Out of the scriptures listed, the one that spoke the most to me was Revelations 7:13-17 which reads:
13 And one of the elders answered, saying unto me, What are these which are arrayed in white robes? and whence came they?
14 And I said unto him, Sir, thou knowest. And he said to me, These are they which came out of great tribulation, and have washed their robes, and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.
15 Therefore are they before the throne of God, and serve him day and night in his temple: and he that sitteth on the throne shall dwell among them.
16 They shall hunger no more, neither thirst any more; neither shall the sun light on them, nor any heat.
17 For the Lamb which is in the midst of the throne shall feed them, and shall lead them unto living fountains of waters: and God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes.
What makes people turn to God? What makes people seek out religion in the first place? Some people might say a weakness of character, that they don't have the internal strength to motivate themselves to be good so they need an outer source. I would argue that those who seek out religion are looking for hope. They are looking for confirmation that their life matters, that sorrow is only temporary, and that a better world is possible. This is not weakness, this is having the strength to reject the status quo and go in search of truth. It is to fight within yourself for a better you by finding something true, external and unchanging to align with. A hope, a goal, a vision - and then a plan to get there. This is why people seek out religion.
Sure there may be some people that have other reasons and goals, but this is my idealized view of it. At some point in people's lives, something clicks and they start to look for answers or a connection to something greater that they know deep down is out there. It isn't motivated by an outside source, it is something that comes from within.
I'm going through something of a transformation right now. For the past several years I have been having trouble motivating myself (my extreme lack of progress on this blog being a clear manifestation of this) and have mostly just gone through the motions. I would long for the days when I was driven to achieve and had so much hope in the promises of the future. Then my future turned fuzzy - and I lost my motivation. School, marriage, personal goals and resolutions - nothing really seemed to get me to care enough to find the energy. Was I a slacker? Maybe, but I think my biggest problem was that the drive just wasn't there.
Then exactly two weeks ago my entire life changed. My son was born. I survived labor, and was given a little person to hold in my arms. He was perfect, and helpless, and all he wanted to do was snuggle up to me.
Over the past two weeks something inside of me has changed. I want to be better. I want to make myself into everything I can be. And the drive is there again.
This wasn't inspired by the fear of my son judging me, or from the fear that I need to make sure I'm "good enough" to be his mom. It is like my heart changed - because he has rekindled the hope in the future I had been missing. He has pointed me inwards and forwards, instead of always looking back at what might have been. That doesn't matter to him because before his birth as far as he is concerned nothing else existed - and I have been caught up in that wave too. Starting from when he was born, my entire world was reborn as well.
This is why scriptures like the ones I listed matter. This is why people caring about religion and God and progression matters. Because hope isn't something that you just decide to have happen, it is a condition of your heart.
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