A Leap of Faith - from Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade film

Christianity is a relative newcomer in the history of the world’s great religions. It dates only a little more than two thousand years. I use the phrase “the search for God.” Some wag said that even if God didn’t exist, we would have invented one (or several) to satisfy our need for meaning.

In my meditations in recent months, I’ve considered the various phrases and words we use to describe similar experiences. Some have said that we exist only in the synapses of the brain, and there is nothing else beyond that. I get confused when talking about the subconscious and the unconscious, so I’ll leave any psychological or neurological discussion at that. But I do believe that the universe is wider and deeper than the individual brain or what we can rationalize from our thoughts.

Christians speak of the Holy Spirit as the third manifestation of God, even while we debate what that means. God the Creator, God the Son (Jesus), and God the Holy Spirit. Jesus said he would send the “comforter” to guide us, but he really doesn’t describe how that occurs. I know it when I see it in action, but I can’t describe it either or how to access it. We call the process prayer; others use different words. But the processes are simply methods for the search for meaning beyond our world of daily routines, experiences, emotions, and challenges. Peggy Lee had a great jazz song, “Is that all there is?” Atheists answer yes, agnostics say maybe. They hold a negative belief that nothing or experience exists beyond the world of observation. If that is the case, then we get into another debate of “what is reality?” What is real, and what is made up or myth?

We get sidetracked into theological debates about the “miracles” of “signs” of Jesus. Even the Gospels used different words so how can we sort it out when literally living in a world of different experiences? It takes “a great leap of faith,” and that’s what Paul was talking about. You either can do it, or you can’t. You may drift in an ocean of doubt, but when you cease to struggle you lose the option of finding meaning beyond yourself.

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