Faith Becomes Sight.

Friday, November 17, 2006

Can something become "real" merely because someone believed in it?

A mountain stream only becomes a "great fishing spot" when someone believes in it enough to throw in a line. Was it really a great fishing spot before then...No. Not until someone started fishing it, right? Before that it was a pretty mountain stream.

A sailboat only becomes seaworthy when the Captain believes in it enough to take it to the sea, right? It may have had the qualifications of a seaworthy vessel before then, but until it's tested in the wild open, "Seaworthy" is only a description of what is hoped for, not what is real. It becomes real only when the Captain believes in it and sets sail.

That's what I think. I can't remember why Pinochio became a real boy, but was it something along the lines of having Gapetto believe in him? Oh right...there was that part about wishing on stars...well, I do that too, so I guess I've got my bases covered. :-)

Why do I ask what makes something real? Because I've got a few things in my life that seem almost impossible, and I'm wondering if my belief in their possibility can in fact make them real. I was reading an old journal this morning. I had a friend who was really two very different people depending upon whom he was with. In one of my journal entries I wrote something to the effect of the "other" person being the real one...(the one that wasn't my friend). It's discouraging because the one who was my friend was a really, really fantastic individual. But in many ways, I was the only person who knew that other side of him, and so it seemed as if I was believing in an illusion. But I don't want to think that he was an illusion. I want him to be real.
I suppose if I was looking at the Sahara and saying, "I think that if I believe hard enough, this will make a really great fishing hole one day," then you would have to say, No. Simple belief does not make a thing what it is not. ...but then again...

I haven't talked yet about the issue of investment. The fishing hole is a simple example, but even in that, my belief takes something of an investment. Time and money. I've gotta go buy a rod. And reel. And some lessons if we're talking about me fishing :-) The sailboat takes a significant monetary investment to make it seaworthy...something about ballasts and stuff. And now we're getting somewhere...Even the Sahara...if I want to believe it is a great spot to fish...and I want to make a massive investment...can't the Sahara even become what it was never intended to be based on my belief? That's what venture cap is for...right?! Sheesh...look at the Old Mill District! :-) Grandpa never imagined his mill as an REI and Martini bar...but Bill Smith saw it and believed in it...and there we have it.

Belief is what makes something real! Plus the investment. But I could also say that the investment is the belief, because how much do you really believe in something if you're not willing to make the investment? But the belief does have to come first... and with true belief comes real investment.

So my decision is made. My friend is very much not the person I once believed him to be...not today. But I can choose to believe that person was in fact real. And by my belief, one day he will be actually. Faith become sight. And so must come the investment. Might as well be the Sahara project for all the resources I have on that front, but I have a few. I have faith. Perseverance and hope. And those are the things love is made of. I have love, and it's said that love conquers fear. That's good, because I have that too.

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