Belief, Trust and Reliance

What does it mean to believe in god?

If you have ever struggled with whether or not you believe in god, you are not alone.  To be uncertain about this question is to be agnostic, or “without knowledge.” To admit to this lack of knowledge, is, in and of itself, the beginning of a spiritual awakening.  When we admit we don’t know, we are opening a space in our mind for possibilities to enter, we are becoming open-minded (teachable), we are asserting the limitedness of our individual perception, and acting with humility.  In many ways, agnosticism, at least to some degree, may be essential to spiritual development, as those who are unsure but take action “as-if” are overcoming a fear that those who are (or claim to be) sure are not.  I wonder if anyone, being truly honest, can say they have not been agnostic.  So if you’re not sure, congratulations, you’re on your way- it’s a very good thing you don’t believe only in what you see, because that would be insane.  From this spark of unknowing, all that’s required to acquire a working faith is a little experimentation, which brings us to the subject of trust.

What does it mean to trust in god?

Trust is a firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.  So while the belief in god may begin with the spark of unknowing, trust in god requires repeated testing.  You cannot know something is reliable unless you have done some experimentation.  If you are like me, to firmly believe in god’s ability or strength, you will have to test it out.  However, just because we trust in something does not mean we use it as often as we could (to its full potential) or should (when it would be beneficial to ourselves or others).  Many people trust in god to support them through difficult times, or comfort them when they experience a seeming loss, or to bring joy to a celebration.  An analogy that’s helpful here is the experience of a computer- we may begin just using it for the obvious and universal applications, email or word-processing, but if we continue with our experimentation, there are almost an unlimited number of new, and often very specific applications to discover. But while we have identified many of the limits of the computer as it now exists, the only limits I’ve heard to the application of god in our lives have to do with our own willingness to try.   And while we may trust in god for many things, we may also still frequently trust in our self alone (aka ego), which brings us to the subject of reliance.

What does it mean to rely on god?

To rely means to depend on with full trust or confidence.  The root of the word comes from the latin meaning “to bind together.”  At this stage in spiritual development, we cannot imagine getting through life successfully without trusting in god, and we are confident that trusting in god is essential to our well-being, and the well-being of others. We are bound together with god, and recognize our lives as an extension of god’s creation. Our will is god’s will- the two are no longer discernable. This differs from the trust phase, where sometimes we bring god in and sometimes we don’t.  We learn god-reliance from trying the way of self-reliance and finding it wanting.  Either self-reliance has failed us, or it gets us what we wanted, but we find ourselves holding the prize alone.  When you not just get through, but enjoy life by prayer, meditation, self-examination, and altruism, then you are relying on god.