What is plain and clear to our sight and understanding? What do our senses tell us? What does life reveal and make known to us?

If you remove belief and faith from the mix of information, you are left with what you actually know through experience, which may be closer to the truth of what actually is, rather than what you hope, believe, have faith in or feel is the truth. And certainly you would have to discard opinions and the teaching and writings of others. You would then be left with only what you personally have experienced, which would be all that you truly know.

Should a person you trust, say to you, “This or that has happened,” and if the thing that has happened seems incredulous, beyond belief ( “I saw a man levitate, disappear and reappear, and he is doing it right now) you would go to see for yourself, to see if your trusted friend’s report was true (we believe the mundane easily, but the incredulous, not so much).

In the old days, information we did not personally experience came by word of mouth, from books and other writings. Today, information comes through many means. How to discern truth from error, truth from fiction, truth from deception, is a full-time job, and we seek evidence to support the reports. What evidence is sufficient to confirm the truth of a thing? If we did not see it ourselves, we are again left with the oral or written reports of others now transmitted to us by various and numerous means. It used to be that a picture said a thousand words that could be trusted, but today, a picture could be just one big lie, a fabrication in still or moving technicolor.

What’s a person to do?

We tend to judge things true or false in the light of our own experiences, which, by the very nature of life, is limited. We also tend to believe reports from people we trust, while keeping in mind that their knowledge, from their experiences, is not our own.

The very nature of communicating data or information makes us easy to fool, and they who want to rule and control us, and dip into our wallets, know it.

Most people are too busy living life, thus give little time to even casually peruse or examine evidence for or against their beliefs, faith, feelings or opinions, yet when challenged, will hold on dearly to them as if what they believe, have faith in or opinions about, are proven truths. And some people could care less. They go along to get along so as not to create tension, but inwardly they are infirm and unsure, thus they wave like a willow with prevailing winds. And it works for them, for a time, sometimes a lifetime.

And even people who seek truth in earnest, who REALLY want to know, find that the supposed evidence for or against something, is history obscured or history rewritten or are testimonies prejudiced or have an agenda behind them. The truth of some things is almost, if not totally, unobtainable. The proof or evidence just isn’t there.

So be careful what you hope in, believe in, have faith in or have feelings and opinions about, because most people create their lives with them, whether true or false.

Call me a skeptic, if you will, and if you do, thank you for the compliment. nem