Sunday, August 10, 2014

Letting Go of Truth and Justice

I've always had an interest in knowledge, specifically knowing capital 'T' Truth(s).  And I've always had a desire to understand the nature of all the injustices in the world.  These two topics are often addressed directly by religion.  Despite my agnosticism, I've always had a fascination with religion and spirituality.  But it was generally through the lenses of these two topics, and mostly an abstract or academic interest.  So a lot of what I read about religion, philosophy, and spirituality was concerned with trying to understand how different belief systems dealt with Truth and explained injustice.

For example, being raised with Christian dualism, I was quite interested in theodicy.  Despite the paradox of a benevolent God, countless people throughout history have believed in the tenants of Christianity.  And at least some of them had to be reasonable, rational people.  So I learned about it.

To skip over all the messy details, there is no explanation for the suffering and injustice in the world that will satisfy the skeptics.  There is no perfect defense of God, Christian or otherwise, hence the consistent and infuriating chorus of “God works in mysterious ways.”  And even if you assume this to be true, it still doesn't answer or resolve anything.

As I began to develop a deeper, more direct interest in spirituality, questions of injustice and Truth kept coming up.  Why should I put faith in a God who is quite content to let me suffer?  I’m perfectly capable of suffering all on my own without God in my life.  And unless God would grant me Truth through divine revelation, welcoming God into my life will get me no closer to that goal either.

After quite a while of struggling with these dilemmas, I decided to let go of my pursuit of Truth.  And I decided to choose a spiritual path despite the injustice that may occur in my life and the lives of those around me.  Letting go of these pursuits opened the door to spirituality for me.  Once I did this, I was able to begin my journey.  I started finding synchronicities and developing my chakras.

I've experienced so much growth and learning over the past few months that would not have been possible if I had not let go of these questions.  When I say I let them go, it doesn't mean I’m no longer interested or that I don’t still ask the questions.  It means I accept the reality that I’m not likely to get answers.  With this acceptance, I've found it’s possible to travel a spiritual path while still being perfectly grounded and still maintaining a healthy sense of doubt and skepticism.

Thank you for reading.  Please share my blog with others who might find value in it.  May you be well and happy.
-Andy

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