This is a contribution to the Quantum Magic group.
Sunday, January 7, 2007,06:48
Oh, ye of little faith . . .
This is a re-post of something I first wrote in one of my own blogs on 12/05/2005. I'm choosing to share it here because it shows some of the early seeds of thought that have inspired my current beliefs relevant to these subjects. - Merlin
'_______________________
I don't know, perhaps it is the odd sleep schedule I've had lately. Or perhaps it has something to do with wearing a t-shirt my wife got for me - with a big red "S" on it (hint, hint).
Anyway, I'm thinking about the realm of what might be possible, and what we tend to accept as possible while proclaiming other things impossible. Of course, I seem to pick on Christians a lot, but it's because I was raised as one, and am very familiar with the teachings of the Christian faith. So, let us take a look at a few verses:
Matthew 17:20 - And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief; for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible for you. - KJV
Mark 6:48-51 - And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary to them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh to them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out: For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: It is I; be not afraid. And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased; and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered.
Matthew 14:26-31 - And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he was the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And Immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Ok, I think that is enough to make the point. We are the masters of the world - the laws of physics be damned. If we decide to break the laws of the universe, our faith in our ability to do so is all that it takes to enable us to do it.
So, when was the last time that you walked on water?
Or flew? (without mechanical help)
Or walked UP a wall? Or had a bullet bounce off of you, leaving you unharmed? Or turned invisible? Or carried on a telepathic conversation? Or ran 100 mph for 1000 miles? Or jumped into space without a booster rocket or a ship? When was the last time that you spent 1000 years using the same body, strong and healthy.
Now, I'm not about to say that I've mastered this whole "faith of a mustard seed" thing - there are lots of things that I wish that I could do that I haven't overcome disbelief in yet. But, just a few days ago my daughter was getting ready to pop a surprise on me - she had found out that someone was interested in taking her on a date. She is about 600 miles away from me, and was sending me hints by text message on our phones.
She was building up to it, first saying "I can't wait until 5:00 pm tomorrow." So I texted back, "What happens then?" She answered, "I'm going to reveal who wants to take me out on a date." Well, my wife and I were eating supper at that point - in a restaurant - so I just "reached out" and got the answer from her - and texted back that it was a friend of her's boss. About 20 minutes later she texted back that I was right, but she didn't know how I could possibly keep guessing her secrets - she's never kept one from me.
Well, it's because I knew that she knew the answer, so I just accepted that the answer was knowable, and sort of "received" it. You could call it telepathy, sort of, but I didn't exactly read it from her mind. It was more like just plucking it out of the ether. Imagine a giant, cosmic filing cabinet that contains all the known answers in the universe. There was an answer, it was known, so I could know it. And I did.
But, I'm not bullet proof - yet, anyway. I really don't see any reason why one person (or even all of us, as individuals) couldn't combine all of the strengths of Superman, all of the X-men, Spiderman, the Flash, (etc. ad nauseum) and make those powers our own, just by belief that it was possible. Sweeping away our own doubt, like Peter in the verse above, is our biggest hurdle.
Oh, and here is a race challenge for you. I'm stating it as my intention to be the first human to stand on the moon, without a space suit and having gotten there under my own power. I dare you to beat me to it.
'_______________________
I don't know, perhaps it is the odd sleep schedule I've had lately. Or perhaps it has something to do with wearing a t-shirt my wife got for me - with a big red "S" on it (hint, hint).
Anyway, I'm thinking about the realm of what might be possible, and what we tend to accept as possible while proclaiming other things impossible. Of course, I seem to pick on Christians a lot, but it's because I was raised as one, and am very familiar with the teachings of the Christian faith. So, let us take a look at a few verses:
Matthew 17:20 - And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief; for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible for you. - KJV
Mark 6:48-51 - And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary to them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh to them, walking upon the sea, and would have passed by them. But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit, and cried out: For they all saw him, and were troubled. And immediately he talked with them, and saith unto them, Be of good cheer: It is I; be not afraid. And he went up unto them into the ship; and the wind ceased; and they were sore amazed in themselves beyond measure, and wondered.
Matthew 14:26-31 - And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear. But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid. And Peter answered him and said, Lord if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water. And he said Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he was the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And Immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?
Ok, I think that is enough to make the point. We are the masters of the world - the laws of physics be damned. If we decide to break the laws of the universe, our faith in our ability to do so is all that it takes to enable us to do it.
So, when was the last time that you walked on water?
Or flew? (without mechanical help)
Or walked UP a wall? Or had a bullet bounce off of you, leaving you unharmed? Or turned invisible? Or carried on a telepathic conversation? Or ran 100 mph for 1000 miles? Or jumped into space without a booster rocket or a ship? When was the last time that you spent 1000 years using the same body, strong and healthy.
Now, I'm not about to say that I've mastered this whole "faith of a mustard seed" thing - there are lots of things that I wish that I could do that I haven't overcome disbelief in yet. But, just a few days ago my daughter was getting ready to pop a surprise on me - she had found out that someone was interested in taking her on a date. She is about 600 miles away from me, and was sending me hints by text message on our phones.
She was building up to it, first saying "I can't wait until 5:00 pm tomorrow." So I texted back, "What happens then?" She answered, "I'm going to reveal who wants to take me out on a date." Well, my wife and I were eating supper at that point - in a restaurant - so I just "reached out" and got the answer from her - and texted back that it was a friend of her's boss. About 20 minutes later she texted back that I was right, but she didn't know how I could possibly keep guessing her secrets - she's never kept one from me.
Well, it's because I knew that she knew the answer, so I just accepted that the answer was knowable, and sort of "received" it. You could call it telepathy, sort of, but I didn't exactly read it from her mind. It was more like just plucking it out of the ether. Imagine a giant, cosmic filing cabinet that contains all the known answers in the universe. There was an answer, it was known, so I could know it. And I did.
But, I'm not bullet proof - yet, anyway. I really don't see any reason why one person (or even all of us, as individuals) couldn't combine all of the strengths of Superman, all of the X-men, Spiderman, the Flash, (etc. ad nauseum) and make those powers our own, just by belief that it was possible. Sweeping away our own doubt, like Peter in the verse above, is our biggest hurdle.
Oh, and here is a race challenge for you. I'm stating it as my intention to be the first human to stand on the moon, without a space suit and having gotten there under my own power. I dare you to beat me to it.
