"Faith" is kind of a loaded word. I find it's too often conflated with "religion." While faith is a necessary part of any religious practice, it's not strictly a religious concept, or irrevocably bound with any concept of a higher deity.
To me, faith is a radical acceptance of reality as it exists, or as we perceive it. Perception can change, hopefully, reality is fixed. Fear is a radical rejection of reality, or our perception of it.
I don't know if it's true, but I've read that, "The way of the warrior is to say, 'Yes!' to it all!" is a Bushido saying. And I believe that love is "faith in action," (the first derivative of faith) and courage is "love in action" (the second derivative).
If we take "nothingness" as the ultimate ground of being, existence is the negation of nothingness. An affirmative act. An act of faith. But it exists in tension with nothingness, and that tension is experienced as fear. Faith exists in tension with fear, it's the yin and yang of existence. This is the "x"-plane, a one-dimensional plane where time and action create love and courage, anger and hate. (First and second derivatives of fear.)
Consciousness apprehends existence with some mix of faith and fear. It's possible to embrace faith while still experiencing fear. It's almost impossible not to. It's in the choice of action that the difference is revealed.
We are in a world of shit.
There are a lot of people who are afraid right now, with good reason to be.
People calling for Joe Biden to step aside are acting out of fear, and likely many other emotions and motivations. Others are simply taking this opportunity to criticize any or all aspects of our political system, as if that expenditure of time, thought and energy will make any positive difference.
I've been reading many things after the debate. One thing I thought was clear, to anyone who isn't mired in anger and hatred, is that Donald Trump is the personification of anger and hatred. HIs appeal is to those who live in that part of the plane. This is the region that causes "good" people to do horrible things.
David Frum wrote something I found compelling:
Ferocious controversy will probably now erupt over Biden’s leadership of the Democratic Party. We’ll hear all kinds of plans to swap him out somehow. Maybe those plans will be workable, but probably not. Through the uproar, it will be important to keep in mind that this election is not about Biden. It’s about you and your commitments and your values. Biden is just the instrument. Like any instrument, he’s imperfect. But better an imperfect instrument than a would-be autocrat who demands a cult of personality.
We wish to believe, with some justification I think, that most people are fundamentally good. "Fundamentally" being the operative word. That their apprehension of existence isn't formed out of fear. They believe in a better future, in compassion, they experience empathy. I think the contrast between Joe Biden and Donald Trump is clear to those people. We must get them to the polls.
What happens in the next days and weeks will be decided by faith and fear, love and anger, courage and hate. How that plays out cannot be predicted, except to say that it seldom works out well when we act out of fear. That's Trump's home turf, his game.
Keep the faith. Work hard. Believe in one another. This is a fight we can win. That we must win. And it won't end after Election Day. The battles ahead are important ones and courage will be required. We must call upon it within ourselves.
It's all up to us, not Joe Biden.
Us.
Originally posted at Nice Marmot 07:25 Saturday, 29 June 2024