Man's Greatest Invention!

What is man's greatest invention?

There would be innumerable answers to such a question. The transistor, would be the engineer's answer. The historian would probably shake his head, and go with 'the printing press', a child would say television, the teenager: the Internet, the politician: government and a lot of guys would most definitely say pornography (not admitting to it of course, but a valid answer nonetheless)

As controversial as it may seem, I must say it is GOD!

Please don't misunderstand me, I am not an atheist. I take on a slightly varying view of things, I guess my view could be summed up this way:

Whether GOD exists or not, I do not know, frankly I don't think it matters. GOD is a concept, an idea, one that is essential to have some semblance of sanity & goodness in the world . It is the name we give to things we don't understand or do not want to understand, things that are beyond our control. It is someone we go to for support. We do our best at the task at hand, and console ourselves by saying, "GOD knows, how hard we've tried. He'll take care of it". All this because without the belief that that is a higher being, a powerful existence, that is looking over us, and taking care of us, our world would crumble under the burden of failure and dejection.

If the belief in a higher being, who 'controls everything', and with a sense or right and wrong, does not exist in our minds, we would all do as we wish. The concept of conscience, I believe, is a derivative of the idea of GOD, and both of these are interlinked and interdependent. If we didn't believe in GOD, there wouldn't be an inner voice cautioning us against bad, and encouraging us to do good. Similarly, if there wasn't some inner guiding force, belief in a supreme being wouldn't last, because the foremost tenet in the belief of GOD is the idea that GOD resides within each of us.

Thus, God is nothing, but our conscience, and our hope.
the hope for light where is darkness, the hope for joy where there is sorrow, the hope for success where there is failure, the hope for a future where there is no past. (my (failed) attempt at poetry, but I think a post like this wouldn't be complete without it)

Its like when you learnt to ride the bike. After a push your Dad just follows behind, not actually supporting you. You ride along-unaware- thinking that whatever happens, Dad will take care of you. Whether he is actually there or not is irrelevant. The belief that your Dad, all powerful and strong (as a kid your Dad was your hero, and there is nobody like him) is there, is enough to give you the confidence to pedal forward. At the unfortunate(it was for me) instant, that you do realise, all your self-confidence drains away, and you all know the rest.

As humans we are a very weak species. We are always anxious, nervous, insecure and negative. We are never satisfied. Failures' dejections linger longer than the joys of success. We are more saddened by others' joys than by our own sorrows. We often find ourselves lonely and unhappy, even when there are no real reasons for them.

I am sure we have all felt like this sometime in our lives. All this is very hard for us, and without believing that there's somebody who is always with us, every step of the way, I am sure the suicide rates would be much higher than they already are.

Does this mean that I don't go to temples and pray? That I despise all sorts religious acts? That I disbelieve all 'miracles'?

Not at all. As I said before, believing gives us strength, and everybody needs strength to go on. So when I pray before exams, confess in my own way to God, and ask for things to go well in my family's future, I do it with my heart. Whether someone listens or not, is not important.