Skeptical Faith

Google Image As I age, I’m acutely aware of stereotypes about old people and find myself trying not to fall into them. I try not to get too far behind in wardrobe trends, too far out-of-touch with modern life, too out-of-shape physically or, God forbid, show signs of forgetfulness. I know aging is a natural process and, objectively, carries no shame. But in my weaker moments, I want to be seen as vibrant and healthy. All of us are affected by stereotypes. It could be because of age, gender, race, appearance, or any number of human traits. Society has a way of categorizing people and it is sometimes harsh, its stereotypes often having severe effects on people’s lives. They may contain a kernel of truth, but in my view, stereotypes are a cheap substitute for thinking. Done Something To Offend? Many years ago, I began imagining how difficult it must be to grow up black. If you’re not treated well, you must ask yourself whether it’s because you have done something to offend, whether ...

Google Image One of my regular prayers is, “Lord, help me to see things as they really are.” “What?” some non-believers may say. “How can you say you want to see things as they are and believe in God?” Good question, but one that each of us has to answer for ourselves. And it’s not easy to honestly answer the question without acknowledging the degree to which we are all influenced by our culture, our upbringing, our personality traits, and all the other influences which are part of how we see the world. An illustration on Google Images shows a sign with the inscription, “We don’t see things as they are; we see things as we are.” And there’s some truth here. Our culture, though traditionally religious, is undergoing significant changes regarding the existence of God and identification with a religion. More younger people, at least in the “western” world, are rejecting or simply ignoring the faith of their parents and grandparents, and non-believers are more often publicly attacking reli...

Google Image A bent and seemingly emaciated grandmother who sells vegetables in the streets of the small city of Sonsonate in El Salvador rises at 5 a.m. to get her wood fire going so she can have her morning coffee. She then walks several blocks through broken, littered streets to her village’s main street to catch a bus so she buy produce and begin selling at 8 a.m. Mariana lives in a tiny house wrapped in sheets of plastic. The roof is rusted corrugated metal. It does a poor job of protecting her from the rain and she often wakes up wet. She has no bed or mattress but sleeps on a fibrous mat, which puts marks on her back and causes her pain. This description of Mariana and her living conditions is part of a story that recently appeared in a Salvadoran newspaper. It was posted by a Facebook friend in El Salvador and has stuck in my mind, thinking about how many millions of Marianas there are in the world - people who live in miserable conditions while most of us in the developed worl...

Google Image Besides their universities and high schools, Jesuits – members of the Society of Jesus - are known for the Spiritual Exercises of their founder, Ignatius of Loyola. And I’m told that an essential part of those exercises or retreats (in which I, personally, have never participated), is learning the practice of “discernment,” which I would describe as faith-full perception and decision-making. Here’s how Jesuit William J. Byron describes discernment in a text called “Humility, Magis (a Latin word meaning “more completely,” according to my Latin dictionary) and Discernment: A Jesuit Perspective on Education for Business Leadership,” found online. “If a choice is to be made or an action taken, the relevant facts should be laid out first. This means having the necessary data and information in hand. On the basis of the available information, appropriate judgments of fact are made. Does this in fact add up? Does it all compute? Do we have adequate and correct information? ...