ʺI can believe anything provided it is incredible” ‐ Oscar Wilde
ʺFaith may be defined as an illogical belief in the occurrence of the improbableʺ
H.L.Mencken
In the Fifties, Florida author Phillip Wylie, commented on all living creatures with some sense of self-awareness, Homo Sapien seems the only one who steadfastly refuses to believe in himself. Apparently we find ourselves so remarkably superior, it’s absurd to even consider we share the common lot of all creatures ‐ to simply cycle back into the ecological dynamic. Recent comments by Reverend Whittemore from the Porch Swing further stirred up the spiritual stew. I believe the gist of it was that facts may be proven empirically by the scientific method; but faith lies well beyond the pale of positive proof. Things beyond, unseen. It seemed something of a ʺNo atheist in foxholesʺ tack. Maybe the Calvinist proof of God thing, i.e., Man did not create himself, therefore something greater than man created man. Something greater than man is God. Not necessarily! But God has certainly proven to be a formidable tool in manipulating the tribe.
Don’t confuse yourself too much with the facts, they’ll say. You’ll get a headache. Of course, they’re right. Give your heart (emotions) over to (fill in the blank), and you’ll soon soar off to peace and cosmic contentment. Or simply recycle into whatever reincarnation your karma sticks you with. Or, in biblical‐speak, ʺBy their deeds ye shall know them.ʺ Hey, it works! Sometimes.
Just the same, many UU’s might heartily endorse the message in Harvard Humanist Chaplain Greg Epstein’s bestseller, ʺGood Without God.ʺ What could be more pragmatic than that humanistic ʺGolden Ruleʺ threaded through every theology devised by man? Treat others well and there’s an excellent chance one daythey’ll reciprocate. Or else seek revenge…
My own Road to Damascus experience at age twenty convinced me that by giving up all organized religions, I GAINED them all. Maybe I even mumbled something like, ʺFree at last!ʺ Years later in a Tripoli garden, an old English professor andchess mentor passed along this fatherly advice. He told me, ʺBill,I’ve had a long life. I’m an old man, and I know from experience the things you concern yourself with, truth, justice, hope, brotherly‐love, ‐ they don’t really exist. But you’re a damned fool if you stop looking!ʺ
To be perfectly honest, answers have eluded me almost all mylife, but good fortune’s allowed me to cross paths with so manyother seekers. I believe in them. I believe in you! An honest, humanist belief. You who share my Sundays comprise my faith andhope. You in all your diversity and, yes, division. Any examination of history shows how miserably we’ve failed. Again and again. Yet I have faith that our efforts at compassion and self‐actualization will lead humanity to eventual success. But, even as Dr. King, we may not be there to see it. Witness achieving our potential to become the aristocracy (in a good sense) of all species, and true stewards of our awesome blue island in space. This I believe.
Can I get an AMEN?