Though we may often feel the weight of our feelings bearing down on us, our basic beliefs about reality also press their weight upon us while serving as the foundation upon which our thoughts and feelings operate.  Often, we may refer to this collection of beliefs as a worldview which more or less means our overarching understanding of what is reality.  Because these views of the world or reality press upon us so often and so heavily, a self-awareness of their nature provides insight into how they are affecting our daily lives.  We can ask ourselves some preliminary questions about our worldviews such as the following.  Do we view the sum or reality as solely material or as solely supernatural or some combination of the two?  Do we view the sum of reality as primary good or bad or balanced? Do we view the sum of reality as controllable, out of our control, or somewhere in between? Do we view the sum of reality as having a goal or just purposeless? More could be flushed out, but each of these perspectives influence the thoughts and feelings which come from us and press upon us.  Therefore, our view of reality, or worldview, although acting as a foundation of life, does weigh profoundly upon all we think and feel.

              Defining a worldview beyond the tautology of it being a view of the world seems redundant, yet pressing into this concept offers us opportunities to grow.  As an interdependent convergence of views about the reality we experience, it serves as the foundation for which we base all other decisions.  It ultimately describes what we believe is “real”.  While we may be wrong or delusional about a belief and act contrary to reality, we do so because of a belief about reality as we will rarely if ever act based on something we do not believe is “real”. Although, to be fair, we have feelings about much which is not “real” such as stories, whether in books, movies, songs, or told by others that can make us feel strongly though such stories are nothing more than stories.  Even in this situation, the lasting feelings are built upon what we believe to be true and this worldview serves as an operational framework or starting point.

              In evaluating our own worldview, we begin with asking “in what type of reality do we ultimately exist?”  We appear to live, walk, breath, and relate in a physical world, but almost universally we are confronted with the question whether there is more to reality than what the physical senses perceive.  Across time and space, most not only ask but also believe that there is more to reality than what our senses perceive.  Rather than referring to a microscopic world beyond our eyes, we inquire about the presence of a spiritual or supernatural reality outside of our normal senses.  Gods, goddesses, spirits, and vague “forces” have been imagined, forged, feared, and worshipped. Some in the past and even today actually imagine our physical world to be only an illusion hiding the actual true reality of spirit somehow underneath.  One’s belief of whether we are operating in a physical world or something more or something else will determine one’s action in that assumed reality.  Believing that all is material without a spiritual aspect will minimize that power of moral persuasion from a higher rule of life.  Your resulting thoughts and feelings about reality will be different.  On the other hand, believing that a spiritual world lies beyond our senses, especially if one believes that a God resides within that spiritual realm judging your life in the physical, will greatly influence your behaviors as well as your thoughts and feelings.  Believing that fulfillment of life lies beyond a real or illusory physical world may diminish the value of the surrounding world.  One may think of it less, giving it less value, having different feelings towards it.  Given the considerable contrasting natures of these views and other myriad similar examples, not all of these views can be true. 

              Beyond the distinctions between different views of physical versus spiritual reality, there lies the ethical questions of whether there is a true right or wrong, a good or bad, and how might we distinguish between them.  Whether or not we believe in a spiritual reality leads to such questions of right and wrong.  If reality is nothing more than the physical, on what do we base morality? In such a situation, morality comes down to the power or authority within the physical reality with those in power determining what is right or wrong for others, a morality which changes based on who is in power.  If reality includes a spiritual dimension, the contents of that spiritual dimension play a role in our experience of right and wrong depending on whether or not the spiritual reality includes a power or authority over us in the physical realm.  One should learn whether or not something is owed to that spiritual power and if consequences may come from crossing the will of that power or authority.  We see the continued question of where ultimate power and authority rests though no longer in the hands of men.  From another perspective, if the physical serves only as an illusion, does anything really matter here except a potential higher good of aiming to escape the physical to enter solely the spiritual?  We will live life differently based on our specific answers to these questions.

               One more step in understanding our worldview then touches on whether we believe that our “being and doing” even matters.  Whether perceived as spiritual or physical reality, could we be at the mercy and whim of determining forces beyond our influence, or do we play a role in the march of reality towards an end?  In a physical world without spiritual reality, we may or may not view ourselves as being “in control”.  In a smaller scope, we may take pride in controlling and thinking that control is a necessity or virtue.  In a wider scope of life, it becomes more difficult to hold onto the belief that we have control.  Daily we are faced with physical limits that deny the possibility of ultimate control over life.  In such a world we will think about survival through controlling what we can around us including nature and even other people with whom we interact.  We will feel unavoidable anxiety when that control is threatened or hindered, maybe even anger. 

              In a world where the spiritual is believed to exist and which stands above the physical, we will approach life differently as we ponder what may lie beyond our physical senses.  Many over the centuries have conjured pictures of deities and spiritual powers which demanded their attention or their obedience or their worship.  If we believe in such spiritual powers, our thoughts and feelings will focus on how to influence or worship such powers.  Our feelings will then reflect on whether or not we believe that we have appeased such powers adequately to provide for our well-being.  If our view of such powers is one of their being inconsolable or beyond our ability to influence positively, we may either throw our hands up with a “que sera, sera” feeling hopeless.

              Building another layer of understanding regarding our worldview, we must ask if there is a point to all of this, is there a purpose to life?  Whether viewed from the standpoint of individual effort or the collective effort of humanity, are there goals at which the one or the many should aim?  The reality and recognition of purpose will draw one’s attention to the goal whereas an absence can leave one to wander about without consistency in thoughts and feelings about reality.  Lack of purpose may lead to despair or a sense of lostness.  On the other hand, fear may arise from believing in a purpose that one views as unattainable.  In the middle lies the possibility of hope leading to diligence from a purpose viewed as achievable.  However, even the emotionally pragmatic view of an attainable hope serves no one if it does not match reality.  The most productive purpose is one which conforms to the physical and spiritual reality in which we live and breath, a purpose for us which comes from beyond us.

              Our view of reality, as a foundation for life, weighs heavily on all we think and feel.  What we believe is ”real” underlies and influences all that we think, how we think and what comes out of our hearts through our feelings.  If what we believe is not true of reality, our thinking and feeling will be off, leading to bad fruit in life no matter how sincere our thinking and feeling might be.  On the other hand, if we have a true view of reality, we have much more hope of living fruitfully and joyfully.  Therefore, our worldview matters and weighs upon all of life so that its formation calls for diligent effort in seeking out the true view of the world. 

 Next in this series… The Impact of Values on Our Thoughts and Feelings