Work-in-Progress Wednesday: To Believe or Not to Believe… is That the Right Question?

The Swiss psychologist Carl Jung is credited with saying, “Whether or not God exists is questionable.  Whether or not man needs God is certain.”  [ paraphrase ]

In other words, whether or not there’s a greater structure, meaning, and mystical presence to the universe is a question we mere mortals might never be able to answer.  But there’s no question at all that we *need* to believe in something greater than ourselves.  You can call it God if you want; you can call it the Universe or the Buddha Mind or Brahma or anything else, but you need *something* that you put your faith in.  Something that goes beyond the smallness of the limited self that you’re normally experiencing.

Anyway…

All of that is a preamble to the Work-in-Progress Wednesday segment I wanted to share this week:

She drinks again, glances at the hand on her knee before continuing.  “I hadn’t really believed in God for a long time before that happened, but when I heard the news about Lucas, that was it for me.  I knew then God can’t really exist, because if He did exist, then He was just a heartless bastard, and that was a God I refused to believe in.”

Lucinda is silent for a few seconds, giving Ardie some space, giving time for the story to sink in.  “Is that what you still believe now?” she asks after a moment.  “If not God… where’d the universe come from?  And… Why are we all here?  Why does anything happen at all?  Is it all just random?”

Ardie shrugs and sets her beer down.  “I’m a mechanic, Lu.  The way I see it, we’re just all parts in a big ol’ engine, turning round and round and round ad infinitum.  Because that’s what we’re designed to be doing.”

“But then, who did the designing?”

“Other engine parts, maybe.  I dunno.”  She leans forward, resting both forearms on her knees.  Glances at Lucinda.  “What about you?  Do you believe in God?”

“No,” Lucinda answers automatically.  Then she draws in a breath and holds it a moment before giving Ardie a more honest answer.  “Some days I don’t know if it’s that I don’t believe in in God, or  if it’s just that I’m really, really angry with Him.”

“Yeah?  What are you angry about?”

Lucinda looks away, gaze falling on the PRIVET PROPERTY sign across the road.  “Everything, I suppose.”