Working on my faith statement part 2

Are there any concepts, myths or stories from the other religions that are meaningful to you? Why?

• For this one, let me just address my own faith, Islam. There is a rich tradition in Islam called the Hadith. These are the sayings and actions of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). They are a source of customs, manners, and, more seriously in some places, law. There is a two-volume compendium of these stories of the Prophet called Gardens of the Righteous. They outline the history of the story (where it came from, how reliable it is) and then tell it in the original Arabic and an English translation. I actually like reading Hadith better than I like reading the Koran. It just feels so practical and accessible and rich – most of the time. Other times it feels unnecessarily burdensome. Sometimes it feels like one guy’s opinion from 1,500 years ago. Still, I value the Hadith and they are meaningful to me and I enjoy them.

Why do you believe it is important to help or serve others?

• Well, an oldy but a goodie here but I believe that God put us on this earth to help one another. To be in community with one another. And that we have a responsibility to the people in our lives and our societies. I’ve pretty much always had a volunteer activity of some kind going on in my free time. Right now I read for the blind. Most of the books I narrate are fiction and non-fiction titles about my state (Michigan) and they’re available nationally so I feel like I’m contributing to a larger effort to make materials accessible to a population that can’t just pick up a print book and read it. Still, lately it doesn’t feel like enough. I want to help others in a less cerebral way. With food or housing or paying the heating bill. I was hoping to find service opportunities in the UU church but the Lansing congregation is not big on community service which has been disappointing. Yet there’s only so many hours in the day and I’m finding it hard to be both active in the church and go seek out another volunteer activity. This is a current issue I’m struggling with.

How do you live a good (i.e. moral, ethical) life?

• I try first and foremost to a) fulfill the obligations to God that I’ve identified as most meaningful to me and b) pay attention to my primary relationships and feed them and help them grow.

How should people treat each other?

• I’m just going to stick with the Golden Rule here.

Why do you think bad things happen in the world? Where does evil come from?

• Well, technically and ultimately, all good things and all bad things are from God and we don’t always know which is which so we need to remain faithful. Obviously, this is easier said than done and easier to follow when life is going well. There have been periods in my life when I’ve pretty much just given up on my relationship with God because it’s been too hard to try to reconcile why I’m suffering with accepting that “all good things and all bad things are from God and we don’t always know which is which.” I don’t know why bad things happen except that human interaction is complicated and I think the collective “we” causes most of our suffering. I sometimes think that we’re not honestly trying to make our collective lives better and if you’re not even going to try then it’s likely not going to happen on accident. I’ve also had a number of concerns with my mental health and I pretty much just chalk that up to meaningless suffering that is my lot in life to bear. It can make it very difficult for me to seek God when I’m experiencing a prolonged period of depression or anxiety. This is one of my failures as a person who would like to consider themselves faithful. I’m jealous of people who find solace in God during the tough times and instead of becoming desperate or bitter or narrow-minded actually grow and expand in empathy because I am not there.