Are You A '?' Or An '!'

? doubter, agnostic
! zealot

If the '?', then seek the grace to overcome doubts. Lord, I believe; help my unbelief! Mark 9:24

Ten thousand difficulties do not make one doubt. Saint John Henry Newman, Apologia Pro Vita Sua

If the '!', then seek the grace of humility to serve God at all times for the salvation of souls. The zealot loves Tradition, but if does not possess love, he is but a noisy gong (1 Corinthians 13:1). The zealot is always "prepared to make a defense to any one who calls (him) to account for the hope that is in (him), yet does it with gentleness and reverence (1 Peter 3:15).

If zealots are prone to any kind of excess, zealots can be prone to a form of toxic enthusiasm. That is, they might make a defense of something by denigrating the opposition. It may be true that the opposition falls short on a particular issue, but rarely do people win others to a cause by promoting themselves at the expense of another's reputation. To make a proper defense, a well-reasoned argument must be made. Apologetics - yes. Polemics - not so much. Speak the truth, ratify the goodness and celebrate the beauty of, for example, traditional liturgy. That is, liturgy celebrated in ways that are faithful to the rubrics and norms that preserve a clear and abiding focus on God. Avoid falling into the trap of dwelling on the inadequacies of many contemporary celebrations of the sacred Liturgy. As disconcerting and annoying as some situations might be, one cannot allow oneself to be fixated merely on the bad. One must herald the good and draw to the attention of those in bland or, worse, blasphemous situations, the right way, the true way, the good way, the beautiful way, and the holy way of God Who is the very heart and center of the sacred Liturgy.

The agnostic, if he be more a doubter, requires a conversion of sorts, a conversion to honest questioning in order to discover and, when confronted with the truth, embrace the truth. The act of questioning merely to disprove something or to win an argument tends to blind one to nuance. Question, rather, in order to discover the truth. Seek clarity if you haven't already found it. That is, if you are a disciple of Jesus, you are on the path. If you have yet to come to the realization that Jesus is Who He says He is, then pursue clarity with vigour. The one to whom you direct your inquiry should admit to any incomplete knowledge and be willing to track down a more thorough answer if one is not able to be offered at the moment.

St John 14:6 | Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me.

The quest for truth is not merely a walk on a dry river bed. Philosophy is a tool, or collection of tools that can be trained upon a specific challenge, but the ultimate satisfaction concerns the question of salvation, of ultimate meaning. The salvation of one's soul requires a re-think of assumptions.