Cold Hard Faith

Every man, wherever he goes, is encompassed by a cloud of comforting convictions, which move with him like flies on a summer day. Some of those convictions might involve the certainty of materialism, or just as easily, the condemnation of materialism and the celebration of faith in a grand deity and an ultimate reward to compensate for the lack of material success in the "here and now." Religion seems to be strongest where earthly rewards are weakest. If God did not exist, mankind would have certainly invented him, and perhaps he did. What do you think? Has anything happened in your life that gives you the same assurance of the existence of God as you would get of the existence of your income tax bill, for example? These material concerns are a sure thing...you don't have the money to pay the rent, you're out on the street. You hold up a convenience store, get caught, you go the the slammer. Cause and effect, hard facts, reward and punishment, right here. You have a business that sells widgets. You sell 2 million of them at a 50% profit, voila. You are a millionaire, before...taxes (see above). Sure, once in a while your friend sends you a photo in an e-mail of some naked chick standing on the beach on the French Riviera and you say to yourself "Yes, there has to be a God." Or you see a miraculous sunset or a cloudless starry night... But mostly, you wonder all the time, "What's it all about, Alfie?" My biggest conviction, is that I am absolutely unsure whether I am a material animal with no such thing as a soul, or a piece of God, made entirely of energy who always was and in some form always will be. I feel strongly both ways. Like agreeing to disagree, my conviction is to not have to choose.