Something to Know for Sure
2/9/09 Reflections It’s human nature to get caught up in discovery. The world is full of mysteries, and it’s entertaining to play at figuring them out. It’s normal to want to attach ourselves to others doing the same thing, to “be on board” for the adventure. It’s OK to have the joy of discovery and fellowship.
Secularists will never get rid of faith and spirituality – we know without being taught that these will always remain a mystery and will always attract thinkers. We don’t always expect an answer to our questions. Even those quite sure of their path to the truth don’t expect to know all there is to know. We go in prepared to be content with just bits and pieces; to be satisfied with the search itself.
But humans also have a burning need to know something for sure; something so basically true that they can pin theories all over it and still recognize it underneath. It doesn’t necessarily have to be proven, only known in the mysterious way we know things deep inside without being told or shown.
What is this thing we all possess but cannot explain? Each person has their own reaction to it; their own concept of how it makes them feel. Often there is a sense that we are not really controlling things – that there is something bigger than us that provides exactly what we need in order to have meaning.
For me it’s the certainty that someone knows more about me than I know of myself. There’s that inward suspicion that as much as I know about myself and my feelings, my thoughts, my memories, and my picture of myself that only I can consult, my Creator not only know this, but knows infinitely more than this about me.
I can put away all thoughts of my life on Earth and still have this conviction. Everything else is just window-dressing, or a fad to be picked up and put down. So now and again I put aside all the searching for meaning while I dedicate myself to the one thing I can believe in – I have a Creator and the Creator loves me. I just want to love God back. I’m in it for real, I’m in it for good, and I’m in it for ever.
