Faith and Reason: My Experience with Religion - Part 4 of 4

Part 1 is here, part 2 here, and part 3 here.

During this tumultuous time, I looked into other beliefs like universal salvation. The idea that all people would be saved in God's time. It might take a while, but it was assured. Now I didn't have much to base this belief on either and got the feeling that it was a bit of a cop out. It did feel more in line with a good and merciful God though.

I started to read philosophy, especially the Stoics. This really did appeal to me because it was more of a pragmatic type lifestyle. Things were divided into what was in your power and not. Basically your will and character are under your control but what happened in the world was not. It put emphasis on living a life of virtue to the best of ones ability and to leave the rest to fate. One could believe in a divine cause of the universe (Zeus or God) or not. It placed more emphasis on reason than blind faith.

So what happened in the end? I still believe in a divine cause of the universe but can not point to any one religion or idea being the "truth". I just don't know. I still try to be the best version of myself day to day being of service to others and at the least not hurting anyone. I am far from perfect just like the rest of us but I am growing. If there really is an almighty God he/she/it knows what it is doing and hopefully will be merciful to me and help me be a better person. I will put my faith in that.

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