Affogato

Faith:  A conviction about ideas or belief without empirical evidence, experience, or observation. 

"People of faith have a logical idea of what life is all about.  There is a wide variation in the way each one of us approaches and conceives of the Power greater than ourself.  Whether we agree with a particular approach or conception seems to make little difference.  These are questions for each of us to settle for ourselves.  But in each case the belief in a Higher Power has accomplished the miraculous, the humanly impossible.  There has come a revolutionary change in their way of thinking."

I like this idea of faith is conviction without proof.  I like the saying "Who are you going to believe?  Me, or your lying eyes?"  Faith is a strong belief based on spiritual apprehension rather than proof.  We come in here demanding proof that there's a God.  Sorry, people, we don't got it.  We got proof that something is working but don't ask us to sit down and sketch out a working model or grab a book and open it up to a well thought out thesis.  We're flying blind and something about the seat of our pants, whatever that means.

From a similarly skeptical friend I rec'd this text: "So why aren't we sitting around enjoying an affogato (a couple of shots of espresso poured over a scoop of gelato - a sugar and caffeine assault on the senses if there ever was one) while making wry observations on the state of the world while neatly evading our own problems?"

My response was polite and similarly wry while thinking that it was a stupid question.  Criticism of other people, places, and things comes easily - self-reflection, especially the kind that reveals uncomfortable personal defects is a lot more unpleasant and better left hidden in the darkness.