Unmoved by
Appearances
By Jennifer Brochu
Faith is the substance of things hoped for- the evidence
of things not seen. Faith holds the vision steady and the adverse pictures are dissolved
and dissipated, and due season shall one reap, If one does not falter. Have
faith in a perfect way. Do not be moved by appearance. –
Florence Scovel Schinn
I
had always had the presumption that “faith” was synonymous with religion. - Thus
an instant turn off for me. A lot of organized religion scares me. Since the beginning
of time religions have been created at first to make people feel and do better,
provide answers with the questions of creation and being. But Human egocentric tendencies
lead to inevitable corruption and down the road these very same religions are
used as means of politics, selfishness and control. Most great ideas of
religions become lost in translation sadly. The claims of being religious
spouted from the mouths of the masses over the years. I have heard more words
than actions from those who claim to be religious.
“Just
going to church doesn't make you a Christian any more than standing in your
garage makes you a car.” ― G.K. Chesterton
Nuff said. It was no surprise to me
that when I brushed up against the subject of faith in a philosophy class a few
years ago, I was not the least bit receptive. Add the fact that the example
being used to convey the concept of faith was a Christian Bible story was
enough to make my left eye twitch in distain. In all of my open mindedness on
religion, philosophy and being, my first honest reaction to any Christian
concept is to shut down immediately. It is the hypocrites I think of instantly and
by blood starts to boil. Not a reaction I am proud of, but it’s the truth. I am never pushing any religious propaganda here-
just philosophical concepts that may better assist us all on the infinite quest
of happiness and being.
So back to my philosophy class and the
Christian Example- Faith and the story of Abraham and Issac. REALLY? One of the dumbest stories I had ever
heard of to date, in my opinion back then. (Yes- still closed minded in all of
my open mindedness.) A brief recap of the story-
After year of Abraham not being able to have
children with his wife Sara- they finally have a son in unheard of later years
of life. After this miracle happens, God then tells Abraham that he must
sacrifice his only son to him as a symbol of his faith and devotion. Abraham
follows his instructions and takes his only son and prepares to do the
sacrifice, down to the very last second with knife in midair preparing to stab
his son. In which only seconds before this act was to be carried out
completely, God recounted his request by stopping him.
My reaction: WTFF? What kind of shit story is
this? What God would do that to someone? People didn’t even live to that age in
those times- historically speaking. So that couldn’t be true. Second of all no
one at that age….70s (if even still alive- fat chance) would ever be able to
bear a child. And then after all of that to have a child then your God tells
you to sacrifice it? What a doushebag! (Yes I just called that God a doushebag.
The infinite and I will settle up on all of my opinions- right and wrong -when
the time is right.) Then I am sure I ranted on the postings that we were
required to respond to with my thoughts on the subject. I just could not break
away from the ridiculousness of it all.
It was by all accounts, the most Absurd thing
I have ever heard of.
ab·surd
[ab-surd, -zurd] adjective
1.
utterly or obviously senseless, illogical, or untrue; contrary
to all reason or common sense; laughably foolish or
false: an absurd explanation.
I never understood the point of that
story and the very existence of that story bothered me for many years. Fast forward to more recent times, and my
second round at the study of metaphysics and philosophy- when it hit me. What
in my opinion that story is actually about. When I was able to remove my
resentment of the origin of the story and remove my over logical thinking for a
moment, I saw that the story was not about an unfair god or circumstances such
as age that would never happen- but it was indeed a story about faith and being
unmoved by appearances.
With the stresses of our daily lives,
it is most difficult to maintain a positive attitude or any type of faith in
anything. We may start out with these thoughts of positivity and faith- but as
time progresses within a situation- appearances adverse to our wishes, hopes
and desires being to manifest all around us. We may be able to keep up the
faith in the beginning with a few things that begin to falter our faith and
positive thinking…but when everything around us points to that very unwanted outcome,
fear and anxiety instantly replace any thoughts of positivity or faith that
ever existed. We all become moved by the appearances around
us. Logic paired with fear and anxiety leads us to believe in the events that
surround us. How can it not? All arrows lead to the unwanted or feared result.
We become consumed with worry and prepare for our defeat.
This story is about unwavering faith-
that even in the midst of the worst possible situation- God directly asking him
to kill his own son as a sacrifice- Abraham kept his faith and kept it
unwavering until the very last moment- even though ALL APPERANCES were against
what he truly wished for and wanted. Now of course this would rationally and
logically never happen to us- but we can apply it to any of our stressful
situations.
When appearances around us suggest
something, it’s difficult to be unmoved by these appearances. It’s almost illogical
to ignore them. This is the reality of the present situation- we think to
ourselves. We might as well accept the
reality check- and set aside fantasy land and move on in our utter disappointment
and distain. Playing with this concept has
been quit fun and a great learning experience-especially when you a person of
extremely low patience and demand instant results, such as myself.
I have personally applied this concept
to quite a few things lately. I admit some have proved most difficult. However, it’s
been quit the intriguing thing watching situations go down to the last
minute, with no evidence of the thing desired anywhere in sight, in fact- all
evidence to the contrary. It is a pure mind over matter concept. I suggest you
try it out with a little thing. And move upward with many little things and
move this act of faith on to bigger and better requests. This way of thinking
works for me in the following ways:
1.
Things are what they will be. If something is
mine by divine right, it will come to me no matter what. No matter how much I
worry or how much anxiety I get over a subject matter, I will get what is intended
for me.
2.
Wasting my minutes worrying and doubting a
desire only attracts the opposite of that desire. An unwavering faith changes
the energy of the situation and has much better chances of any desire to come
to fruition. You may not get it 100% of
the time- but the odds are much better.
3.
Time will elapse from the beginning of the
situation to its end. How I choose to spend my time in-between is entirely up
to me. I can choose to have a bad time with it and let doubt, fear and constant
worry overrule my existence and be move by appearances. OR- I can choose to
keep positive, remain unmoved by appearances, and decide that I will attract
the right result meant for me. Even if I do not end up with the result I want
and think is right for me, there may be a better result for me.
4.
I choose to keep a faith in what is right for
me. When we become over pushy with a desire, we let that desire overrule our
emotions and thoughts and may be interrupting the “what’s right” for us to find
its way to us.
5.
Give thanks for the right situation to come to
fruition.
6.
Being unmoved by appearances is the best
advice I can take or ever give. I used to be entirely moved by appearances and
become terribly upset and revel in it, endlessly sometimes it seemed. Nowadays
I just have a faith in the infinite good knowing it will always find me. It may
not always come to me exactly the way I wanted it or thought I wanted it- but
it always ends up being what I needed or even better than the thing I wanted. Now when appearances are adverse- I smile
instead of cry- knowing that my endless good is always on its way.
