In response to the responders of my original response --
I agree spirituality and faith are different, I like to think I am person of both.
Faith is faith, it doesn't need you to prove its worth or existence, it can't be quantified or measured in a beaker or looked under a microscope. I'm sure you could get creative and try to express it mathematically but we both know that would be more a creative exercise in making a point than anything else.
To me faith literally means making a blind leap. It means INVESTING yourself in something that is not 100% guaranteed. But that's life. When I get on a plane I do it on faith that I'll land safely in my destination. When I get in a car likewise. Faith is a powerful thing, it changes people, it changes history, it can be manipulated, it is not selective about the things it believes, and overall it's
dangerous.
I guess I personally don't feel the need to debate the existence of god with anyone. Maybe the definition, but not the existence. I don't think we're really trying to convince each other of anything, you'll believe what is right for you at this point in your life, and I'll do the same. I appreciate other POVs because I don't think it's good for anyone to get lazy in their faith and beliefs aren't static.
I would like people to feel connected with the universe and see the connections between everything which also brings with it ethical responsibility and empathy -- but I also feel people's relationship to [fill in the blank] is a very personal one.
You don't have to have the same relationship to [fill in the blank] as I do, I think people of many different sects, denominations, faiths, and belief systems do operate together under a loose umbrella of the same thing.
I honestly believe within every cynic is someone who even more loudly and more badly than me needs and wants the comfort of knowing there is something that makes sense in this world and that it is intelligent and compassionate and are basically terrified. Unless atheism is your belief system for giving rhyme and reason to the world. Believing in the absence of god is also comforting because it's finite and measurable and makes sense. Some say 'tomahhtoe' some say 'toe-may-toe' (I love saying this, perhaps spelling phonetically just tickles my toes)
And if you are true hardcore skeptic atheist cynic? You still do God's work in the good that you do. Ha! You just can't escape it! God's giving you a big hug right now as we speak!
Hahahaha, yeah I know this not what the skeptics want to hear, but I just couldn't help myself.
Personally, I have always
felt like there was something more. What is "knowing"? I have always
known. And that's good enough for me.
Go ahead, chalk it up to my nutty Ne and irrational ENFPness. You big hater.
P.S. Here is god giving you another hug