Faith and The One

Interesting comments to this post.

OK, let me just say how I see it.

Again, it goes back to what Christ taught. Can you love, without there being a bargain?

What Christ proposed was instead of us all doing something in the hope of getting something back, we do something and just have faith that the simple doing of it will reward us, without clarifying whether or not we'll actually get such reward.

Do it, and hope that what goes around comes around.

This is what is meant by faith, the hope that somehow your actions will be rewarded in the life to come.

Now myself, I believe that the whole promise of an afterlife is a bribe.
To me, it doesn't fit in with what we know of the world.

But I still maintain there is something being said there.
Because the whole point is, it does condition you to a certain mindset, and that mindset is a positive one.

Faith, Hope, Love.

Pascal's Wager is often misunderstood. People often see it as merely cynical.
It's usually taken as saying that believing in God is the better bet because if you're right, you go to Heaven, but if you're wrong you lose nothing, whereas Atheism is the bad bet, because if you're right you gain nothing, but if you're wrong you go to Hell.

Not quite what he said.

What Pascal said, concerned Faith.
What he said was, that the blessings of the afterlife, if it exists are infinite. Therefore, no matter what the likelihood of its existence, whatever the probabilities of its existence, statistically it makes sense to have faith. The point is, he was a mathematician, and the point is a mathematical one.

Of course, I'm still not convinced by the afterlife.

Now I guess, in regard to the post in question and the comments to it, is that actually this post is about unconditional love. As in, without conditions.

Now, I guess the question is, does unconditional love, exist.

And I would argue, yes it does.

Because I would argue that at some point in life, we all have to make ONE Faith decision and stick by it.
Just to know for sure we are who we feel we are.

Just so we can die knowing we were true to our hearts.
We have to have faith that the universe does not deceive us in how it prompts us to feel. We have to have faith in that, or life itself is a lie.



Well, I must admit to having gone through life an utter cynic in matters of the heart till fairly recently.
I was content to fling around those three little words without a lot of due care and attention.
Basically, waiting for the best bargain to show up. But I can't honestly say my heart was ever particularly in it.

And generally, I was hoping, as any good salesman does, to make a profit.
As in to be loved, without having to give much love.

And in my experience, it's not actually a good deal. Funny thing this surplus love. It seems to rot and turn into a kind of misery.

I think that's because it's love bought and sold, not love given in faith.

And I think this is it. If you're like me, you have to feel the miracle to believe. You have to see 'The One', before you can truly believe.
You see, I'm kind of the doubting Thomas. I didn't really believe in that kind of unconditional devotion. Well, I did in theory, indeed the CONCEPT of it, has always been fundamental. But in practical terms, you have to see the holes where the nails went through.

But 'Happier still are those who have not seen, and yet believe'.

And this is the point. Accepting the existence of 'The One'- your 'The One', is a major faith decision.

Because it's a gut feeling. you can't help it. They always say 'When you know, you'll know'. This never really made sense to me. But I guess that's the point. Recognising 'The One', is much the same as when Thomas saw the holes in Christ's hands.

But once you've done that, what does that mean?

Well, it means that you really just have to have faith. Of course there's no logical reason why YOU should also be THEIR one. But that doesn't really matter. The point is, what you feel and the point is, you can't lie to yourself and the universe.

To refuse to love The One, without conditions, is to lack faith. To turn away from The One and settle elsewhere, is to lack faith.

So of course it's a faith choice.
But it's like Pascal's wager.

I don't think everyone comes across 'The One'. I think maybe it really is kind of a miracle that strikes Doubting Thomases.
But once you do, it has the same odds.



Because if it's 'The One', there's no bargain. Unconditional devotion, really IS worth it. Suffering anything they throw at you really IS worth it. They really ARE worth it. So it really doesn't matter if they reject you and settle down with someone else.

Because in ten years they MAY change their mind.

And if they're The One, they're worth sticking around for.
Just in case.

And if you ever get to have 'The One', then anything they do is forgivable, because you already have something priceless.

The point is, loving 'The One' is its own reward. You don't need anything back for it, it is it's own reward.
It is like a religion, the joy is in the Faith, the Hope and the Love.

To give up on 'The One', to walk away, is to give up on life, to lose Faith that the universe tells you true.

So yes, loving The One IS an act of faith.

They're worth waiting for
And worth enduring anything for.

After all, Penelope waited twenty years for Odysseus.

Faith, Hope and Love.
The path to redemption.