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I was reading the bible the other day when something I hadn’t seen before smacked me in the chops. Jesus was talking to his disciples about unforgiveness in Luke 17. Jesus told them that if a brother comes to you seven times in day and sins against then asks for forgiveness you should forgive him each time. The disciples were amazed by this because they asked for more faith. What Jesus says next always bothered me. He said that if you had faith as a mustard seed you would say to this mulberry tree be uprooted and be planted in the sea and it would obey you. I had glossed over that many times. This time however I read the bit about being a servant underneath and was even more perplexed. Then it struck me. Jesus is saying that faith (or an expressed belief) needs to be replaced by another expressed belief in order for the previous belief to be ‘removed and cast into the sea. I would one belief dissolves the other and removes it’s potency because it stops the previous one from existing. That is, you get rid of old beliefs by replacing them with new ones that are more powerful.
As you find ways to remove old beliefs about your life, circumstances and so on… it’s like the old beliefs were never there. Indeed you can make yourself believe anything if you lie to yourself often enough can’t you? You can change memories, change habits, change how you feel… by having your beliefs changed. Yet the how is the part we want isn’t it? How and/or can we change our beliefs? What I think Jesus might have been saying was this: You can forgive if you believe you can because that belief will enable you to act. Love is a powerful emotion… use it! Use what you have and you might just be surprised at what follows. 
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May 13th, 2008 at 7:44 am
I venture to suggest that Scripture is against you on this point. Compare Mark 11:23-24
“For verily I say unto you, that whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea, and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith.
“Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
How unequivocal is that?
Okay, so Matthew 17:21, after a similar statement, adds “Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting.” But, if accurately reported, Jesus is talking about (very little) faith literally moving mountains. And it’s such an extraordinary assertion that you’d think it more likely to be toned down than exagerated, wouldn’t you?
Theology aside, however, I agree that a superior (or physiologically more stable) belief or concept naturally supersedes its inferior predecessor.
May 13th, 2008 at 1:38 pm
Interesting how in that scripture Jesus seems to point out the impossible as being easy. Talking is easy to do… believing? That’s a whole other story.
I used to read Mark 11 as pretending but I think it’s much more concrete than we realise… If I could just see things the same way as that perhaps I could believe for better things? I am not sure. It certainly does create interesting reading doesn’t it.
Thanks Alan.
May 13th, 2008 at 10:47 pm
Perhaps you could believe for better things?
I’d like to believe that each time anyone awakes there is more hope in their heart than the last time; and that the gap between where they are and where they want to be is smaller.
I don’t believe that. But I don’t believe that I could never believe that. And surely some “fool” could believe it right now!