Faith

I am reading a book at the moment about a seven year old girl who is talking to god and healing people. She is unwittingly afflicted with stigmata. She is not religious or pious in any way. She is just a little girl who is doing what she feels is right. And of course, she is attracting a flock of religious fanatics, people who are willing to follow any little lead to touch a little piece of God.

So while I was enthroned today (some might like to call this particular activity a 'moment of contemplation') I began to ponder- what is it about faith and miracles that make these people so passionately defensive? Why will so many people who are otherwise sane and normal, stare in awe and wonder at a piece of toast that appears to have the face of Jesus burnt into it?

I mean really. Lets just look at the so called "appearances of the Lord" of late:

* Jesus appears to some guy on a piece of toast. This toast is then sold for a mint on the internet.
* Mary (who is not even GOD for crying out loud) appears in the shadows that appear on a fence line near the beach in Sydney.
* Some enlightened being finds the image of Jesus in the rings of a tree when he pulls a branch down
* A catholic statue of Mary starts to weep tears of milk at regular intervals. The statue is later found to have a TUBE THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF IT with milk being pumped through to the eyes.

Yeah these are crazy, and I am 100% certain even the most surreal of them (ie Jesus in tree) can be explained throught the laws of nature and with basic probability. It doesnt mean that they are second comings or religious messages. Hell, I saw Kurt Cobain in a cloud formation once, and Im pretty damn sure that doesnt mean hes a coming back to sell more records.

But even when these "miraculous appearances" are proven to be of science, or of human hands, people are still so eager to believe. And its not just christians and its not just christianity.

Think about when you read your stars. You flick to the page in the paper, find your starsign and have a quick read. Firstly, you pick out all the bits that you dont like. These you mentally bin, because they 'dont apply to you'. Then you re read the good bits. And then you start to believe that they will come true, no matter how flawed your method or the argument. Suddenly you are walking on air because 'a financial proposition will pay big dividends' or 'a strange man will bring exciting temptations'. There is no justification, no evidence and no proof that these things will happen. There is just you, a bogus medium and a lotta blind faith.

And there, my dear readers is the key. Blind Faith. We know its not real. We know its not true. But we are so desparate to believe in something we will do so without reason and without logic. We will do so blindly.

When we want to believe something so badly we will. When we want something so badly we will get it. Our brains are powerful things. I have no doubt that we can heal ourselves or make ourselves sick just by believing it.

I think I get the jobs I do, as underqualified and uneducated as I may be, simply because I believe that I am capable of the job. I think therefore I am. And I think its the same with blind faith.

If you have nothing to hope for and nothing to believe in, a little blind faith might make your day. And if you are that desparate for it to be true, then it becomes truth for you. Such is the power and strength of thought.

I dont know if blind faith is a bad thing. I dont know if its a good thing. But it is such a big part of the way so many people live their lives. I think it is interesting.

Thats really all I wanted to say. Til next times....