1 Corinthians 13:4-7
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
Once upon a time, I was a Christ Follower. This is, of course, distinct from Christian in that the sect I belonged to held itself higher. We weren't like those preachy Christians with their trying to convert people and large, flashy shows of faith; we were a people that wanted nothing more than to be as happy as we could be, and we believed the path to that destination was the Bible. Yes, we did try to bolster our numbers, so in retrospect it really wasn't too dissimilar from the standard Assembly of MethoBaptists (the First, Second, and Third Churchs thereof).
I've since left that community, and I wish them the very best. There were two lasting effects of my time spent learning from my friend Chris and the rest of the community, however.
The first was an experience of a higher power, what some would call God. In a moment of peer-driven euphoria and rapture, I felt, and suddenly, I believed. In an auditorium, I suddenly felt moved. I realize there are many explanations to this, but I'm quite content with the one I have now, as it lends to a much better story to tell.
The second idea that I took, quite greedily I might add, from the community of Christ Followers, is icbat. While my belief in a higher power varies from day to day, icbat is something that I believe in whole-heartedly, and icbat is my guiding force behind answering life's tough questions.
You may have noticed the Bible verses I quoted at the top of the page, and perhaps you've been curious as to what relevance they hold to this conversation. The concept of icbat is explained in those verses in a very subtle manner. Simply put, icbat means to live as love; those verses serve as a guide as to how one would go about being love. Above all else, your heart an conscience can nearly always tell you which action is the most loving, if you give it some thought.
The word "icbat" comes from the transmogrification of the verses' identifiers. 1 becomes and i, C drops case to be a c, 13 looks very similar to a capital b, and 47 looks somewhat akin to capital AT. Originally, I wrote the word only in all capitals to emphasize its meaning and the value of such a philosophy. Now, hindsight being what it is, I write it only in all lower-case (with the first letter capitalized if and only if icbat appears at the beginning of a sentence) to convey the idea that I am icbat (I am love), and that by being love, I am putting others first, i.e. their names are still capitalized, but mine is not.
These days, in all seriousness, I call myself a Jedi. After wearing the title of Atheist and Agnostic for some time, I realized that neither of these titles really fit. What does fit, however, is the title of Jedi. While I make no claims as to my knighthood, or even my knowledge of the Force or the Order, I do believe this syncs up rather nicely (as well as allowing me to show my geekier side) in the following ways:
1. Unlike and Atheist or an Agnostic, I believe there is a higher good/purpose/being.
2. Similar to a Jedi, I believe that no person deserves an execution or torture, as the act of torturing or executing simply does not line up with "living love."
3. I do believe there is good in each and every person, even if they've been conditioned to only rarely show it.
4. While I don't have a replacement for an afterlife, I really don't think it's anything that anyone other than the most wise/in-tune can remotely imagine; I don't think it'll be anything comparable to this life in any way.
I'm sure there's more, and I might feel inclined to revise this further when I have more time to think. For now, though, I hope this post sheds some light on to how I live my life, and why I call myself icbat.
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