To every purpose, there are good reasons and there are true reasons. In writing a blog, for instance. People seem to have a gazillion of reasons why they are doing it, some monetary, others altruistic. As for me, the good reason is that I wanted to help other people, heal them and inspire them to live better lives. On the other hand, maybe the true reason is this: I write it because I wanted to be heard, I wanted to know - that I am not invisible.
posted by itakeoffthemask.com
What leads us to extreme religious beliefs?
Some people would insist on conviction, others would say they are those who found the right way. Yet what is it that prompts us to find these convictions?
I think that we are most afraid of things that we do not know, and so we try to explain everything, even at the expense of reaching the extreme. People are most uncomfortable with the mysterious that we'd rather side with an absolute statement than suffer the vagueness of matters we can't resolve.
We don't like the abstract. And so goes the many beliefs we have now that seems to cast all other things aside-
Beliefs that unless we do this and that, we won't be saved, and we won't reach heaven.
Beliefs that since there are many things we can't explain about God, then there must be no God at all.
Beliefs formed from the wonders we observed in nature, such beliefs that make us worship nature alone.
Beliefs saying that because having desires causes us so much frustration then we should have no desires at all and lose our personal identity altogether.
We cannot connect everything perfectly yet. And though this should not prevent us from seeking out the truth, uncertainties for the moment need not take us to extreme beliefs either. I am lead to belief that this line of thinking was what made Adam and Eve eat the forbidden fruit from the tree of knowledge. They wanted to know everything that they would do everything even if it is not yet time. Must we eat the forbidden fruit also? Can we not be comfortable with the mysterious for the moment and enjoy the wonderful revelations given us one moment at a time?
"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. It was the experience of mystery - even if mixed with fear - that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds: it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity. In this sense, and only this sense, I am a deeply religious man." -Albert Einstein
{ I am new on this Blog and I just wanted to say "Hi" to everyone! } – Feb 09, 8:27 PM
{ Dear Joyce, Hi! I have been an avid reader of your blog about a year an a half ago when I too have been experiencing heartbreak and burden in my life. Your words have really been a pat on my shoulder and a hug rolled in one. 
I am now in a year long relationship and life has been treating me well. It is not a perfect relationship, we do have our shares of ups and downs but we come out of each as a better individual and we grow and learn together through those past mistakes. I just... } – Feb 05, 3:53 PM
{ hi joyce. my partner told me that he needs time for him to think things over. i know that its the end of our relationship. i have been in pain for the past 3 months until a week a ago when he told me through text message about this. he didnt even care to talk to me face to face.why am i in so much pain? i cant escape from the pain joyce. help me } – Feb 02, 9:45 AM
{ Hi joyce, i feel that im at the lowest point of my life...late last year i found out that my bf ( for 6 months) is still going steady with her prior gf. i was crushed after learning that he fooled me for 6 months that we are together. but since i love him so much, i forgave him with his promise that he will end things with her and come back to me clean slate. but he did not come back at all. he said he was empty after breaking up with her (doubt if they really did break... } – Jan 29, 2:20 PM
{ Dear Joyce, I don't have a husband who physically abuses me but i have one who does so verbally and emotionally. He doesn't care whether we be in public places like malls, offices etc he just feels he needs to, in his own terms, "vent out his spleen". He had called me many things and often times says that i am stupid. He said i needed to reform, and that the only way was "his way". for the past year i have been doing all he asks of me, i am not allowed to talk to my friends, neither am... } – Jan 24, 9:16 AM
