Thirteen Short Conversations About Nothing

Hastily assembled, somewhat plagiarized, poorly constructed........

1) On being liberal or conservative - I am fortunate to have been formed by conservatives and forgiven by liberals. Embarrassed to vote Democrat, ashamed to vote Republican.

2) On being Catholic once (sort of) - I remember fighting with priests as a boy, convincing myself I was an atheist. Later, after meeting Father Bill Talentino in Virginia who was doing social just work, and a dozen or so other priests working in poor missions in third world countries, I lamented my diversion from spirituality and began to build the real foundation of my faith. I am not Catholic, but I am connected.

3) On leadership - It is all about the separation of my ego. Divorcing what is in my interest from that which benefits others, then leveraging the residual grit, stubbornness, and courage to fight the right battles. 

4) On friends - Few and far between, forever forgiven, forever familiar.

5) On alcohol and drugs - The epitome of our collective selfishness. The distillation of evil deemed disease to ease our guilt and to look past crime, child abuse, and despair. 

6) On change - There are two kinds of new people who "cause" trouble in a system: Those who bring it in and those who expose it once they arrive. 

7) On wisdom - The ability to recognize the value in things.

8) On serendipity - Like looking for a needle in a haystack and finding the farmer's daughter (Penthouse Magazine, circa 1970's).

9) On Misters Rauner and Trump - Bullies and sissy boys.

10) On Hillary Clinton - I once thought the evil press only published pictures of her frowning. Now I don't think I like that which lies underneath the frown.

11) On honesty - Too often confused with solipsistic convenience.

12) On aging - Ear hair grows faster than my IRA; I wake up with pains with no recollected attributable causes; I care far less for money and I find less things I want to waste said money on; and the notion of passing away before I change the world scares the heck out of me.

13) On love - I pray for reincarnation.............

Ramadan Night 20 - The Fourth Entry

It is He Who sent
Down tranquility
Into the hearts of
The believers, that they may
Add faith to their faith;
For to Allah belong
The forces of the heavens
And the earth: and Allah is
Full of knowledge and wisdom.
S.48 A.4

There are two elements here that have caused me to contemplate faith and wisdom in different ways.  It amazes me how so few words can do that.  I am not sure if I am always interpreting things correctly, but it certainly has added a complexity to my thoughts about my faith - that can only be a good thing. And it is the balance of thought and faith that I want to address first.

"Adding faith to faith" intrigues me. I never thought about layers of faith, I assumed you either had it or you did not, and it was either strong or weak.  I also believed there was a difference between thought and faith, and that they sometimes were opposites. I never wanted to be someone who rushes off blindly to a cause or a faith, and I also never wanted to dismiss faith and spirituality because I could not  rationalize them. Now I have a different concept of the two, a more elaborate understanding.  As I grow nearer to God, do a better job on my path, my faith is rewarded, and the strength of my faith grows. As this happens, I learn to trust those things relegated to faith, and the process becomes easier, more natural.  This doesn't diminish my intellect or rational  faculties, it enhances them creating a intuitive intelligence that surpasses the cumulative properties of faith and thought alone.

The mention of God's wisdom in the final line, set me to thinking about the arrogance of man, particularly of the atheists among us.  I have written about them before (see the link below), but not in the strict context of wisdom.  I am sure that what I am trying to express now is old news to many, but this particular variation is new to me.  It occurred to me that an atheist, particularly an intelligent assertive atheist, might think himself/herself the wisest entity on the planet, therefor the whole universe for that matter. Imagine the implications of not having the counsel of someone wiser or more astute than yourself!  How would you grow? If you made a mistake, who would point it out?  Who would you be accountable to? If you failed, who would take care of the inevitable following the wisest person in the world would attract?  Surely these sages have seen the terrible legacies of history's doomed demagogues!  Finally, imagine the petty intellect that would desire no succor, need no expression of fealty or faith, no source of forgiveness.  It is simply unfathomable to me.

http://philosopherking-michael.blogspot.com/2011/05/my-response-to-hitchens-maher-and-other.html