Guess what I figured out. Money is not the root of all evil. I think fear is. Fear of what? Fear of death? Fear of life? No, my friends. I’m speaking of something much more insidious. Fear of other opinions.
Differences in religious opinion, for example, have caused so much war, death, and misery throughout history. Faith is a funny thing. The existence of a human soul and the thing that happens to that soul after death…it can’t be proven, in the conventional sense. It’s all theoretical (at least until we die). Our beliefs about the soul are based on what we’ve been told by others (feel free to capitalize that word if you like) or on personal reflection. Or a combination of the two. We can have strong beliefs that what we have heard is true (that’s faith) but let’s be honest: none of us really knows. It’s as impossible to know for sure what happens when we die as it is for a fetus to know what awaits him/her after birth.
So here’s my point. Even though a vast majority of people on Earth are fairly confident that they know what happens after death, isn’t there enough of a mystery about the event to give us pause when we start to pass judgment on what someone else believes? To paraphrase Rodney King, can’t we all just accept our collective ignorance and get along?
I feel confident that what I’ve been taught in my religion is the way it’s going to be when I die. But the Jewish guy next to me on the bus feels the same way. And the Muslim African thousands of miles away is confident too. How can we all have a different-but-heartfelt belief about what happens after death? Who’s right? Or are we all wrong?
I’ve noticed in my own family how some branches of the family tree don’t even know each other well, largely due to discomfort with others’ beliefs. That’s crazy! How smug we are to think that we know, without a doubt, that someone else’s beliefs are wrong. Are we so insecure in our own beliefs that we keep ourselves distant from others (even blood relatives) who believe differently? Are we afraid their ideas will rub off on us? Is their kooky church-ness contagious? Will I get infected by their Baha’i-itis? What are we afraid of?
What courage, to go to a friend’s church with him one Sunday, not because you aim to spread your own beliefs, but as a way of honoring him and his attempts to be a better person. What courage, to give a visiting family member the opportunity to say a prayer in your home, not necessarily because you want to promote her faith, but because you want to celebrate the sincerity of her inner life. These kinds of gestures are not hard to do. I can’t imagine a single person refusing you if you asked to go to church with them. And would you like to say a prayer? is just seven little words that might open up a gigantic space of warmth and acceptance. But these are not trivial actions. This kind of behavior is not routine.
Perhaps, as Tom Cruise might say, I’m glib. I’m oversimplifying these serious issues. How can you invite, say, a heathen to say a prayer in your home when your own soul hangs in the balance of damnation or salvation? It all comes back to the mystery. If we accept the mystery--the truth that it’s impossible to know the truth right now--then inviting a "heathen" to pray is a wonderful idea.
And by the way, this sentiment applies to the atheists and agnostics, too. They like to think they’re different than most God-worshiping folk, but they’re not so different. They have a belief about what happens after death just like the devout Muslim, or the evangelical Christian, or the Buddhist does. Every person on earth, in fact, is united by one universal truth about what happens after death:
We won’t truly know until it happens.
5 comments:
Thank you for your insight. You are so well spoken or written as the case might be. I sure do love you.
A definite WOW! Fantastic insight and great thing to ponder. My greatest source of comfort about the "next world" of God i.e., entrance into the Abha Kingdom, is that Baha'u'llah left actual text that souls will know (recognize) each other. I feel I can face death better even though, like you say, we don't know what these truths really are until we leave this earthly plane. Much love, Mom
Boy, I'm really curious to know what brought THIS on. Now I will read the other comments...I like what you said, but it applies to more than what we believe about the afterlife. It applies to all of the things people believe really. I have found myself on both ends of the "fear or close-mindedness" spectrum. I will discuss that in a personal email though later. Love you much!
This is beautifully written. Thank you. The paragraph about going to a friend's church as a way of honoring their attempts to be a better person brought tears to my eyes. I have gone to churches out of curiosity, but had not thought about going for that deeper reason. Thank you! I wish I had gone more often to my Dad's church for his sake, even though it was a fundamentalist Baptist and they would drive you crazy trying to save you! But he was a beautiful person and his church meant a lot to him and my visiting with him would have meant a lot.
Well said! I have found there is a huge relief and sense of freedom when we remember to view things this way. I have faith and I know what's right for ME but who am I to say another person's equally strong faith is wrong? Along with faith comes the tendency to exalt ourselves above those with different beliefs--a struggle to try & overcome daily.
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