This I Believe

Reflecting today on what I believe, it is interesting to trace the phases through which I have past in the process of religious development. In my earliest recollection, religion was a special cloak to be donned on the Sabbath. I particularly remember questioning my parents about a seemingly devout and regularly church-going neighbor who was well known for his unscrupulous business dealings. Religion for him was the “fancy handkerchief” type, tucked into his coat pocket for show on special occasions. He put on religion for the Sabbath but laid it aside, out of sight and out of mind, the other six days of the week. Religion was an activity confined to the sanctum of the church and must not intrude itself upon the harsh realities of daily living among one’s fellow men.

The next phase of which I was conscious was what I think of now as the “everyday handkerchief” kind of religion. This is the kind we call upon when emergencies arise. It is expressed in the prayer for help when trouble threatens but otherwise is safely tucked away with warm confidence in the knowledge of its handiness.

With increasing maturity and study, I became aware of the deep meaning of the teachings of our Hebraic-Christian traditions. There followed what I look back upon now and call “my religion.” This was a passive acceptance of principle and of faith. “My religion” was a neat, comfortable cloister. Here, for a while, I was snug and smug in the assurance that I did no man harm and was living my life in a way which seemed to yield relative peace of mind. But deeper self-analysis brought realization that this was but another means of escape. It lacked the action elements essential for dynamic living.

I watched with great concern another form of escape manifested in the religious jags which struck some of our college campuses a few years ago. This is a sort of “whiskey religion.” It starts as a stimulant, but taken in excess has the similar effects of alcohol in acting as a sedative. Regrettably, the effects are usually very temporary, providing but brief release and escape from the realities of life, which always remain to be faced and coped with after the jag has worn off.

Today, as a psychologist and counselor, I constantly seek to understand the why which lies behind what students do. In trying to understand these mainsprings of human behavior, I have come to realize that it is our deep and fundamental beliefs which motivate us in all we do. Thus, it strikes with the force of a blazing meteor that the measure of faith is not in the verbal profession of faith but in actions, which are the real manifestation of living religion. The religion of Moses and Jesus is religion of action, of deeds, not alone a profession of faith. To earn the right to live in this tradition, there is an urgent demand that action match belief.

We may worship our one God in many tongues and fashions, but there is one way of worship common to us all. This is in our behavior toward each other. I do not find this an easy kind of religion. There is no easy peace of mind, because I see too much that remains to be done before we achieve the kingdom of God. But in living religion, I find deep satisfaction in the knowledge that in aspiring to express fully my beliefs and my actions, I have within me the potential of being a true son of God and brother of man.