To Be

Paul Tillich was a German born philosopher and Theologian, who wrote mostly on aspects of faith, life, the spirit and the use of ‘being’ in systematic theology, as that of being in God, man, and Christ, needless to say he was a religious soul!
 
  “The courage to be is rooted in the God who appears when God has disappeared in the anxiety of doubt.”
It does remind me of the nightly ritual, as a youngster, kneeling beside the bed, hands clasped, saying prayers to keep safe those who were close.The way in which faith is blindly given when so young, dissipates as we grow. Prayers of yesterday become our worries of tomorrow, and our cares for finding our niche, jobs, families, housing and other material possessions. As time marches forward, those people for whom we once prayed may change, a new set of people occupy our thoughts.

"I could not forget all the love that was made, only time left an armour of rustic-worn shreds."

It’s perhaps apt, then, in the first quote above, Tillich should express that when all else has vanished, and faith in the God you once believed in has been forgotten, it is the person who is left to pick up the courage to move forward that allows us to ‘be’. We must learn to have faith in ourselves before we have the courage to explore, to find our place in this world, to surround ourselves with people and objects that calm and relax us, before we become the person we always wanted to ‘be’.