Why Consciously Choosing What You Believe is the Most Important Thing You Will Do This Year.

Start solving the puzzle of belief by finding your "corner piece"

Figuring things out is what humans do. It’s the ability that has allowed us to survive.

When we’re faced with a puzzle the most important step is to find a starting place, something of which you are absolutely certain. Then you steadily work from there because you know you got that part right.

Sometimes the puzzle is life itself. It gets all jumbled up. The pieces don’t seem to fit and the overall picture doesn’t make sense. It can be quite disorienting.

In Between Two Ages

We are caught between two ages. We are moving out of the modern age of electricity and elementary technology that was layered on the surface of our traditional lives. Technology was seen as an improvement, a tool under our control.  

Now we are moving into the age of deep technology invading and disrupting everything about human life from family, to our work, our belief and even our sense of self.

Tech has gone into our minds and soon, will enter into our bodies.

This merger of man with machine is destabilizing people worldwide. All systems of belief are bending from the pressure.

Those who survive and thrive in this shifting of ages will be those who are grounded on a reality that does not change.

Today we’re going to talk about finding this reality. We have to lay our hands on that most important corner piece of the puzzle. We have to find the piece of truth we are certain is correct. From this point, we build all other connections.

But first let’s talk about why this is so hard to do

It’s hard to even know where to start in determining what to believe today:

We’re all hooked up to this firehose of messages pounding us with so many alternate truths:

“Covid was an accident. No, it was created.”

“The shots saved lives. No, the shots made money for the elite and corrupted human DNA across the planet.”

“Donald Trump is a patriot. Trump is a dictator in early stages.”

“The 2020 election was rigged.  The 2020 election was fair and to say otherwise is fascism.”

“Gender is fluid. Gender is fixed”.

“America is a land of freedom and opportunity—no, America is a land of systematic racism!”

“We were made by aliens. No, we aren’t even real. We’re just characters in a simulation.”

We can tell we are being manipulated.

We’ve learned painfully that we can no longer trust our government to tell us the truth or even to act in our best interest as citizens. We can’t trust newscasters either. There’s no such thing as the press anymore, just political operatives of different camps working to move us in the direction they want.

It’s bewildering.

That’s why I think that groundedness is the most important priority if we’re going to figure the puzzle of life out in this time of destabilizing.

Keeping ourselves focused versus distracted is the key factor. If we will focus our mind on solving this puzzle, we can figure it out. We just need to find the starting point.

This is where most people lose it already. They start scrolling for answers and that only leads to more confusion.

• Watch motivational videos

• Listen to contradictory experts

• Download mindfulness apps

• Improve their productivity systems

• Enroll in online courses

These are helpful tactical-level tools, but they won’t solve the puzzle.

Let’s Find the Starting Point

I’m determined to stay focused on finding the starting point.

From the starting point, the corner piece, we can build a narrative. Our narrative answers the questions of, “What is the story going on around me and what is my part in it?”

Only after we build a narrative we trust and completely buy into it, can we then answer the bigger questions like, “Is there a God? Which one? Why am I here? What is my purpose?”

This idea of a narrative is so important that I’m going to spend the first quarter of the year creating content to unpack it. Our personal narrative is the basis of our reality. It’s how we interpret the events and conditions of our human existence.

Jesus said that living in the last days would be such a head trip that even the core disciples would have a hard time holding on to their faith.

The top priority for me in a day like this is to re-build my own internal belief system. We all evolve in our beliefs based on our experience and our learning, but also because of social factors.

I think most of us would do well to re-examine the foundations of our belief system. I mean, most evangelicals would be ready to fight over “the inerrancy of the Bible” but most evangelicals also do not open their Bible outside of church.

If we’re going to pass the test of living in the media generation we need to be honest and certain of what we believe and really believe it. Otherwise, social pressures and the internet mind feed are going to blow us away from our stated beliefs.

The Corner Piece

I think I’ve found the corner piece, a starting point from which to build a belief system. I made a short video to explain it to you. Please take a moment to watch it, OK?

The fact that we are all creatures—created beings— is the Bible’s first thought block for us. Everything else has to be built upon this foundation.

Have you ever spent much time just thinking that, like Pinnochio, you were made and awakened by another?

It leaves me with this question, “What is the appropriate posture of a created being toward its creator?”

The world seems to be angry at the Creator for the inconveniences and injustices of life (most of which come from human selfishness). For me, I want to know my Maker. I want to understand what was in His heart when he conceived of me and brought me and my planet into existence. I want to walk in agreement with Him and listen as He explains what is real and right and true. I want to know God. In doing so, I think I might finally come to know myself and all that is latent in me.

That’s my homework for 2024. I hope you’ll join me. Let’s discuss this in the chat. See you there.