This I Believe…
In the 1950’s, the famous journalist Edward R. Murrow started a radio show called, This I believe… Week-to-week, Murrow would have anyone from a famous political figure of the day to a taxi cab driver share essays about what they believed. This I believe essays were also shared regularly on NPR (National Public Radio) between 2005 and 2009. In the spirit of these efforts to further civil discourse, I would like to make my own small contribution to this collage of ideas. My hope is that my meager input will, at best, cause contemplation, and at worst, at least help explain the beliefs that guide my work.
This I believe…
I believe we are spiritual beings living a physical existence. I believe every person, animal, plant, rock, material object, and the air we breathe, are all pure energy vibrating at different speeds. I believe every creature in the universe is connected by an unseen field of infinite possibilities. I call this phenomenon, God. It makes no difference to me what you call it.
Because we are connected by this field of all possibilities, I believe our intentions, individually and collectively, can impact the world around us.
I do not believe I am here by accident. I do not believe the earth is the perfect distance from the sun, and the atmosphere has the perfect balance of hydrogen and oxygen to support life by chance. I believe I was put here for a reason and the most important question I can answer during my time here on this earth, in this form, is, “What is my purpose?” I have to believe that I am not some random accident or I cannot have faith.
Get Michael Slider’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Pain and suffering and unspeakable tragedies are all part of this life. I believe we must have faith there is something much deeper going on than we can perceive or we would torment ourselves to death asking why. Ultimately, I do not believe in death. I believe death is only a transition. I believe that if we truly understood the nature of life, time, reality, and death, events we view as tragic would cease to be so. I believe there is a reason we are not meant to know all these answers during our time on this earth.
I believe relativity is a gift from God. As Neil Donald Walsch wrote in his masterpiece, Conversations with God, A candle cannot know its magnificence sitting in the middle of the sun. It must be placed in a dark room for it to know its true brilliance. We cannot know up without knowing down, hot without cold, or light without darkness. I believe seemingly terrible circumstances give us the opportunity to know how truly great we can be.
I do not believe in heaven or hell. I believe heaven and hell can be made right here on earth. I do not need the fear of hell to make me want to be a good person.
I believe there is wisdom in the earth, plants, animals, and all life that our “modern” civilizations have long forgotten.
I believe there is something terribly wrong with the way most humans today live. I believe this causes undue pressures on our natural systems, which in turn makes us stressed and sick. I believe the diseases, both literal and figurative, that plague modern life are natural consequences of the way human societies have evolved to this point. I believe physical ailments such as cancer and heart disease, violence, war, climate change, stress, rape, suicide, alcoholism, drug use, and many other curses that haunt our modern world are all outcomes of this unnatural way of living.
I believe if that we absolutely understood the true nature of our reality, and how connected we are to each other and every other living thing on the planet, the way we live would make no sense. I also believe if we understood our connected nature, the philosophies that have shaped our modern world, which are based on separateness (including nationalism, imperialism, racism, neo-liberal economics, sexism, and the superiority of one religion over all others), would die a natural death.
The beliefs I have shared shape everything from my interactions with everyday people to my political and spiritual philosophies. No one can objectively prove their beliefs on the nature of reality are “correct”. However, I do believe there is a solid question one can use as a litmus test of whether or not a belief system is worthy of following. The simple question is, What would the world be like if everyone’s actions were guided by this belief system? There are plenty of beliefs I hold that many others may not share. However, I feel good about the answers that pop in my head when I begin to contemplate this question.
