faith that - at least for him - all would be well. Which sustained him. In many ways he was a kind hearted man who often had a twinkle in his eye - until the subject of religion came up. Then the shutters came down. Another guy in the office would make jokes, saying things like "when you come marching into heaven your'll find me playing in the band." The literalist guy would say "I don't think so" and dip back - during lunch break - into his Bible. That sort of repartee I love, staying in the memory long after any serious dispute has flown away into the wind. I've often said that we are "saved" more in spite of our beliefs than because of them.

Another old guy who would gee up the brethren by saying how we should not smile when shown in to meet God. It would be a serious moment, not one for humour. Such a crass belief, so concrete an image. Easy to jeer at. Yet when hit by illness others spoke of his positive attitude when visited in hospital after a pretty serious operation.

So what is the relationship between faith and belief?

A mother, her son crossing the atlantic in a rowing boat, unheard of for six months, would if she truly believed he was still alive, would find comfort. Yet what price the "comfort"?

I'm not suggesting answers here, or arguing for anything. I need my own faith that all shall be well. In the Pure Land way faith (shinjin) IS salvation. It is not, as in Christianity, the means to salvation. A distinction often lost in inter-faith dialogue. Pure faith. Yet just how "pure" can faith be? I constantly seek for clarity. Sometimes I really am surprised by joy at changes of perception that are acknowledged at some level of my "self", changes that convince me that love, grace, mercy and healing are to be found in this sometimes hostile world. Such cannot possibly be "mine" and therefore must be written into the fabric of Reality.

Well, I'm waffling. Not really a good morning for me. Where my moods come from I have no idea.

All the best to you all.