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| Dr Dre |
William James’ central argument in “The Will to Believe” hinges on
the idea that, for certain beliefs, truth or at least our access to the
evidence of their truth, depends crucially upon our first adopting those
beliefs without sufficient evidence. For example, sometimes it is only
through first believing upon insufficient evidence that we will be able
to accomplish some hard task that we actually become capable of
accomplishing that hard task.
In virtue of this dependency of
truth on belief, James argues that it can be rational for us to have
faith in our own ability to accomplish tasks that require confidence
even if at the time we lack sufficient evidence for whether we truly
possess that ability. I have found this to be true for me because although I was
not able to pursue seminary studies after graduation from Holy Cross
College or to engage in youth counseling early in my career the call to do so and a belief that I
would one day do so has remained important to me throughout my life (Kasser and
Shah, 2006)." [1]
William James said… “If you want a quality, act as if you already had it.” [2]
However, as it turned out, it is only recently that I began to “systematically and earnestly, every day”, for the last three years, to actively increase my knowledge in related areas, make time to develop my own spiritual practices, and to doggedly seek opportunities where I might become directly involved in helping others to further their personal development.
When
describing the “Methods of Training of The Will”, Roberto Assagioli,
M.D. emphasizes the importance of “preparation”.
To ensure
success, it is of paramount importance that a proper preparation be made
to create the initial urge and impetus; this preparation should arose a
lively, fervid and even passionate desire to develop the will, leading
to the firm decision to do all that is necessary for attaining that end." [3]
Back in
the summer of 2009, as a volunteer with Immanuel Bible Church of
Howell, New Jersey, I traveled to Camden, New Jersey where I would spend
one week at KIDS ALLEY. Kids Alley is the main program of One Accord
Inc., a nonprofit faith-based organization that reaches out to
inner-city children and their families with weekly programs.
Participating youth live in the city of Camden, New Jersey, considered
the most violent and impoverished city in the United States. Sixty-five (65%)
percent of its population consists of at-risk children. Kids Alley has
been boldly reaching out to the children in Camden every since 1998 with a
mission, a vision, and a promise to help others in building a much brighter
future.
Kids Alley started out with a Saturday morning program,
focusing on children ages 3-12 and their families. Their Saturday
morning program in which I served as a volunteer is a FUN filled, highly
energized atmosphere consisting of a unique and creative blend of
games, music, drama, puppetry, Bible lessons, creative and technical
arts, and contemplation and prayer. The program embraces the children
with love and empowers them with practical teaching for victorious daily
living. The Kids Alley program aims to ensure that all its children actively
participate and that every child feels like a winner. At the end of the
program, each child also leaves daily with a nutritious bagged lunch.
This
Kids Alley ministry focuses on key Biblical principles and is the
emphasis in everything that takes place. Along with between twenty to
thirty adolescent youth and a number of parents from three different
churches, together we converged on Kids Alley to help successfully run
the 2009 summer program for one of the two weeks that the program is
offered. For me, it turned out to be a life-changing experience.
The
activities that I became involved with ranged from indoor and outdoor
arts, crafts, recreational games and sports, formal classroom
instruction, and personally assisting individual kids who were
experiencing emotional and behavioral difficulties during program
hours. I tremendously enjoyed all aspects of the program and I received high praise
from Pastor Vivian Tan, Founder and Director of Kids Alley for my
overall contribution to the program, assistance in supporting the
efforts of the young volunteers, and in helping to ensure each kids
overall enjoyment. This experience served as an affirmation for me that this is
where I am best able to have a positive impact on the lives of others.
Whatever good that I was able to offer I believe came out of my ability to
return to the unpleasant experiences of having been an abused, angry,
disadvantaged, self-conscious and single-parented child myself. A few
of the kids participating in the program with a prior history of being
difficult to manage and with whom I spent extra time went on to have a
very good school year, became noticeably more well-mannered, and
kinder towards others and more self-confident themselves during their continuing participation in the Kids Alley
Saturday morning program throughout the following school year.
According to Assagiolo, founder of the psychological movement known
as psychosynthesis, any act of will actually takes place through six
clear stages:
- investigation (finding out what it is we wish to do);
- deliberation (considering all the different things we wish to do at any time and selecting the acts most relevant to our current situation);
- decision (deciding upon the one act that is most important to us at the present time, and clearly formulating and stating this desire);
- affirmation (staying connected to this decision through constantly re-affirming that this choice is what we really desire to achieve);
- plan (thinking about the different ways we can actually make whatever it is happen);
- execution (doing it, finding ways of carrying out the intended plan, either in entirety or step-by-step.)
Every
choice we make involves these six stages to a greater or lesser degree.
It might be that for a particular choice we know what we want, hardly
have to deliberate over it at all, and are able to quickly plan and
execute the action necessary to succeed. For example, our choice to go
to a nearby shop to purchase something we need. On the other hand, we
might not really know what we want, and we might endlessly deliberate
over the choices and never actually decide what to do. Then again, we
might know exactly what we want and yet not know how to go about
planning and executing the necessary actions. Our desire could be
something well worked out, but for which the execution needs to take
place at a particular time. If we choose to view a sunset, we will only
be able to make it happen at the right time of day.
While our
acts of will always include all six stages, they rarely do so in a
linear fashion. For instance, while planning we may need to go back and
deliberate even further when we may also discover that we have not quite
got the choice right. Often we need to keep going back to our choice
to keep affirming it, over, and over. Constantly returning to the
affirmation stage to focus on and strengthen our choices is usually a
good technique because it reinforces the planning and execution of our
desire.
We also have to consider that every choice we make affects
everything and everyone else. For example, if I choose to eat a
particular piece of fruit right now, you will never be able to eat it
either now or at any other time. That may not seem so serious – after
all, there is usually plenty of fruit to be found elsewhere. In other
circumstances, however, such knowledge takes on much more significance.
Someone may choose to ignore the knowledge that lead-free gasoline is
better for the environment. That they continue buying leaded gasoline
seems to make no difference, because what difference can one person
actually make? Yet in reality, the situation will continue worsening
over time if we all maintain this outlook.
We must make our
choices clearly and with heart, and be aware of this global effect, yet
we must not allow such knowledge to make us impotent. Rather we must try
to align ourselves with the flow of nature so that our choices add to
rather than subtract from the evolution of consciousness and [the
sustainability of] our planet. [4]
Following
my volunteer experience in Camden, New Jersey, I became exceedingly
curious about how to expand on the program content provided to the
Camden kids from an interreligious and intercultural perspective. To
me, it seemed as though there was still an important element missing
from the worldview being taught at Kids Alley from the standpoint of
accepting, celebrating and embracing diversity. I see this as an
essential measurement of the humanity, humility and commitment to
religious pluralism and tolerance often needed today especially in light of
the demographics, socio-economic makeup of the city, and the extent of
gang violence that continues to prevail there amongst the youth. For
example, Pastor Vivian regularly shared stories with the volunteers
about the number of children whose funerals she had to sadly preside
over that year.
[1] James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience - A Study in Human Nature 1902
[2]
Kasser, J.,and Sha, N. The Metaethics of Belief: An Expressivist
Reading of “The Will to Believe”. Social Epistemology Vol. 20, No. 1,
January–March 2006, pp. 1–17. Taylor & Francis
[4]
Kasser, J. and Shah, N. (2006). The Metaethics of Belief: An
Expressivist Reading of "The Will to Believe". Social Epistemology Vol.
20, No. 1, January-March, pp. 1-17. Routledge Taylor & Francis
Group.
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