God Believes in You

[lilithu]

My apologies if this is in the wrong forum. I don't want to debate this, and I didn't want to limit discussion to any particular religious tradition. So it's here.

"God Believes in You."

No, I'm not trying to convert anyone to theism. If non-theists are interested in responding, they can make it a hypothetical situation. I just want to discuss this sentence that Forrest Whitaker said during his acceptance speech for the Best Actor Oscar last night. Many people, when they win something, will thank God. That's fine. And Whitaker did do that. But he went beyond that and said, "God believes in you." (Presumably Whitaker believes that God also believes in him, since this was said in the context of what he claims to be his unlikely achievement.)

The statement struck me. It struck me as unusual. And it struck me as very postive and life-affirming. Instead of focusing on whether we believe in God he affirmed that God believes in us.

What does it mean to say that God believes in you? Certainly it's not a question of God believing in your existence.

And if we turn it around, what then does it mean to say that you believe in God?

 

[Sunstone]

I see the phrase as affirming everyone's unique talents and abilities. Either that, or affirming their choice of deoderant. I'm not sure which.

 

[ayani]

i like that so much, Lilithu.

it reminds me of something Viktor Frankl said: "we must not ask what we can expect from this life, but rather ask what life is expecting from us."

 

[UnTheist]

God believes I can do great in this world, or I can achieve much in my life.