One day a student from the local university decided that we was going to write a thesis on how people define their faith. He set down and decided the basis for his research, and the questions he would ask his participants. In his lay-out he would interview each person and ask only two questions. 1. Do you believe in a God? 2. Why? In doing so, he "would not allow any of them to quote on scripture, publication or anyone dead or living." With this information, he was going to decide what each person represented in their faith. To advertise the study and to get volunteers he placed a ad in the local newspaper asking for people to call. His assistant went through all the calls and narrowed the amount for the interview to a chosen few. There would be a man that was Buddhist, a man that was Jewish, and a man what was a Jehovah's Witnesses. The study began ... The Buddhist man walked into the room looking very calm, he was dressed in a robe and was very relaxed. He smiled at the student and then sat at the end of the table to be questioned. The student felt comfortable with the man and proceeded to ask his first question, "Do you believe in a God?" The Buddhist was silent and collected his thoughts and said, "I believe in a perception of God, but it might not fit the one most would think is correct. It's personal to me, and thus is brings me the peace I want." He then asked the next question, "Why?" The man smiled and spoke softly, "my world is about personal search, and my "why's" can only be understood inside myself. I find that my relationship to God is balanced in my own thought. In such my explanations only matter to me." The student thanked him for his time, and made notes of his thoughts ... "Buddhist man is very much at peace with his search, and looks to his own thoughts for comfort on life and spiritual perception." Then the door opened a very old man entered the room, the student jumped up to help him to his chair and felt like this might be to much for a man so along in years. The man was very happy though and set down with a large exhale of breath, similar to when you find relief from completing a great journey. The student then set down again and asked him the first question, "Do you believe in a God?" To which the man paused and gave a very simple answer, "yes" and then smiled with a kindness, that their was more to that word then the silence that followed. The student was disappointed that a man of so many years could not elaborate a little more and not answer so short. So he proceeded to the next question hoping it would provide more insight. "Why?" The man looked at his sleeve, and proceeded to roll it up his arm. The student thought he might not of heard him, so he repeated the question again. The man still rolled up his sleeve slowly and did not say a word. Then he waved the student to get closer to him. The student stood up and approached. The man pointed to something on his arm, it was a tattoo of a series of numbers and spoke, "you see this?" the student nodded, "because I have this, and live today when so many others that had this with me do not. I believe in God. If people tell me I am wrong, or if I have a doubt from time to time. I only need to roll up my sleeve and I believe even more. Because when I lived through that horror and yet lived to have my own family, 5 children and 24 grandchildren. I know that God had a purpose for me, and comforted me through the dark times and brought me to the better life that followed." The man then left and the student made notes on their conversation ... "Jewish man sees God to be a hope and a comfort and remembers the bad, and the rewards that follow as a reason to believe." Then someone knocked on the door, very persistent to come in. The student opened the door and it was the Jehovah's Witnesses man was going to study. He was carrying a book bag, to which the student reminded him of the rules. The man looked disappointed and set the book bag down and went in to sit where the student had assigned him. The student then took his seat and asked his first question, "Do you believe in a God?" The man smiled with delight that he asked and started to speak, "well yes I do, as you know in the bible at ... ", the student interrupted him and repeated the rules again. The man nodded his head and then spoke again, " ... well there is a god, because I see the things mentioned in the Watchtower that point out ..." the student reminded him again. The man just set in silence, than said, "yes I do" with a disappointed look on his face. The student was worried about asking the next question since the man was having so much trouble with the first, yet he asked "Why?" The Witness man straightened up in chair and smiled again and said, "that reminded me of something I heard in this talk once, where this brother said ... " The student spoke up again and said, "no outside help!" The Witness man looked puzzled for a minute, and spoke once again, " ... well you asked me "why" and I can give you the answer, if you just let me read you just one scripture." The student shock his head "no". The Witness looked frustrated and them he spoke again, "well then I see no reason to continue, you should not asked if you did not want to listen." He then stood up and walked out. The student took notes on his conversation with the Witness ... "Man was unable to answer without relying on the words of another" It was a few weeks later, when his thesis was complete. The man had researched and asked many question to several control groups and came to a conclusion on faith. Of the people he met, he found that ... "Some are like the Buddhist man, and base their faith in their own personal feelings and not in what others tell them" "Some are like the Jewish man, and base their faith in what has happened in this life, both the hardships and rewards. The strength that faith gave them to survive" "Then some are like the Witness man, who only had faith as long as their was a Watchtower or Bible, or someone else's words nearby." So although my thought here is fictional, and of course faith can have many colors. Do you not agree that faith in what ever you believe now has much deeper meaning, then what you believed then. When you only had faith based on what another person said? Just wondering My thought Dragon
Edited by - kenpodragon on 24 October 2002 17:50:32