an almighty Authority Figure?

Who says? Haven't we all heard that one? It's a favorite childhood comeback. I remember using it. Looking back now, I think it was because of the comfort I derived from knowing that somewhere, at some level, someone had greater power than either me or my opponent, and that, that same someone could actually declare the firm answer to our debate. We would then be able to count our conflict resolved...over...dead.

Of course, both my opposing peer and I wanted to be on the right side of the issue being argued, but as nature itself demonstrates, opposites are not united in their direction or in their states of being. If one wind goes westwardly, the opposing wind heads east. If a space has light, it cannot also be void of light. The same is true of right versus wrong. True or false. We can't have it both ways because it just cannot be.

If, for example, I say that a certain box of rocks weighs 32.5 kilograms, and the postal clerk says that same box weighs 37.5 kilograms, one of us MUST be wrong. Maybe both of us are wrong. We will have to weigh it on an accurate scale in order to find out for absolute certain how much the box of rocks weighs. An irrefutable law of nature is the authority, here, and the accurate scale is the standard by which we can measure the box's weight.

If the scale reads 32.5 kg, then I am right. If the scale reads any other number, then I am wrong. You see? I cannot be both right and wrong at the same time about the true weight of the box and its contents. Without a doubt, there are all sorts of arguments which would seem to validate a wrong claim (let's assume mine), but if I will be honest, I will concede that the authoritative standard shows me to be wrong. It would be pointless to try to prove otherwise, wouldn't it!

The whole point of that silly illustration is clear though, I hope. Right cannot be wrong, and vice-versa. Likewise, there is either an almighty Authority or there is not. Whether either claim can be proven with no room for doubt doesn't matter. Why? Because the fact is, and always will be, that there either is or is not an almighty Authority. That is a trustworthy statement.

So, then, with that bold thought, where does one go from here? Well, I for one, have decided that I need to have reached a conclusion about this Authority's existence in my own mind and heart in order to proceed through life with direction. So when I come to one of life's many crossroads, I can choose my path with confidence and follow it with conviction. Conversely, I would be left to make decisions based on my own faulty reasoning, emotions, and experience. Probably most of the negatives of approaching life with uncertainty...even doubt and fear...are self-evident.

OK, is there a believable argument for the existence of one Almighty Authority (I'll call this Authority "God")? I think there is. As a matter of fact, I think there are quite a few! I have considered scientific (empirical), physical, emotional, spiritual, philosophical, and common sense reasons to believe in God. And those are not all there are!! Next blog, I intend to look into just one of these. Come back and consider it with me--I would love to know your thoughts about it. Thank you for being here today. :)