Faith, or trust Yourself And What You Do – But In A Wise Way (I)

Believing in yourself means only to discover what you can do, but you didn’t know you could, cause you never tried. Call it faith, or positive thinking, or optimism – each of these names express the same meaning, for different categories of people. If you are a believer, than you know what we are talking about. But you also know that it’s not up to a theoretical faith, which is supported only by reasonable arguments and proofs from your life experience, or anothers’. That kind of faith, that says to believe only after you see it, is in fact a sort of mathematical demonstration, that is up to reason. But real faith is ”to believe it before you see it”, or ”believe it, and your faith will make things come to manifestation”. I know, it sounds crazy for the men of reason, but the most incredible and wonderful thing is, that it’s only this kind of faith that makes the difference. As the queen Isabella of Castillia said to Cristofor Columbus before his departure to the New World: ”And if this land doesn’t exist, God will create it for you, in order to reward your audacity.”

In fact, what is optimism itself than a belief in the good without real support ? And even men of reason can be optimistic. A reasonable argument is that being optimistic, having positive emotions, is a therapy in itself, and a means of improving your life, cause it avoids the energetic consumption. It is known in medecine and psychology that negative emotions and feelings produce a loss of energy, and weaken even the immunitary system. On the contrary, optimism and positive emotions allow to strengthen the personal energy. So, have faith in yourself and your goal, or be optimistic – as you choose!

However, we need to clarify one thing: faith doesn’t mean applying only that famous Law of Attraction we all heard about so much. We could say this Law of Attraction is submitted to faith, but that’s only part of it. Cause real faith isn’t, in fact, the obstination to attract at all costs what we need. This kind of attraction would be more about magic. And do you think it would be fair to apply magic in order to acquire what you need, no matter the consequences on the rest of the world?

To give an example: saying someone wants to become a director, or a president, and he focuses on it, and every moment he tries to attract this fulfilment in his life. But another one, and another one, and another… they have the same purpose, and they also focus only on that! And finally, if the law of attraction really was a magic mechanism, they would all achieve their goal. Meaning, the world would be filled only with directors and presidents, and very few people left to do the ordinary work.

Of course, some could say this doesn’t usually happen cause not every person who dreams to be a president have all the necessary gifts for that. But, this may not be the case, and those people may even have the qualities. And yet, there are very few who really succeed in it, and maybe, not the ones we would thought of from the beginning. Mystery? No, cause it may be a simpler explanation. A simpler explanation that answers all our doubts, and it’s the only logical one that answers all doubts. And this explanation is that the Universe is not an immense hallway full of all sorts of machines and mechanisms which act by themselves and for themselves only. In fact, even if these mechanisms exist, and their operation is impeccable, there must normally be an operator who ensures the maintenance, and adapts their operation according to unforeseen factors. This is a just a logical conclusion! All great scientist of all times agreed on the perfection of the universe and its’ laws. And, how could that perfection exist by itself – saying, a perfect mechanism which never fails, a perpetuum mobile, but without a mechanic? Albert Einstein himself said that the perfection of the Universe tells him there is a Creator.

Returning to our example with the presidents and the law of attraction, we could say there is Someone, a Supreme Being, who modulates all our requests, and doesn’t allow the Law of Attraction operate as a self-contained mechanism. And this is really about wisdom! Cause even the simplest minds can see that the fulfilment of all dreams, of all men on earth, could only bring a disaster. Even the fulfilment of all dreams of a single person could bring him/her unhappiness, cause not all dreams are wise, and proper to him/her. Related to this, I don’t know if you have seen the movie ”Absolutely Anything” by Terry Jones, which is, in my opinion, a masterpiece! An excellent comedy, but at the same time, a deep look at the human condition. I don’t know how a movie can be both, but it really is.

I know what counterarguments might be brought to my demonstration by the super-rational people – or at least, a few of these arguments. First, some might say there could be another rational explanation for the fact that not all people who dream to be presidents get to fulfilment. For example, they might use the philosophical argument of natural necessity, which is in fact, the complex of natural conditions that could influence the course of someone’s life. Yes, there could be such unfortunate, harsh or simply normal conditions in someone’s life that could prevent them from achieving their goal. But, things are not so simple! Cause, who could say if these so-called natural conditions weren’t directed to happen by a Supreme Being, who knows these persons are not fit to reach the position they desire? In fact, once we accept the explanation of a Creator and Mechanic of the Universe, all becomes logical, and we could understand there might not be, in fact, ”natural” necessity. Cause, if the Universe is an immense mechanism, and our world is part of it, the logical conclusion is that our world and each of its’ components are submitted to certain universal operating rules. So, there is no place for ”happening” and necessity.

However, this theory has a ”gap”, as those knowing a little theology could notice. And this gap concerns the place of free-will in this scheme. But, the gap is only apparent, cause in fact, the free-will of some imperfect human beings explains the state of affairs in the present world. If everything in the world had been submitted to the perfect operating rules of a perfect mechanism, our world would have been ideal. But, that had implied that human beings, who are part of the mechanism, would have also been perfect, and would have always been followed the perfect rules. However, we all know that people are far from being perfect, and God gave them the gift of free-will instead, in order to choose if they want, or not, to become perfect. A Perfect Being did not use His perfection in order to make us accept perfection as a starting condition, but He took the risk of giving us the freedom to choose. True love sets free those he loves. And because we are not perfect, and our choices are far from perfect ( Umberto Ecco says that ”freedom is the punishment of our pride” – referring to the pride of our complex abstract thinking), then He consequently took the mission to right our wrongs. But this is submitted to a condition. And this condition is: to obey His perfect rules. He put this condition on us, first cause this rules are perfect, and then, cause He himself obeys His perfect rules – or if not, He wouldn’t be perfect. The director of an enterprise, or the president of a country, must be the first to obey the rules of their community. And if one of his employees, or citizens, violates community laws, he cannot help him much, cause he is also submitted to community’s laws.

So, if we want to be helped, or for Him to smooth our path in life, we necessarily have to obey His rules – cause if not, He cannot help us much, even if He loves us. So, free-thinkers are not as free as they think, cause if they chose not to recognize Him and His rules, so they indirectly refused His protection, and came under the cause-and-efect law – which could be relentless. Of course, there would be much more to say on the relationship between free will and compliance with the divine laws, but detailed theological discussions are not the object of this article. What is important to know in practice is that for those having broken His rules, but then having truly regreted it, there is forgiveness and redemption – and this is also one of His rules.