The Audacity of Certainty

What do you know to be true... and how do you know it?

In the aftermath of our experiences over the past few years, Hannah and I have re-calibrated our worldview from virtually every possible angle. As I consider our journey, I find myself less concerned with the specifics of what people believe, but instead how they came to these conclusions. It's the process that matters. Every person needs to understand the mechanisms that drive their core values.

Most people live their everyday lives without even glancing at the internal machinery that drives them. Right vs. wrong, good and evil... we all have basic presuppositions that guide our behavior. Often, our values are some indistinct conglomeration of how we were raised, who we spend time with, and where we get our information. A Muslim raised in northern Africa has been imprinted with a certain impression of truth that may conflict a great deal with the opinions of a Southern Baptist child in Alabama. So... who is actually right?

I'm not here to make that call.... I just want to understand myself and the world around me. I want to recognize the components of the machinery.

Looking back upon my former self, I am astounded by my prior sense of certainty. I was sure of so much, and I continually reinforced so many baseless conclusions in my mind. Now, I've come to find that the notions I once considered stone-cold facts will easily disintegrate under the slightest scrutiny. Especially when it comes to the unseen and intangible, certainty is often a kind of audacity.

As I mentioned in My Daughter's Revelation, I believe we could spend a lifetime searching for the big answers: is God real.... is He good... does He care? In that light, it seems downright audacious to assume moral high-ground on the more minor issues. If we believe that honesty is a basic moral virtue, we have to first be honest with ourselves. 

When you examine the truths about faith or morality you hold dearest, ask one question: how do you know? If you cannot quantify, measure, or observe this concept that you're so sure about, then perhaps it's not as rock-solid as you think. It's time for reasonable people everywhere to parse the difference between knowing and believing, between theory and reality.  False certainties build a partition between us and the dreaded other. We have to bridge that divide.

My outlook is simple now: I want to be sure of the certain things, and I want to be open-minded about the uncertainties.  Anything less would be profoundly dishonest. As I tread the path laid out before me, I want to be a person in continual pursuit of knowledge, instead of a fool who hoards the scraps he's already found.

Thank you for reading On Letting Go, a blog about dealing with the wounds of the past. If you're looking for a little background on what inspired this blog, check out the introduction.  Click here for information on how you can find mental health resources for yourself or a loved one.