Supposition of Faith
The title of this entry is the title of a song by a band called The Toll. They were heroes of mine in rather ineffable ways. Ironic, that, because it was their language and their music that showed me the way to my own neglected humanity in those awful years when I shut myself down rather than accept myself, my sexuality and suppose that the intangibility of friendships would support my weight.
I don't remember the words to that Toll song, but I'll forgive me that because the lyrics were rarely the same, even when performances were only 24 hours apart. I don't even remember the chorus of it right now, for which my friend Lisa will not forgive me.
Nonetheless, the song title popped into my head, unbidden, as so many blog-promptings do. It's just how my brain works. I don't question it. I just use it, exploiting Essential Visitation for the purposes of Accidental Blathering.
Supposing the existence of something like Faith is a very strange exercise if you sit down and actually consider it. Stranger still, we do it all the time. Strangest of all, when left to the subconscious, such supposition is simply Natural.
It's the implications of supposing that I'm interested in. The notion of supposing implies dependence, continuance, subsequence, consequence. A supposition is a request to join a different reality, if just for a moment: Suppose that East is West, Day is Night, for example, and that sunset turns into a sunrise. Suppose that Jesus (yes, that Jesus) actually had procreated with Mary Magdeline, and that turns the Catholics into a Conspiracy. Suppose that we hadn't traded authentic righteous indignation into a vengeful and petty bitch-slap of Iraq, and that turns W. into a thoughtful leader instead of a graceless good ol' boy.
Ahhhh..I just remembered at least part of the chorus of the song: “Faith, Faith! Faith, Faith!” A chant. Of all things. In the positivist world, no one would accept that by repeating a thing you can make it more true. But in the twilight lands of Supposition, anything is true if you agree, even temporarily, that it is true. So the chant evinces the truth. And truth is what we make it.
Home is an Essential. Self is another. Love finishes out the triad. Three is a magic number: three defines an area, a surface, the first glimpses of reality. Four defines space, or volume. And five? Five adds Time to the mix, defines the accidental and allows, for better or worse, Cause and Effect. Before and After.
The Almighty Five. Pentacles, pentagons, Venus, the Sacred Feminine. Phi.
Where have I gone? Suppose I have a reason. Suppose I believe there's a continuity. Suppose that you understand. Suppose you see the continuity. Suppose you have faith in my reasoning.
Supposition of Faith. Five Steps. What have we done together?