Believing Vs. Experiencing

"Even the demons believe and tremble" (Book of James: Bible). Believing is important. We experience many things because of beliefs. Our experiences may be limited by our beliefs. Many individuals focus on their belief system as the most important variable in their life. Believing is a system of thinking ABOUT life. Experience is the mind's preception OF life.

Belief and experience are not the same thing. For example, believing and trembling are two different things. One is intellectual or mental and the other is behavioral. Trembling may occur as a result of what one believes about something or someone. Belief may be used to define an experience. "I believe the wages of my sin are the negative things that are occurring in my life." One may believe various things about human beings. However, one's experience of a human being is more significant. One may believe many doctrines and dogmas ABOUT God without having any particular identifiable experience WITH God.

Thinking is everything in the sense that it DEFINES an experience with or without certain preconceived ideas or beliefs about the experience. Experience is life. Thinking interprets the experience and gives it meaning, place and purpose. Without thinking there is no experience. Belief without experience is like a cloud without water. Go for the experience, that is the thing of life.

Is My Thinking True or False?

It is important to tell oneself the truth. Believing something for a period of time only to discover that it is false can be quite embarassing or maddening. Everyone has had that experience at least a few times. Children are initially gullible. They believe almost anything an adult says is the absolute truth. As they grow older, children begin to question the validity of some ideas postulated by the adults in their lives. This questioning can be a risky and dangerous business if the adults are fundamentalistic in their approach to their truth. Children, especially adolescents, arriving at a different truth can be considered rebellious or turning against family values. Harsh punishment often results with this change. What one thinks is true, whether about oneself, others, nature, circumstances, religion or politics is important and is either true or false. A good question might be, "is my thinking about (fill in the blank) true or false?"