Faith

The fairy tales, the legends, the lore, always point to something greater than me. Whether it be for evil or good, the idea that there is a power that can be manipulated in some way is very appealing.

Of course it always depends on the eye of the seeker. To the primitive tribes of South America everything we take for granted seems magical. In the same vein, many of the miracles of the past are now easily understood and explained by modern science.

Even the Christian belief that man is made in God's image seems to point to the idea that we are wondrous creatures capable of much more than we have yet discovered. A truly paternalistic, creative deity would want his children to be independent, creative, wondrous progeny.

Believing we need objects and places to achieve what we call miraculous seems to me like the baby holding on to it's father's fingers until it learns to walk. The ability to walk was always there, the baby just needed to have faith in its own ability and practice using that ability.

My point is that faith and science need not be at odds, nor do they need to be dependent on each other. One is the finger pointing the way. The other figures out how that way works. When all is said and done it is really not necessary to throw virgins in the volcano, or burn goats on the altar.

Truly believing we are the living image of a god should be an empowering infinite belief in ourselves. Everything else might simply manifest as gratitude. Both the credit and the blame is ours to own.