When I was a little girl and I was bad, I was threatened with "the belt." In my mind, said belt had rusty barbs and hot iron sticking out of it. It would make me straighten up, shut up, or do just about whatever my parents wanted me to. I never met the belt. I just had a strong faith in the fact I did not want to make its acquaintance. And so I never did.
I think religion operates in much of this same way. Most of us have never met our G*d. But many people try and be better for love or fear of something greater than themselves. Faith is a powerful thing. But after the rapture, then what? Today, at 6:00 PM, we were supposed to experience the second coming.
It's 6:25 PM. I am drinking a glass of wine. There is a bird outside my window. Dolce just finished dinner. I was all excited for the rapture/second coming and nothing happened. Lame.
The hard part about religion for me has always been the blind faith part. (I only wish I was so lucky as to have a intellectual confirmation of that which I sense/feel. It would make dating so much easier.) Faith challenges my intellect. I was all excited for rapture, because then I wouldn't have to rely on faith anymore. I could see it with my own eyes. And then. No rapture. Boo. I guess I will have to go back to drinking my wine. Reading deep books. And trying to be a good person. That's all we can do. Maybe that's the point of faith. It keeps you honest. If I had realized the belt was really a white canvas relic from the 1970's that would reach my rump at the speed of a whisper, it would have lost its impact. Proof can be so much less motivating.
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