i viewed a 'not so interesting' piece of video earlier tonight that included some background music with some type of a parable. i tried to view it with an open mind, hoping for the best. i knew immediately it was a religious tale and though i view such things with trepidation i considered that this may have a little hint of affirmations that can be beneficial to anyone, of faith or not. i reserved my judgment but i needn't have.
the tale should be familiar to most. it involves a philosophy professor who challenged his students to prove that god existed by using prayer to prevent a piece of chalk the professor was about to drop from shattering on the ground. no one bothered. and then one person willing to speak up about his faith actually spoke against them and, of course, by some miracle (the miracle of prayer) that piece of chalk slipped from his fingers and gently bounced and rolled off his clothing to reach the ground without breaking. the professor was dumbstruck and fled. the student got up and spoke about his god to a class of 300 people left without this intimating professor.
now while i usually expect people living in the information age to actually do their research before passing on such things, i knew many wouldn't. i only need to look at the amount of spam and propaganda spread en masse about some of the most ridiculous notions known in our time. so in case you haven't bothered to look it up, check it out here http://www.snopes.com/religion/chalk.asp. the long and short is that this tale can not be confirmed and if this professor is as prolific as the parable would like you to believe, it should be easily authenticated. bottom line, it's a big old honking pile of horse shit. it's not true.
that said, if you're going to pass on a tale with a lesson that means something to you, think carefully about the message you are trying to convey. and look at it the way you would look at any idea you need to market. who is your audience? what do you want them to get from it? that tale is not going to sway a non believer. it's not going to challenge anyone to rethink his or her interpretation of spirituality. it is not going to mean anything. it's a ridiculous story with an absurd end.
the religious rite at its worst tends to forget the whole foundation of their faith. what would that be? it would be FAITH. forcing someone to prescribe to what you believe in is not spreading faith. preaching in an obscene and in your face manner is not going to nourish faith. that kind of force only produces something that is not authentic. if it's not authentic, it's not truly faith.
here's an idea: before you prescribe to any philosophy, truly try to understand what that philosophy means by existing. since when does christianity profess to be an immovable force that can be harnessed by any mere human being to accomplish an instant miracle? the "challenge" put forth by the "professor" has nothing to do with what christians are to believe and any christian should know that and be able to speak knowledgeably about it.
change the parable around. take out the request that someone stop the chalk from breaking through prayer alone since, once again, a true christian should understand that god does not simply do exactly what we ask him to do. what happened to god working in mysterious ways? remember this: god did not even appear as himself to the woman chosen to birth his son. why of all the things going on in this world is he going to answer to you to prevent chalk from breaking no matter how much you believe? if your faith is real, if you know your faith, the most obvious answer would be simple. reach out and catch the piece of chalk in your hand and proudly state that through god, you were created. through god, you were led to take this class. and through god, because of god, you were able to prevent the chalk from breaking through a physical action that you firmly believe could only happen because of the greatness of god.
this is only one of many attempts created by people to add credibility to their faith. why do you need proof of something you believe in? if your faith is that strong, who's to say what form it manifests as long as you feel it? that's the message that needs to be professed. there is no reason. there is no rhyme. those without an inkling of faith are not going to be swayed by any form of proof you can provide since that faith is not tangible. believe by believing. have faith in your faith. wander the path of thinking that god is real because you feel it, because you know it, because your faith is strong and because that is the gift you have been blessed with.
and remember that many of us without faith respect you so much more with the simplicity of knowing something just because you do.
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