The 11th Week: Why faith?
Unless postponed for some unexpected reason, we will travel to New York City the coming Wednesday so that I can have the surgery Thursday. I have to be careful not to pick up any infection such as cold, flu, diarrhea, and skin infection to cause a delay. Of course, it is also important that the surgeons will be in good shape.
I will go under general anesthesia and therefore will not feel any pain during the 3 to 4 hour procedure, but surely afterward. Because of the inclination of radiation-traumatized skin not to close, I will be in the hospital at least for four nights and maybe more.
Thank you all for your love and caring. Obviously, the update will stop at least for once if not more. Please remember us in your prayers and thoughts and I look forward to talking to you again. I enjoy the opportunities of sharing very much. It actually has helped me greatly in sorting out and clarifying my own thoughts. I am so lazy that I usually just write down a few key words and phrases about my thoughts. In order to share them, I have to write them down logically which, in turn, compels me to thought them through with diligence.
Sharing: (Four things came to my mind. But I chose the heaviest topic because it might be a while before I can share again.)
Why faith?
Aside from those who are undetermined yet, we all believe something: some believe in God, some believe God does not exist, and some believe there is not enough evidence to determine either way. Faith is a very subjective matter. I do not consider its subjectivity as a deficiency. Excellent scientists and researchers are always those who can first subjectively think of and believe in a good hypothesis in order to eliminate the vast number of invalid ones that would take limited time and resources away from finding and validating the truth. In short, the process is subjective belief followed by objective/subjective validation.
As I shared earlier, I had a realization of how corrupted and cruel human beings (including myself) could be after I graduated from college and had a taste of “the real world out there”. Around the same time, I also met a number of Christians who were good witnesses of their faith. At that crossroad, the questions for me were:
Which offers more meaning and a better purpose: believing in God, not believing, or being unsure?
Which offers a better light and vision, believing, not believing or not being sure?
Which offers more dynamics and energy, believing, not believing or not being sure?
Obviously, my answers to all the questions were believing in God. This was the humble beginning of my journey of faith. It is kind of like believing in true love or not. Some evolution biologists argue against the true love. For example, they say that even the sacrificial love of parents is motivated by leaving their legacy behind through their offsprings. While there is no tangible way of proving or disproving the existence of love, I, like the majority, choose to believe in it because I do feel it, know our need and thirst for it, and dwell and thrive in it. It also offers a much better meaning and vision than the alternative.
After that beginning, it has been the validation with objective and subjective evidence abounding around us such as the beauty of life, the wonder of the universe (e.g., http://highspirit.blog.com/1548817/), the conscience inside, the love I felt, the personal experiences, and the Word.
There will likely be sufferings that are so great that will make me complain, cry, afraid, and even wanting to give up. But none of those would change my answers to the aforementioned questions.
May this find you and your loved ones in good spirit and health
You can find previous updates in http://highspirit.blog.com/
