Fear and Trembling — Søren Kierkegaard — The Abandoning of Reason and the Embrace of the Absurd.

“Faith is the highest passion in a human being. Many in every generation may not come that far, but none comes further.”

The book written by Johannes de Silentio, the pen name of Kierkegaard, argues and ponders over the single moment in Abraham’s life where he displayed and enacted his complete faith and obedience in God.

It’s at this moment that Abraham was able to keep Isaac by giving him up. A paradox. And that’s what Kierkegaard explained faith to be. An unreasonable paradox that bridges the gap between the individual and the absolute.

Anyone who loves their life will lose it, while anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it for eternal life. John 12:25

As an individual living in this world, we are convinced and in love with the logical. We frame and praise the reasonable. It becomes the cornerstone of our morals and ethics. They guide us on the paths to our desires. But life comes again and again to prove that the plans we make, no matter how perfect or calculated, ever come without problems.

So if we live with this knowledge of the fact that the future is not predictable, not logical or even slightly reasonable; how is it that we are not trembling everyday, every night in fear of tomorrow?

Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. Matthew 6:34

Faith. It’s on the complete resignation in faith that we claim tomorrow. It’s when we loosen our grip on life that we are embraced by it. It is when we accept who we are, that we are able to change. Simple is the answer to the complex.

How? What steps does one have to take in order to claim the highest? Where can one find the instructions? Where can I find the master to teach me such a practice and explain to me such a movement? Yet it is when you find that no one can teach you, you are taught.

Courage is the pre-requisite of faith and fear the enemy to it. Have this, you will get what you desire, but at the cost of comforting words. Realize that the path is unclear and foggy, but guided nonetheless. That your labors will be rewarded, that your sufferings will transcend, and that your spirit, quenched. Believe in it on the strength of the absurd. Believe in the outcome, and have faith in the work. Believe that every change of plan, every trip on the path, every setback, is part of God’s plan to bring you to what you ask.

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer. Matthew 21:22