On doubt

Princess Buttercup: We’ll never survive!

Westley: Nonsense. You’re only saying that because no one ever has.

- The Princess Bride, 1987

I believe in a Higher Power. God. The Force. The Uncaused First Cause.

Most of the time.

I’m a practicing Catholic. I go to mass on Sundays, and Thomas Merton is one of my heroes. I pray the examen.

You’d think I’d have more certainty.

But if even Mother Teresa experienced a Dark Night of the Soul, I’m comfortable allowing room for doubt. Catholic tradition teaches that faith is a gift. I can pray for it and be open to accepting it, but it’s not guaranteed.

Doubt and belief are a package deal.

And here’s another thing about doubt. It can be both a tool and a weapon.

As a tool, reasonable doubt drives the scientific method. Formulation of a question > Hypothesis > Prediction > Testing > Analysis.

In matters of faith, periods of doubt can prune shallow beliefs so deeper faith can grow.

As a weapon, doubt can be debilitating. It can take up valuable space in our hearts. Space we need to recognize the hope and possibility that become paths to fulfilling our deepest purpose.

Doubt ebbs and flows. It’s a companion that never really leaves. We must accept this, but then commit to moving forward with doubt as a companion when we see a path that might lead to fulfilling our deepest purpose.

Like Mother Teresa.

“The deeper our faith, the more doubt we must endure; the deeper our hope, the more prone we are to despair; the deeper our love, the more pain its loss will bring: these are a few of the paradoxes we must hold as human beings.

If we refuse to hold them in the hopes of living without doubt, despair, and pain, we also find ourselves living without faith, hope, and love.”

- Parker Palmer, A Hidden Wholeness