Doubt. It’s such a heavy word. Doubt causes us to question what we know and all that we have ever thought sure. Doubt creeps into our thought and shakes our world. Doubt seems so unnecessary, distracting, and unhelpful. It would seem that if we could only remove all doubt from our world, we would be so much better off. Surely a world with no doubt surely would be better wouldn’t it?
Imagine a world where everything is finite and doubt is impossible. A world where everyone knows what everyone should know, and nothing is unknown because everything that’s known is all that there is to know, a world where doubt does not and cannot exist because there is nothing to doubt.
A world where there is nothing to doubt… hm… wouldn’t that world also be a world where there is nothing to question and therefore, nothing to add variety to life? If everything is certain, where is the uncertainty that adds spice to life? What happens to the questions that stir up great brains and cause the humblest of men to do great things? What happens when there is only one right way, and no doubt to cause you to question what has always been? I wonder… is one pre-set right way, really so right for everyone?
For some doubt brings up connotations of fear and uncertainty, for others it symbolizes hope and a way out. Doubt causes us to question what we thought we knew and search for truth. That truth might be found in new places, or it might have always existed where we had thought before, but we will never personally discover what is truth, if we don’t doubt.
Doubt replaces our certainty in what we thought we knew, and the possibility that more exists. Doubt doesn’t have to be about fear and a gnawing feeling of unreliability. It doesn’t have to be destructive or damaging. Doubt can bring about good and necessary changes that we were unable to see because we were stuck just doing the same old, same old.
Sometimes I think maybe too much consistency can throw us off. Just a thought, and one to be perused another day.
I think doubt is good. I think doubt is helpful even. If I believe in x, but I have never questions why I believe in x, or what makes x so special, or even why x exists at all, than my belief is blind and empty. Not to say that believing in something “just because” is terrible, but saying that in the real world, an empty faith is the same thing as a irresponsible faith. An irresponsible faith will be taken seriously by no one, and one might as well believe in nothing. Is that what you want, to believe in nothing? Is no doubt, (thus leading to a unresolved faith where nothing is really certain because you don’t know why anything should be certain) really good? Isn’t a question or two here and there beneficial?
Doubt as a instrument of torture, meant to destroy our souls and crumble the walls of “truth” we build around ourselves? Or doubt as the instrument of truth with which we fortify our beliefs and strengthen our minds for the questions that surly lie ahead. Life is full of uncertainty… how will you handle it? Will you learn to constructively doubt your thoughts, come to a conclusion, and walk away better for it? Or will you let others place their doubt on you, weighing you down, and end up a confused and bitter soul? Use your doubt wisely my friends. It is a powerful tool only to be wielded by the most skilled of craftsmen. Are you ready to use your doubt? Come to think of it… are any of us really ready to use our doubt wisely? I’m thinking that’s why God makes sure we’re not alone. :) Amen.
and amen. :)
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