July 4th. The day the United States celebrates freedom. Freedom from what? An opressive British Empire. I could diatribe how the citizen in today's United States is not much different from the colonist of that time, but I prefer to talk about Faith. And hope.
Remember the story of Pandora's box? Here's the key part (from linked site)
Now, Jupiter had malignantly crammed into
this box all the diseases, sorrows, vices, and crimes that afflict poor
humanity; and the box was no sooner opened, than all these ills flew
out, in the guise of horrid little brown-winged creatures, closely
resembling moths. These little insects fluttered about, alighting, some
upon Epimetheus, who had just entered, and some upon Pandora, pricking
and stinging them most unmercifully. They then flew out through the
open door and windows, and fastened upon the merrymakers without, whose
shouts of joy were soon changed into wails of pain and anguish.
Epimetheus and Pandora had never before
experienced the faintest sensation of pain or anger; but, as soon as
these winged evil spirits had stung them, they began to weep, and, alas
! quarrelled for the first time in their lives. Epimetheus reproached
his wife in bitterest terms for her thoughtless action; but in the very
midst of his vituperation he suddenly heard a sweet little voice
entreat for freedom. The sound proceeded from the unfortunate box,
whose cover Pandora had dropped again, in the first moment of her
surprise and pain. " Open, open, and I will heal your wounds! Please
let me out! " it pleaded.
The tearful couple viewed each other
inquiringly, and listened again. Once more they heard the same pitiful
accents; and Epimetheus bade his wife open the box and set the speaker
free, adding very amiably, that she had already done so much harm by
her ill-fated curiosity, that it would be difficult to add materially
to its evil consequences, and that, perchance, the box contained some
good spirit, whose ministrations might prove beneficial.
It was well for Pandora that she opened the
box a second time, for the gods, with a sudden impulse of compassion,
had concealed among the evil spirits one kindly creature, Hope, whose
mission was to heal the wounds inflicted by her fellow prisoners.
I actually think Hope is the worst evil let out of Pandora's box. It an emotion that paralizes action. It's an emotion that maintains the vision in the mind, not to be actualized. It's not action-inducing. It's passive. It's a panacea that heals and paralizes at the same moment. A horrible addictive emotion with little substance.
With Faith, one acts. One knows. One sees. There is no need to hope.
Hoping is wishing that something is going to happen. Faith is the knowledge that it will come true. There's a catch with Faith... it is more likely to come true if it is the truth and you have defined it. It doesn't matter if it is an ultimate truth (don't start out with such a lofty goal) but as long as it is true for you.
There's another part to Faith. It has substance - you can feel it, connect with it, speak to it, listen to it. It pulls and pushes. It's a force - but it's not god (at least as I define it). It ebbs and flows.
