RitaTG
Heard on CBC radio: "The opposite of faith is not doubt: It is certainty."... by Anne Lamont
Posted on: 01/10/2010 17:21
Hello again my friends!
I was listening to CBC Radio One on my way home from church today. They have such wonderful discussions on various aspects of faith. I really felt like I was listening in to a radio version of Wonder Cafe!
Anyways ..... back to the topic .... the discussion was about the very existance of God and the guest was a Jewish Rabbi.
I would like to hear some viewpoints on a very interesting quote that really caught my ear.
The quote is by Anne Lamont : "The opposite of faith is not doubt: It is certainty."...
Hearing this really lifted and encouraged my spirit. I would really like to explore this thought a bit further and I would appreciate your help.
Thank you so very much!
Rita
Comments
InannaWhimsey
Posted on: 01/17/2010 19:56
"certain
• adjective 1 able to be relied on to happen or be the case. 2 completely convinced of something. 3 specific but not explicitly named or stated.
• pronoun (certain of) some but not all."
So again, being certain can include not being certain.
And notice the second part. It says one of my favourite phrases (that those of you who have been here for a while have seen me write from time to time):
when certain is a pronoun, it means some but not all. Sombunall. A delightfully-fine word to head off dogma.
This gives a good, practical showing of how literal the meanings of some words has become in English AND it also shows, to me, how each of us have our own "favourite" definitions of words.
So Hebrews 11:1, taking the Oxford definition, reads:
Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and some but not all of what we do not see :3
Certain of your usages of "certain" are not pronouns but adjectives. In the quotation from Hebrews 11:1, "certain" is certainly an adjective, not a pronoun.
You may still get a certain mileage out of the third definition of "certain" as an adjective.
Thank ewe :3
The pronoun of Certain in the Oxford link is 'certain of'. Hebrews 11:1 says 'certain of'. That seems like it fits the criteria for an Indefinite Pronoun.
So the term, using that definiton : 'Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and some but not all what we do not see'. I missed taking away the 'of' in my first post :3
People can also have fun with plugging in the other definitions of certain into Hebrews 11:1. And, if they are very curious monkies, they might even check on the etymology further than the Latin :3 And see, when they do this, how the meaning of the sentence changes. They might also want to check that with the word certainty and apply it to the OP and see how the meaning might change.
Down the Rabbit hole we go. The self-referential, endlessy-birfucating, Yesmaybeno one.
Just a Self-writing poem,
Inannawhimsey
WaterBuoy
Posted on: 01/20/2010 09:59
Is an indefinite pro noun a mortal thing ... that would induce change?
To quote an old Jungian Psychologist aquaintance: "Knowing the mind is a life long experience ..." that probably goes on and on with the story (Close of the Gospel of Jo'n).
Is such a flawed journey driven by a shadow of doubt ... a small dark bit of infinite Love?
Then isn't pure Love a blind man in the dark ... that has to be cultivated in the heh art of bean aware (da-slight; heh gave me th' slip)? As ceded cause! Does God have a sense of dark humour (Bet' Noir) ... let's try this and see how it works in reality ... as a thought right out of imaginative state ...Black 'Ole Syn Cronicity 've d' penne on parch mint (dry spirit of the triest aL movement)? But if 'n yah think isolated m'n will declare you crazy ... a fool ... as the light side 've God ... ain't that devilish to a Roman God:
"Be carefful, he thinks, heis dangerous ... kill eM"
How could this be? Well you're born a child 've pure Love ... is there progress in the label, the secretive toggle that tickles the spirit? That's an intagible ... unknown to those that grasp the physical regardless of the warnings ... 've d' void space ... d' gap ... or is that a' gape .. evolved?
It's just a feeling I get ... intuit'd ... with a doubt ... real ante less with giggles once yah know wit' ... rebound state ... canon ... distant echo beyond the mortal ... a myth?