Revisions to My Thoughts and Views of My Peers
In my first
installment I discussed two
philosophies that I have grown to believe in. These philosophies are everything
happens for a reason and perception is reality. I feel the need to make a few corrections to
the statements that I made in my original post. The way that I originally
phrased my first belief came across as purely optimistic and only applicable
for small reasons. I do not deny that bad things happen for bad reasons. I just
haven’t experienced this newer philosophy of mine in the negative sense of
itself yet, if that make sense. Everything happens for a reason is a
newer belief that I have. It has not yet developed in my mind to the fullest
sense of itself as of yet. I did this idea injustice by not elaborating on
possibilities of it that may be true, but not yet experienced by me.
I also failed to go into depth about
what the reason itself is. When I originally wrote this post, my assumption was
the reason one thing happened was so that another thing can happen (in a one
door closes so another door can open sense). Yet, the more I think about this,
the more I find this idea I originally had does not make as much sense as I
thought in the beginning. So I thought for a while about this. I went outside
and walked around. I did some research on the different views of this phrase. I
came to this conclusion. Everything happens for a reason and that reason is a
decision made by an individual involved. For example, a drunk driver hits a
mother and daughter in a car one evening. Why did that happen? Someone decided
that even though they were drunk, they were capable to drive. Another example
is you failed a test you needed to pass in order to maintain a passing average
for your class. Why did you fail? You spent more time on social media than
studying. I find it strange that this is the conclusion that I ended up at. I
have my faith that I am always trying to grow and make stronger. But this
conclusion that I have come to doesn’t quite align with what my faith says
should be true. It will be something to ponder some more, I guess.
While I may have had this realization,
I still accept why people believe that the reason things happen is God. This
brings me to the main point of this second installment. My roommate, Katie, is a freshman from Ohio. After writing my
first installment and mentioning her in it, I thought it was only right to
interview her about her family and the ideas behind their philosophy. Her mom
is the person that she grew up hearing everything
happens for a reason from. So I asked Katie to contact her mom (Mrs. C) to
find out the reason behind her signature saying. Her mom’s text back was simple
and straightforward, “It is a belief based on my faith in Jesus Christ. He is
in control, not us.” Almost as an afterthought she sent the bible verse
Jeremiah 29:11. (“For I know the plans I
have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to
harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”) Mrs. C believes in God’s
plan is the reason for things happening in her life.
I can say firsthand (through the many stories I have been told)
that Katie’s mom believes thoroughly in the phrase everything happens for a reason. This mostly comes about when Katie
is entrusting me with personal struggles she has faced over the years. When she
was in need, her mother would come around a tell her that things were happening
in her life for a reason. It created this comforting effect for Katie. Now Mrs.
C would not just say that, drop the mic and leave. She would provide examples,
and be there to comfort Katie. She also had a habit of, when the situation was
resolved, pointing out to Katie what the reason for what happened. Mrs. C uses
faith to justify things happening in her life and the lives of those around her.
She’s even pointed it out to me a number of times on her visits to our dorm
room.
Faith is a powerful thing. Believing in something larger than
yourself is comforting in a way that many things could never compare to. That
is why many people believe that they are a part of God’s plan. He knows what is
to come for you, that’s a phrase my grandmother has told me countless times
throughout my lifetime. I was instilled with my faith and it is difficult to
choose what I believe in if it does not align with what I have been told is
right. It isn’t a bad thing, however, to believe in things that are not
established by your faith. That is something that I find some don’t agree with.
You are either all in with your faith or you are not in at all, supposedly. But
that simply isn’t true. As humans we have infinite capabilities within ourselves
and our minds and our ideas. To say that we must be put into a confined
structure of rules and laws of spirituality is an insult to our intellect.
So this blog post feels like a giant mess and jumble of ideas and
thoughts. But that is because I still feel a bit jumbled in my train of thought
on this topic. It seems large and abstract and I personally struggle deciphering
large and abstract ideas. By that I mean it is not something that comes
naturally to me. But if I have come to any conclusion it is this: everything
happens for a reason and every person you talk to will have their own unique
idea or spin on what that reason is. That is part of the human condition. No
two people are alike so it would make sense if no two world views were alike.
I
do plan on developing this idea in my mind further. So maybe in the future, I’ll
be able to think about it more clearly and less of a jumbled mess of thoughts
and feelings. I appreciate what this class has done for me. It has made me want to take things that I hold as true and think on them and develop them into sound ideas. It made me ask myself why I believe what I believe. The benefit of that is in valuable.
Comments on blog posts:
"everything happens for a reason" - Everything has a cause, perhaps, but not every cause provides sufficient reason to justify or rationalize its effects.
ReplyDelete"and every person you talk to will have their own unique idea or spin on what that reason is" - in which case many people, and maybe all, will be in error.