Re: faith
Posted by
Steve Smith on
URL: http://friam.383.s1.nabble.com/Faith-tp7580633p7580704.html
Dave -
Not true - because I have a countervailing belief - I
am smarter and more aware than they and can thwart their
evil intentions.
Inarguable reasoning Dave... I commend you. Unfortunately I slipped
behind the curve on my self-image regarding smart+aware a while
back. It may be early onset wisdom or late-stage cynicism...
It *was* my youthful idealism that had me quite willing to hurtle
down the highways with nothing between me and the road except a few
feet (or inches) of air and maybe a 1/8 or less of leather. I was
supremely confident in my own smartness and awareness as the perfect
antidote to all challengers.
<Anecdote> For example, one evening just after dusk 30+ years
ago, I was hurtling down Interstate 17 in the right lane (like a
good doobie since I was roughly traveling at the speed limit and was
not passing anyone) when something made me think I needed to get
into the left lane... I checked mirrors, hit my turns, looked over
my shoulder, and drifted left only to realize that the right lane
was no longer there (well, most of it anyway). I stopped quickly
and backtracked to find that in fact over half of the right lane had
sloughed off into the canyon in a mudslide. I went back "upstream"
a hundred yards facing traffic with headlight and flashers in the
right lane and pulled over the first two cars who I left to pass the
word along and went on my way (I still had 7 hours riding ahead of
me that night).
Those with "Faith" might say that "God spoke to me". I simply
believe that my cultivated awareness hinted to me that something was
amiss up ahead (missing guardrail in my headlights? Dark abyss
below my threshold of consciousness? Had I heard or felt something
over engine/road vibrations?)... Today I'm pretty sure I would just
hurtle off the end of the pavement with a goofy puzzled expression
of WTF?
</Anecdote>
And if the world is not interested in harming me, why
did it give me a death sentence?
I'm pretty sure that despite the world's total disinterest in me
(and by extension you), that death sentence is a blessing compared
to some of the alternatives (read your Utopian/Dystopian literature
for references). Of course, I just might be spending too much time
juggling failing parents up and down the halls of nursing homes.
- Steve
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