What I Believe

The most difficult assignment of my public speaking class
has been this 5-minute speech.

I had to choose a topic,

and the first thought that popped into my head was

“What I Believe”.

Immediately

I began trying to think of an easier topic,

but for some reason I kept coming back to this.

If someone asked you

to describe what you really believe

in less than five minutes,

could you do it?

I once heard a quote from someone who said,

“I would have written a shorter letter, but I didn’t have time.”

Well, to get this speech down to 5 minutes

has taken me a long time!

-=-=-

Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity

proved that time is not a constant.

It’s a variable

that’s relative to the mass and acceleration

of whoever is trying to measure it.

I believe God exists,

and He doesn’t have mass or acceleration,

and therefore is outside the time domain.

I believe eternity is not “a long, long time”

or an infinite amount of time,

it is the absence of time.

This is as hard for me to imagine,

as it would be for a two-dimensional being

to understand me.

What if there was such a thing as flat people

living on the surface of the floor,

and they could perceive any direction in the plane of the floor,

but had no concept of up or down.

What would they think of me?

They would see my shoes as two oval shapes,

and probably wonder how I could be two places at once,

but could they really know me?

I believe it would be easier for them to imagine me,

than it is for me to imagine God.

-=-=-

If God is outside the time domain,

He can see our whole existence from beginning to end,

like one long parade.

I believe God started the whole thing,

and being able to see the end from the beginning,

immediately realized we needed help.

So He tinkered with it.

I believe God interfered enough in the beginning

to know that we’d make it,

just like we interfere in our children’s decisions

until they develop enough to be on their own.

And by the time Jesus left the Earth,

we had everything we needed,

and He was done tinkering.

But if you look,

you can see His fingerprints

all over the place.

-=-=-

Why did He do it?

I know when I create something,

whether it’s

a drawing

or a poem

or a story

or software

or a circuit board

In a way I love it.

I know how I feel when I look at my children.

I know I love them.

I believe God loves us,

and wants to be with us.

I believe God’s ultimate joy

is for us to love Him,

and want to be with Him.

-=-=-

I have only read about 20% of the bible so far,

but already

it’s the most interesting book I’ve ever read.

I believe it is the greatest book ever written.

I believe it records a history of communication

between man and God.

I believe it is an operating manual for mankind.

I believe Jesus lived,

that He was real.

I believe He had a closer relationship with God than I do.

I believe He was truthful,

and that He was innocent of the crimes He was accused of.

I believe Jesus has more to say to us than anyone who ever lived.

-=-=-

I believe we are in the third age of mankind.

The first was a time of innocence,

like the story of the Garden of Eden.

An infant does no wrong,

because it doesn’t know enough.

The second age started

when we realized

that there is a difference between right and wrong,

and we developed into a legalistic system

of laws, and obedience, and sacrifice.

Just as a child is given rules,

and consequences.

The third age started

when Jesus fulfilled the law and the prophets,

and we realize what God wanted for us all along,

Love.

Just as an adult with wisdom sees the reason behind the law,

the spirit of community

Unfortunately,

I don’t believe we will evolve

into a peaceful loving community.

I believe this age will end

when we are on the verge of extinguishing ourselves as a race,

Just as the elderly deteriorate,

the system starts to collapse.

-=-=-

I believe humans are like floppy disks.

Even though they have different colors and labels and logos,

they all work about the same.

Its not the physical part that matters much,

its the software inside that counts.

And even though the disk will wear out,

the software can live on forever,

in one form or another,

if cared for properly.

I believe that my body will wear out,

but the spirit it contains can live on forever,

in one form or another.

I believe that when I shed this body

I will no longer have mass or acceleration,

and I’ll inhabit eternity.

I believe eventually I will be in the presence of God.

for real.

In the meantime, the bible says

“Behold, I stand at the door and knock.

If anyone hears My voice and opens the door,

I will come in to him”

I believe that.

-=-=-

04/01/04

Actual Running Length 5:05