Skeptical Faith

Google Image My wife, Amparo, answered the phone and a pleasant female voice said, “Hi. Since you’ve stayed in our resort, I want to let you know that….” Amparo hung up. It was, of course, a telephone solicitor. I imagine that in training telephone solicitors, instructors teach them how to put the customer at ease with an informal, friendly greeting, trying to establish rapport; then, by saying that you’ve stayed in their resort, establishing familiarity. And while you’re trying to remember what resort you’ve stayed in, “the voice” is proceeding to a sales pitch. Even if you don’t buy, she’s at least managed to keep you on the line longer than you would if you realized from the outset that it was a solicitation. A Form of Lying Why do we find telephone solicitation distasteful? Because the use of deception is a form of lying. But it’s one to which we’ve become all too accustomed in politics, advertising and sales and many other aspects of daily life. “Driv...

Google Image I recently joined the millions of smart alecks who have asked Siri questions they know are hard or impossible to answer. (Siri is the electronic voice that tries to answer questions for users of IPhones.) “What’s the meaning of life?” I asked.   “I don’t believe there is a consensus on that question,” answered Siri. Pretty good answer, actually. Not only is there no consensus; many people believe life has no meaning. You’re born, you die and that’s it. We’re all part of a heartless, impersonal universe that developed randomly and meaninglessly. Although I have long accepted evolution as an explanation of how the universe got where it is, I can’t accept that there’s no “why,” that it is random and lacks purpose. It would make the Big Bang akin to a huge explosion at a paper factory that miraculously results in the library of Congress where there are 155.3 million books and items.   Life Has Meaning No, I believe life has meaning and i...

Google Image What was the happiest day of your life? The “politically correct” answers would be, “the day I got married,” or “the day my children were born.” Fact is, I didn’t realize at the time how happy my spouse and children would make me. What about, “when I got my first job,” or “when I retired?” Similar answers apply. In reality, for most of us happiness can’t be captured in such events. Happiness is ongoing, a more permanent thing. Yet, though the definition of happiness may be illusive, we all think we know it when we see it. Teens are certain their first love is “the love of their life.” The new house “couldn’t make us happier.” In my new job, “I’ve never been happier.” Happiness is one of the most written about topics these days. It’s discussed endlessly on talk shows and in homilies and graduation speeches. The main question is, what makes us happy? There are so many answers. But why so much concern now about happiness? Did our parents and grandparents have dis...

Google Image Many people are uncomfortable, even embarrassed, by personal expressions of religious belief or practice. So be warned, I’m about to engage in such an expression. About a year ago, I started the practice of “placing myself in God’s presence” before my normal morning prayers. I sit comfortably in a quiet place, sometimes in the early-morning semi-darkness, and pray something like this: “Father, I know you are here with me, in me and around me and in and around the billions of other people on earth, believers and non-believers. And that you stretch from here to beyond the ends of the universe. Help me to believe, and recall your presence throughout the day.” Some May Not Be Ready I realize some people searching for God may not be ready for this kind of prayer. After all, it assumes that to some extent, you’ve already found God. But as I’ve mentioned before, I believe you acquire faith at least partly by “doing” it. At some point, you just have to jump in. It...