I have been reading about different myths and legends from different cultures. The interesting aspect is that the stories seem familiar. They aren’t the same stories, but there are some themes and aspects to the stories that are similar. Today, I read a story about faith that has its origins in Africa.
I have found that in many cultures there’s at least one, if not many stories, where a deity asks a human being to do something challenging. The stories usually describe how that person either followed the deity’s command and reaped rewards or did not follow the command and was punished. Now, I’d suspect that most people would read these stories and think that they the stories are about the deity: If we do as God commands, we will be rewarded, and if we don’t do as he commands, we will be punished.
However, for me, I believe that our myths and stories tell more about us than they do about deities in the stories. It the same as how I believe when I pray it changes me, not God.
When I pray, God is going to be the same God, but hopefully I will gain more insight on myself. Hopefully, I will become a better person, who has more gratitude, love, and acceptance. When people read these stories, God doesn’t change. Nothing we do will change God. However, these stories teach us that in life, there are things we can’t control, like death, and if we put our trust in a higher power, then we might live a more thankful life with love and blessings. If we don’t put trust in a higher power and we try to control things that we can’t, then we will end up with misfortune. Trying to control things that are out of your control is futile and leads to disaster, loss and pain.
These stories don’t tell us that God is great when we follow the rules and punishes us when we don’t. These stories tell us that life is challenging, things are out of our control. How we learn to accept that life is out of control will determine how we relate to God and our perspective on our own lives.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
