For every moment spent doubting, I believe in love. As Rabbi ben Ezra says, "Grow old along with me, for the best in life is yet to be . . . " That phrase has followed me throughout my life, at first a hope, then a promise, now after nearly 35 years of marriage, a commitment. I don't know how many years we will have left together, but that love that once seemed so unattainable, so out of reach, so beyond my ability to connect truly with another person, now is my center, the beginning and the end.
I'd like to believe the best of others, except those who drive like crazy people (anyone who comes too close to the car I'm driving).
I believe each person I meet has a past I may not know, but that I respect, a present I am a part of, and a future full of potential, regardless of age, gender, race, orientation, or personal beliefs.
And for underlying beliefs, the belief system I'm most comfortable with comes from the existentialists (like Sartre) who confronted the tragedies of World War II. These ideas still seem valid to me, post Iraq. Even if God does not exist, say the existentialists, we exist. We have a choice. In fact, we are doomed to choose those acts that resonate within a moral code, that respect human life -- and that respect human effort and creativity. I hope to live in ways that follow these beliefs.
This week, the Sunday Scribblings post asked us to write about what we believe. Read what others have written in a remarkable online community by going to Sunday Scribblings.
I always found Sartre too depressing and pessimistic, but the existentialist message of choice is certainly valid.
ReplyDeleteI like existentialism too - most entertaining! Congrats on your long marriage and ability to believe the best in others. I struggle with that one.
ReplyDeleteI like your balanced viewpoint, The phrase you quoted 'grow along with me...' is really powerful too.
ReplyDeletePeace be with you.
thanks so much for the kind words about love, and for me, the hope that it is attainable when it seems like it is not.
ReplyDeletei believe reading all these posts about belief is healing..
i also like your views on existentialism. while i haven't studied/read much of sarte, etc. i agree on the basice principles, although sometimes i think its a little depressing (camus and the myth of sisyphus). existence before essence!
Thank you all for your kind comments. I hope to read your postings sometime later tomorrow (courtesy of a hotel, hopefully). Know that your writings and comments have continually inspired me. Beth
ReplyDeleteYOu said so well in here..
ReplyDeleteVery balanced view, I should say.
guts wrench out.....
And please do visit Poetry Train being run each Monday!