In my look at the argument between theists and atheists, one of my key points is that \u201cnot knowing\u201d is OK. The big questions of Life are beyond our ability to know with any real certainty. We don\u2019t know what existed before the Big Bang, we don\u2019t know what happens to our individual consciousness after death, and we don\u2019t know The Meaning Of Life. We have hints and intimations, bits and pieces that are meaningful and helpful to some of us though not to all of us, but ultimately, we don\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
And that\u2019s OK.<\/p>\n
So if I\u2019m OK with not knowing the answer to the big questions of Life, why am I not OK with not knowing the answers to the lesser questions? Why do I insist on banging my head against the proverbial wall trying to figure out (intellectually, of course) what I\u2019m supposed to be and do in this life?<\/p>\n
Because ultimately, those things are just as unknowable as the eternal questions people have struggled with since we became human and maybe before. In the absence of knowledge, we need faith.<\/p>\n
Not theology or doctrine or even myth, but faith \u2013 faith that the Universe really is good, faith that everything will ultimately work out OK.<\/p>\n
We can\u2019t know<\/em> \u2013 we can only do<\/em>. Do the right things for the right reasons and trust that doing so puts us in good position for whatever comes our way.<\/p>\n Do what? That\u2019s what religion is for, to give us some traditions, some structure, some guidelines for living our lives \u2013 for practice.<\/p>\n As a Pagan, that means meditation and prayer. As a Druid, that means honoring the gods and goddesses, ancestors, and spirits of nature. As a Unitarian Universalist, that means working to build a better world here and now. As a human being, that means treating others with respect and compassion and pulling my own weight in the material world. That\u2019s not everything, but it\u2019s a good start.<\/p>\n I want to KNOW. I especially want to know where I\u2019m going in my life. But I can\u2019t. I don\u2019t like that, but I can only do what I can with what I have to work with.<\/p>\n And right now that means doing the right things for the right reasons and having faith that it will all work out.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In my look at the argument between theists and atheists, one of my key points is that \u201cnot knowing\u201d is OK. The big questions of Life are beyond our ability to know with any real certainty. We don\u2019t know what existed before the Big Bang, we don\u2019t know what happens to our individual consciousness after […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n