Why should I seek something I have no need for and doesn't even exist?
I might just as well seek for a unicorn (which I don't need) - knowing it doesn't exist.
Q & A from the Baltimore Catechism (which I learned as a child):
- Q: Why did God make me?
- A: God made me to know him, love him, and serve him in this world and to be happy with him in the next.
As a child it made sense to me that in order to
know him, I first had to seek and find him. I learned I was to
love him above all else, so I made a list of all those I loved....God was at the bottom of the list, so I had some work to do there as well.
Serve him: At last! I was Mommy and Daddy's little helper, so I got that. Every so often I discovered a worm in trouble on a hot sidewalk, so I saved the worm. To be happy in the next world, I also concluded I needed to learn to be happy in this one.
I did learn God was there to find for those who were seeking. It may be easier to seek and find God in childhood, because as a child I had no expectations of God. I did not expect him to do this or that, or even be like this or that. I simply wanted to know, because knowing was what was on the list. This took about ten years. Adults, I think have this expectation of what God should be, and that he should show up immediately.
But to return to you: You see yourself as having no need for God. Does this mean you see people of faith as needy people? Many believers have the opposite perspective that God values us in his creation, and that he values what we can contribute to creation, whether that creation be something for the physical world, something for another, or something within ourselves. Analogy of myself: I see myself an apprentice to the master of creativity/creation.
Another aspect of some atheists is that they see people of faith spending time in church, in prayer, in charitable works, in giving time and material goods to others. Atheists can also be giving people, but the difference is usually they see an opportunity to give; it's convenient so they give. They usually don't seek opportunities to give/lend a hand. Another trait of some atheists (and this includes my husband) is that he truly wants to get through this life on his own. He says it is likely there is an agnostic aspect to his atheism. My grandfather told me that he was one who did try to believe, but that belief simply was not there, so he was working out this life on his own. The point is that we cannot lump all atheists into one category--and nor can that be done that to all believers.
God does exist, but to those who are convinced he does not: Do you believe there is a next life? If so, how are you preparing for it?
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