“You Can’t Prove That!”—“Woof”
In the season of Wise Men, I’d like to say a word in praise of Charles Schultz, philosopher-theologian-cartoonist and wise man. In one of the Peanuts cartoons, Linus is sitting in the pumpkin patch with Snoopy, the place Linus does his best thinking (and hoping). He asks Snoopy a question:
“What would you say if you were the only one in the world who believed something and everyone else thought you were crazy?”
Snoopy’s reply:
“Woof!”
I feel like that some days. Keenly aware that most of my views and values are minority views, and also aware that I cannot in fact prove their validity in the same way that one can prove that water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen, sometimes my only response to “Can you prove that?” is “Woof.”
The dangers of being satisfied with “Woof” are obvious. It may just show that I am stubborn or irrational or lazy or all of the above. I should spend time developing “reasons” for why I see things as I do, even if I keep them to myself. We all have an inner voice asking us tough questions anyway, so we may as well come up with something to say to him or her.
But too often all that defensive reason-mongering is mostly smoke and mirrors and, in the end, not very relevant anyway. We generally believe what we do (derived from mind, spirit, body, imagination, and experience) and then afterward come up with reasons WHY as we need to, rather than starting as blank slates and reasoning our way to a belief. So it’s often more honest when pressed to defend a belief to just say “woof.”
As you will of course have guessed, I think this at times applies to faith in God. I suspect Schultz may have God in mind when, over the years, Linus sits in his patch and waits patiently for the spirit of the Great Pumpkin to arise. Linus has no proof it will every happen, but he has faith, and we love him all the more because of it.
Ask me one day why I believe as I do about God, the human condition, what’s important and the like and I will give you reasons and evidence and all manner of arguments. Ask me the same questions on another day and I’ll simply respond, “Woof.”