Suspending Our Disbelief... An Essential for Change?
"It is now life and not art that requires the willing suspension of disbelief."
- Lionel Trilling
Do you enjoy reading? Watching movies?
One of the things that makes reading so enjoyable to me is becoming a part of the story.
I remember losing myself for hours when I first read J. R. R. Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings." In my imagination, I was transported to Middle Earth, where I rubbed shoulders with Hobbits and wizards.
Likewise, reading the adventure science fiction of Robert Heinlein's "The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress," I became Mannie Garcia, experiencing the revolution through his eyes.
Suspending our disbelief is essential to enjoying literature.
If we constantly nit-pick what seems implausible, we miss important details and lose the flow of the story.
But isn't it also necessary to suspend disbelief in order to achieve positive change in our lives?
How often do we struggle with negativity, thinking "I'm no good at this" or "I'll never figure that out." We don't believe strongly enough in ourselves to move forward.
Why encourage such lack of faith?
Shouldn't we suspend this damaging disbelief in ourselves?
Have faith in yourself.
Photo courtesy of Kalen Emsley and http://unsplash.com
Our fear and disbelief hold us back.
What are we afraid of?
For most people, ultimately it is the fear of death, our survival instinct, that restrains us. We are attracted to, but fear taking up adventure sports like wingsuit flying.
Wingman In Action
Photo courtesy of Chris Robbins and http://pixabay.com
Some fears are reasonable.
It may not be wise to jump off a cliff in a wingsuit without first working up to the task with some good stepwise training.
Nevertheless, everything new in our lives is similar to wingsuit flight, if perhaps less extreme. Unless we overcome the mental obstacles preventing us from "taking the next step," we go nowhere.
It is not reasonable to allow fear to govern us.
We must suspend disbelief in ourselves and in our future, and move forward. We must overcome obstacles to positive change.
Do we allow fear to govern us?
Photo courtesy of Connor McSheffrey and http://unsplash.com
Existing beliefs are some of the hardest obstacles to overcome.
We all have them. However, just as a fish is unaware of the vast ocean that surrounds it, we are often not consciously aware of the beliefs that hold us back.
Our culture, our family upbringing, our daily surroundings, our education, the people we spend time with, the themes in the TV and movie dramas we love, the talk shows we listen to. All these things conspire to plant prejudicial memes in our heads, many of which hamper our growth.
Are your preconceived ideas about religion holding you back?
I've recently been engaged in a fascinating discussion of ideas about life after death. One of my "take aways" from that discussion is that in some cases people have been predisposed by their existing beliefs to discount the abundant historical evidence about who Jesus was and what he accomplished.
Did Jesus Really Walk on Water?
Photo courtesy of Vincent UK and http://pixabay.com
Could this possibly be true of you?
Have negative personal experiences with religion in your past "turned you off" from objectively considering the story of Jesus' life and work?
Maybe scientific/educational bias has caused you to "throw the baby out with the bathwater," to reject the eyewitness account of John who wrote about what he heard and saw as Jesus walked the roads around and the watery surface of the Sea of Galilee.
How long has it been since you last read the book John wrote? Does it seem like forever? Or maybe never? Would you concede that it may be possible you read it somewhat dismissively?
I would like to invite you to read John's book one more time. It's not too long. At a typical reading speed of 200 words per minute, it should take less than two hours.
That's what he said?
Photo courtesy of Ben White and http://unsplash.com
This time, suspend your disbelief.
Try not to go out of your way to be reactionary. Don't "choke" on the miracles. For example, don't immediately close the book when you read that Jesus strolled the surface of the sea to reach his disciple's boat...
For once, try instead to focus on what Jesus has to say about himself. See if you can pick up what you've missed in the past due to "knee-jerk" reactions based on your existing beliefs.
I look forward to hearing what you learn!
The book of John is filled with fascinating confrontations between Jesus and the religious and civil authorities of the day. You may enjoy it for its surprising entertainment value alone.
~FIN~
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I actually wonder if it would be easier for people to find faith if we all stopped trying to share faith with them. I don't mean this in a sarcastic way or anything, but I think thirty years of having false faith and tainted love shoved down my throat did much more harm. It took 4 months of ignoring everything I believed was real to break free and rebuild my own mind, and afterwards, it's very easy to deconstruct the lies and illusions woven together by those with no real faith. Faith does not require you to be afraid, in my mind, it's absolute. You don't get to ask why or question divine order, you bend your mind to its' will and adapt, not the other way around. I feel like we live in society where people expect that if you pray hard enough things magically get delivered and if they don't then you get to turn around and lose faith because you didn't get what you wanted. It's not a selective thing.
Hello @clayboyn,
I think that you are correct to a great degree. "Organized religion" in most cases does more harm than good. I know all too many people who have been turned off by parents, pastors, and other authority figures...
Having said that, I also think that the old saw is true; that "God works in mysterious ways." I also know of people who have come to faith after fighting it vigorously, or after hearing some fire and brimstone street preacher.
In my (all too often not humble enough) opinion, my calling is to simply declare what I believe to be true, and to openly share what I believe God offers the world. While I hope that some who hear what I have to say may actually respond favorably, the response is not up to me, and I am not one to "pound your head with a bible."
Yes, we do have to think through these things and we do have to accept the divine will. God is certainly not our servant, we must adapt to his ways.
Thanks very much for your thoughtful comments! :D
Great Post , God does not answer our prayers with what we want, but with what we need ( and it may be a lesson in Humility) He did not create us with a Brain so that we could sit back and wait for him to do it for us. Get off your TV Chair , work out a plan, go to him in prayer, to see if it is the right thing to do?
Absolutely right. He wants us to "display strength and take action" ( Daniel 11:32 ).
Thank you for your encouraging comment! :)
In my younger days in the financial arena, we used the old saying of "Fake it till you make it". It can be a helpful mindset for some situations.
Coming from a history of being very involved and religious to now not so much, I still can still see value in the old Bible stories, especially when thought of as stories. As Jesus often taught with parables, maybe many of the old stories are just that?
Great point, my friend.
I think that stories are pretty much at the core of the universe, and a most excellent way of communicating. As you've observed, stories are Jesus' preferred method of teaching.
Having said that, I think that God has in many cases arranged actual historical events in such a way that they are both - literal events and object lessons or parables for us to contemplate and (hopefully) draw some good, actionable conclusions from! :)
And I'm a big fan of "Fake it 'till you make it." I love the TV series that revolve around people doing just that. I am a great proponent of "learning on the job." My preferred way to learn is by doing, just jumping in with both feet hoping to come down running, rolling with the punches as necessary.
Thanks for your interaction! :D