In the last two years since Greg and I were hurled into parenthood, we’ve seen an unusual amount of irrefutable blessings laid out for us to ease us into such a dramatic lifestyle change. It seems that at every turn, God has gone out of the way to plant opportunities and happy accidents at our doorstep. I’m not saying it’s all been stress-free and devoid of any difficulties, (my last month’s worth of entries should prove that) but many many bridges have materialized before us that we stubbornly refuse to accredit to coincidence.
Oh, for example? Okay, we found out we were pregnant during the last week of our undergrad classes. We graduated the following Friday and the very next Monday Greg started work as an art director for a local promotions company. When that business announced they were going out of business, Greg was given an interview for a far better job the very next day (where he’s currently employed.)
What else? All of our baby clothes, furniture, general accoutrement has been free so far, due to the generous gifts and hand-me-downs from friends and family. And - because it should never be taken as granted - my pregnancy was completely flawless. There were natural pains and other symptoms, but I never ran into any difficulties and we never had any scares regarding the baby’s health.
Not enough? We found our first apartment to be ideal although it was the first and only one we looked at. The house we’re living in presently is even nicer and the rent is far less expensive per month than others of the same or lesser quality.
And, even though I’ve said it ad nauseum, all the components regarding our wedding, wedding day, wedding week came together seamlessly. Every person we hired was above and beyond expectations, the weather was perfect for our ceremony, we got an insane deal on the cottage we rented…
So yeah, I’m confident in admitting that we’ve been incredibly blessed in the last few years and that this gives us an unbelievable amount of hope and optimism about our lives together. And every time we receive another unexpected gift from Spirit, I am humbled and convinced that this has to be the end of our streak of good luck.
And then this week we received perhaps the most incredible opportunity either of us [or anyone else that we know] has ever encountered. (I hate that I can’t expose this new miracle at the moment, but there are many many factors weighing in escrow at the moment. I’ve run into complications from running my mouth publicly before and am not about to risk screwing this up just to prattle to my blog readers. Um, no offense.) Not only is this gift a relative luxury (in that it’s not essential to our well-being or survival) but it creates opportunities and a sense of momentum toward our long-ignored ambitions that might otherwise have been unobtainable right now. This gift stands out as not only a massive benefit to our lives, but almost as though God is winking at us and giving us permission to chase after our dreams without any more hesitation.
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I once dated an arrogant, angry Atheist man (actually, that pretty much describes every male, American atheist) who was intent on convincing me that miracles were simply happenings that we didn’t yet have the science to explain. Calm and unwavering in my convictions, I watched him become frantic with frustration and this inherent need of his to cram his beliefs down my throat (something he - and every other atheist of his description/demographic - claim to despise so much about Christians) and I could see his respect for me deteriorating as I refused to listen to his logic-based arguments. Confidently, I told him I’d seen too many miracles to even bother considering that they weren’t evidence of a Higher Power with great intentions for me. After describing my personal examples, I frankly stated that I would be a complete fool to create excuses for these events in which God had taken the time to make himself and his benevolence obvious to me.
“That’s ridiculous.” He huffed like a child being denied a pointless new toy. “I mean, how many miracles have you seen?”
Involuntarily, a slightly-condescending smirk slinked across my lips. “Well, for Christ’s sake. How many do you need?”
Monday, 23. March 2009
Ah, it seems you’ve missed the point of my writing and/or including the passage at the bottom. (It was meant as a casual complementary comment on the larger essay and to illustrate how I am able to calmly, confidently defend my belief that these are gifts and miracles from a Higher Power, no matter what anyone else thinks of me or says to me in opposition. And I’m able to do this without having to retaliate with my own forceful agenda.)
However, since we’ve deviated a bit, I’ll add my two cents to the topic you’ve brought up.
Oh sure I scoff at the blind following of other people, whether in regards to religion or politics or any other mass-control method. And I’m always pretty hard on myself when I catch myself following something blindly without taking the time to challenge it and my personal stance on the matter.
However, I no longer waste time trying to adamantly impose my beliefs on others as my accepting of Love as a general belief and lifestyle requires me to live and let live, give everyone the right to believe what they want, despite how my personal perspectives differ.
The need for Christians to cram their beliefs down everyone’s throat and aggressively change everyone’s beliefs (and therefore - supposedly - their “eternities”) in the name of “evangelism” is something that obviously infuriates [most of the] atheists in such devoutly Christian demographics as ours. However, in their anger, they only perpetuate the flaring of ignorance by retorting with a need to convince Christians of their own stupidity and try to change their minds to something more “logic based”. Each side in this case is filled with arrogance at believing that their convictions are the only right way and each side displays their insecurities and ignorance at needing to angrily push their views on others (which, again, they claim so adamantly to loathe about the other side.)
This is something that has gone on for years, but not something that I’ve seen in all the people and cultures I’ve encountered from around the globe (although many cultures obviously still have very noticeable arguments regarding personal beliefs. That’s neither here nor there at the moment.) Perhaps it has something to do with being in the Bible Belt, but my perception of the man stated above was based on the dozens of atheist American men just like him that I’ve met who are so steeped in anger and animosity toward anyone with beliefs different from theirs that they slap an “idiot” label and utter disrespect on anyone who dares to argue with them.
So, yes, I absolutely agree. It’s up to each of us to find the inner peace required to allow everyone to coexist peacefully, despite our differences. (Hell, this is something that Sesame Street has been promoting for decades.) This is something I’ve worked very hard to practice as I’ve become more comfortable and connected with my own spirituality. And, like you said, people should be free to interpret life and it’s components in any way they are most comfortable with without fearing persecution from others.
But again, that wasn’t my point in the passage at all.
Monday, 23. March 2009
One more thing regarding my response in the particular account described above (which I think may be what spurred your comment).
While I was listening to this man and could see this points and understood his perspective, my heart was unable to abandon my original convictions in the end. (Which, after all, is what beliefs actually are. Doesn’t matter what your head is telling you, your beliefs are ingrained in what your heart knows to be true.)
When someone (or something) has made it abundantly clear by proving it on repeated occasions that, to Him (or Her or It, depending on how you interpret God), I am worthwhile, loved and valued then yes, I may listen and respect, but I am unable to value any outside argument from an ignorant third party who asserts otherwise. Although it appears stubborn, this is a belief that I proudly stand by, regardless of the way it looks to those who don’t [bother to] understand.
I don’t know. I don’t think that there are many beliefs beyond personal reconsideration and/or reformation and I look forward to living my life with an open mind, watching my uncertainties grow and change as I get to know myself better. In fact, I think that a life of supposed “certainty” and resulting stagnation is pointless and ignorant. But there are many things that I have experienced that give me a handful of very strong, unwavering beliefs and this gives me a foundation to build my explorations on.
Oh, and it gives me a spine when people try to knock me off course because of their own agendas. I think (with as little ego as possible) that this, too is important when developing one’s inner self and confidence.
And that’s where I stand.
… Okay, now I’m really done rambling.