Craig,
Let me begin by saying I don't "know" anything either, but I don't qualify everything I say with "It's possible . . .";"I'm not sure, but . . .";"I think it might be true that . . .". These qualifiers seem unnecessary, except for those occasions when I'm addressing questions which I haven't given much thought. My posts are simply my considered opinions--based on my interpretation of my life experiences. The merits of my opinions are left to the judgement of the reader.(Obviously George holds them in high esteem.)
You ask how I can be sure of my belief in God, how I can verify my belief, and how God can be described?
Man is mind-body-spirit. We readily accept that in order to train and develop the mind and body we must exercise them. The same is true for spiritual development: the more one exercises one's spiritual "muscles" (through meditation, prayer, reflection. . .) the more developed one's spiritual faculties become. This is true for all our endeavors.
As a musician I have developed my musical abilities --countless hours of exercise have earned me a certain level of competence. There are Chinese doctors who after years of experience can diagnose many diseases simply by feeling their patient's pulse. Experienced golfers can "read" the wind, their lie, the green, the firmness of the ground, and microgauge their stroke accordingly.
If one exercises one's spirituality and develops it--honing one's perceptive abilities, at some point one will have accumulated enough experiential data to reach some conclusions about the nature of the spiritual realm--like the conclusions doctors reach about the realm of human physiology, and golfers the realm of their game. In my life I have devoted much energy to spiritual pursuits and I have reached my own conclusions, ones which resonate with me as Truth.
Can I be sure of my beliefs? Spirituality bears fruit, and the consistency of the appearance of this fruit is confirmation enough for me.
Can I communicate my beliefs? That depends on the listener, and my ability to translate what is essentially ineffable into words. If I speak with someone who has spent dedicated time on a spiritual path (or has desire to) and has consequently become aware of the terrain, then they may grasp what I struggle to describe. If however, I am communicating with someone for whom spirituality is of little or no interest, my words fall on deaf ears. But even when others don't understand me, I gain a better understanding of my personal beliefs in attempting to describe them (this is particularly true in a written forum.)
Can God be described? No better than Love can be.
Rick
|
