Doubt: A Test of Faith | Ultimate Issues Hour

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On today's episode of Timeless Wisdom.

I'm a Christian, but I doubt all the time, and I used to have a hard time with this. One of the things that really helped me to understand that this is somewhat necessary is the book Brothers K by Dostoevsky. Yeah, there's a great quote in it where a lady comes to this father, this wise father Zosima, and she says, I've lost my faith. What can I do to get my faith back? And he looks at her and he says, love other people. He says, you have to love other people before you have faith.

That's coming up on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.

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Welcome to Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Hear thousands of hours of Dennis's lectures, courses, and classic radio programs. And to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles, go to DennisPrager.com.

To be or not to be?

That is the question. Where was God? Isn't God supposed to be good?

Isn't he supposed to love us?

Does God want us to suffer?

10 years, you're not finished yet? Marty!

Why did you do this to me? Who are you?

Bruce, I am God.

Bingo!

Yahtzee! Is that your final answer? Our survey says God! Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding!

Well, it was nice to meet you, God.

Thank you for the Grand Canyon, and good luck with the apocalypse. Alrighty, everybody, from the Minnesota State Fair, and maybe we'll have even some of you participate as you hear the theme I'm going to talk about.

This is the Ultimate Issues Hour on my show. I'm Dennis Prager and welcome to it.

Every week at this hour I talk about some great issue of life, and today it's faith and doubt.

And the, the reason for it, though it never needs a reason, it is, it is an eternal subject, just as all my ultimate issues are. Hello, sir.

The, the reason for it is the revelations about Mother Teresa that came out, and I read to you, or I spoke about it last week There was a huge essay in Time. I don't know if it was in the published edition or on the internet, but I read it off the internet, and it was the revelations that her diaries and her letters to Father confessors from the 1940s on, for 50 years, were of a woman experiencing terrible darkness vis-à-vis her faith.

That was her word, darkness. And I have to say to you, I always think I can't be surprised by some news item, that I'm pretty much at this point, if not jaded, certainly inured to just about anything happening.

I was surprised. Even I was surprised to learn that Mother Teresa had been living with tremendous doubts or alienation even from God and from Jesus to the, the central tenets of her faith. And this was— this is Mother Teresa.

I mean, if there was, if there was anybody who seemed to exemplify pure faith Uh, in many ways it was her, or it was she if you want to be grammatically correct, but it sounds pompous, so I have to choose between pomposity and grammatical correctness.

I don't like—

I don't know. Anyway, no, between pomposity and grammatical incorrectness.

In any event, she really did experience this darkness, and she spoke of it to these father confessors.

And it was, it was something to read.

I was, I was taken aback. But it should help many of you, not hurt many of you who are religious but who have doubts. Because you can say, you see, there are two ways of looking at the Mother Teresa thing if you are a religious person.

You can say, oh my God, this is really bad news if even she, if even she had such doubts for so long.

Then who, my, by God, who on earth does believe in God fully? Or you can say, wow, even she had all these doubts, so it's normal for a religious person to experience doubts. Those are your two choices, in effect. And I opt for the second one. I want to give you a phrase that I, I, I I will— I remember now who said it.

Ah, God, I'm so happy. Emanuel Rackman, a distinguished rabbi, an Orthodox rabbi.

He said, and you will find this phrase fascinating, he said, God created doubt. God created doubt is the— and this is a believing Orthodox rabbi who said that.

And I, I quoted him in my first book. The Nine Questions People Ask About Judaism, wrote many years ago. And I found that quote to be very powerful.

Why would God create doubt? Because God knows what certitude does to people. After all, let's be, let's be clear. And you know, I believe that we who are religious, we have to use common sense just as much as anybody else does. Well, we're not absolved from using common sense. Couldn't God have made knowledge of him absolutely clear. Isn't that right? I mean, if God wanted to, God could make his presence and existence known to us as obviously as we see a tree.

There's a tree, there's God. And if God can do anything, God could certainly make us absolutely certain.

But he chose not to. And he chose not to, in my opinion, quite deliberately. Because it is a good thing for us to choose faith rather than to have absolute no-choice knowledge. When are you freer— just to give— I'll give you a number of reasons, but I'll give you one obvious one.

When are you freer to decide whether or not you should speed on the freeway?

When there's a highway patrolman driving next to you, or when you don't know if there's any highway patrolman around? You have far more freedom. I mean, you could technically speed and drive erratically even if there's a highway patrol car next to you, but unless you are under the influence of alcohol or you have brain damage, you're not going to. Everybody drives slower when they see a cop car. When you know the police are there, you act differently. The freedom that we have is when we don't know that the police are there. That's what gives us freedom of choice. Not having absolute certitude of God at every given moment is what in fact gives us freedom of choice. If God were hovering around us at every given moment, what freedom would we have? And so, so in order to make life meaningful, believe it or not, God had to enable us to have doubts, or even for there to be atheists. Now, I think atheism—

frankly, I think atheism is foolish. I don't think agnosticism is foolish. I don't— I'm not an agnostic, I'm a believer, but I don't believe agnosticism is foolish. I believe atheism is.

To have certitude there is no God is unbelievable to me.

Everything came about on its own?

I mean, the idea is preposterous. Intelligence came from non-intelligence? That strikes me as goofy. So I'm not even going to deal with the atheist.

I'm going to— I mean, I'll deal with atheists who call me, but I'm not going to deal with that right now.

What I want to deal with is actually the believer who has doubts. I want you to know it's okay to have doubts. It's not fun. It's not pleasant. But it is normal. In effect, let me give you perhaps an analogy to a human analogy. I think most couples have ebbs and tides of their love. I'm talking about good marriages. I'm not talking about bad marriages. I think that most good marriages, 90, probably 99.9%, maybe 100%, there are, there are times where one is, is absolutely certain this is the person for me, absolutely certain that they have the deepest love, absolutely certain they're in love. And there are times when there may be doubts.

There are times when they're about the love or about the, well, is this the right person? In fact, let me tell you a great line about that told to me by my psychiatrist friend, Dr. Stephen Marmore, who's on the show often on the Happiness Hour. He said a patient said to him, "Doctor, everybody has married the wrong person." Except some have really married the wrong person.

In other words, at some point, just about everybody wonders, gee, did I marry the right person? And they may have the greatest marriage in the world. And so it's— everybody is— the human being gets plagued by doubts. That is the way it is. Now, it's not comfortable, it's not fun, it's not theologically terrific, uh, for some, but that's the way I think God has made us. He has made a world where it is possible to doubt him and his existence, and it's okay. That's why I remind people that the, that the, the definition of the word Israel When Jacob's name in Genesis is changed to Israel, the reason is given: because he has struggled with God and with man. Israel means Israel. El means God. Isra means to struggle with. So the very name— the God of Israel is the God of struggle with God. That's who that God is, the God of struggle with God. It's, it's okay. It's okay. 1-800-PRAEGER-776. 1-800-PRAEGER-776.

That's the number here.

And if you are a religious person plagued by doubts, tell me. I would be— I will be happy to talk to you.

How you reacted to the Mother Teresa revelations, how you're reacting to what I am saying.

I have to tell you, when I meet somebody who says they have never ever doubted, I, I, it's— I don't, I don't think they're lying to me. I believe them, but I, I, it's hard for me to fully relate to that. Thank God I am not plagued by doubts about God's existence that much. I, I, I had a—

I had one period when I remember, and I'll tell you why it happened even.

I remember exactly.

I was in my early 20s and it was debilitating. I, I, well, I will tell you about it when we return.

This is the Ultimate Issues Hour on the Dennis Prager Show.

We return momentarily from the Minnesota State Fair.

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

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Now back to more of Dennis Prager's Timeless Wisdom.

All righty, everybody, this is the Ultimate Issues Hour.

Let's have a serious round of applause here. Thank you very much. I know why that man didn't clap. He has coffee in both hands. I understand. That's fair enough. I really monitor who applauds and doesn't. I want you to know that. You will be seen by the Patriot later. Hello, hello, lady.

Hehehe.

All right, I'm at the Minnesota State Fair and I'm having a great time as usual. My 5th year in a row here. And this is the Ultimate Issues Hour, a big one. And those of you here live, isn't this a fascinating question? It really—

it's just so—

such a big deal. And I think I'm—

I think I, I, I'm going to help a lot of people with this because so many people fear, even fear doubt.

They would be punished for it, or, or it'll— everything will collapse.

That's why I want you to remember what— and, and it's important that you know, it was an Orthodox believing rabbi who said it.

God created doubt.

Doesn't it make sense? God could have made his existence completely obvious to us, just like we know that anything exists. Our foot— you don't have any doubts about your foot existing.

And God could have made him as obvious as your foot, himself as obvious.

But he's created a world where he is invisible.

Now, yes, of course, the Christians believe that he was incarnate, but it was a limited time. And it's still a matter of faith whether you believe God came incarnate or not.

It's still faith. So doubt is part of the equation that God, I believe, expects. It's okay. I think God prefers the thinking and probing believer rather than the believer who doesn't think and probe. And I'll tell you another thing, the people who never have doubts, and I have met some who claim that, very often they're the most likely to be shattered by bad events. It's exactly those of us who have asked the questions and who have probed the question and who have struggled with God, and remember it is the God of Israel that Jews and Christians believe in, and Israel means struggle with God, don't forget that fact. Those who have struggled and worked it through, we're less likely to be shattered by the tragedies that are inevitable in life, and they are in— that is, life has built-in tragedy. There is no one who escapes tragedy. No one. The deaths of loved ones. Every— you either die first or loved ones will die before you. That is the nature of things. In either case, it's a tragedy. And so, so we, we who— those of us who do struggle with this We are in better condition to have faith with tragedy than those who never struggled with it. That's the irony.

I knew a man, I, I wish I could tell you who it was only because many of you will have known who he is, but it's not important. It's just he happens to be somewhat well known, but he's a dear, dear soul.

And he said to me, this happened about 20 years ago, a dear, a member of his family whom he was very close to.

I don't even want to say I won't say what member, because I don't want any possibility of identifying him. Dear member of his family died prematurely in young middle age, the person he was deeply closest to. And he called me up, and he knew, because he knew that I was a broadcaster, it was in my early days, and that I was religious.

And he said, Dennis, I want you to know I spoke to God every single day of my life.

And now I will never talk to him again. And by the way, he's kept his promise. This is about 20 or 25 years later.

He still does—

has never—

not since the day of this person's death. And I said, I said, I don't understand. All, all these other young people had died and you were still capable of talking to God, but then when it happens to you, a loved one dies prematurely, then all of a sudden God is no longer there? I said, "That's right." He was very open about it. So people are not prepared when they have a simple faith often. Simple faith sounds good on the outside, but it may not be so good. Maybe complex faith is good. So that's why I'm talking about this now.

And let me take your calls from around the country. 1-800-DENNIS-PRAGER, 776-777-7777. And let's go to Glendale, Arizona, and Nathan. Hello, Nathan. Dennis Prager.

Oh, sir.

Yeah, I'm someone that hasn't not doubted the existence of God at all, as far as I can recall. When I was about 5 years old, by the time I was 5 years old, I'd been just taking my dad's word for it. But then he accidentally told me something. It made me realize that I would have to choose. And thinking about it, I kind of went through a little Descartes thinking and realized, well, I mean, obviously intelligence is real and obviously the things around me are real and they had to have come from an intelligent source, da da da. And as far as dealing with tragedy, the thing is, throughout my life I've been searching, trying to search deeper, and I think that's what makes it possible for me to deal with tragedy. I mean, if I just stopped at that certain point, where I was at 5, and with all the assumptions I had about God at that point, then yeah, I would have been very vulnerable, as you were talking about earlier.

Well, look, you're a rare person who has not had these doubts, and I— but I'm not exactly certain that you won't ever have them. But anyway, thank you for your call, and let's go to Steve in Phoenix, Arizona. Hello, Steve. Hello, Steve. Come in, Steve. All right, we'll have to put Steve on hold there. And let's go to Cleveland and Doug. Hello, Doug in Cleveland. Dennis Prager, hi.

Hi, Dennis, how are you? Um, I just, uh, thinking about what you're saying, and as far as I can see, um, if, if one receives free will, that by definition says that part of the will is to doubt. So, um, I don't think you could not have doubt if you have free will. And, and as far as a reason for having done that by God, and that is that, that as you said before, when he loves— when we love him, he wants to know it's our choice and not his demand.

So, uh, all right, I like that. We're absolutely in sync. By the way, call me. What I really want to do is help those of you who do have Two problems.

One, you have doubts, and I don't mean the confirmed atheist. When I'm not going to hear— I'm not here for debates. I'm here right now to try to answer those of you who do believe but have a lot of doubts, or had— did believe and now have even more doubts than belief.

And those of you who are troubled, this is the real thing. I don't want you to be troubled by the fact that you have doubts. God, God, if anything, God has a special— and I don't speak this way normally— a special love for you. I actually believe that God loves— Mother Teresa did all that good work for people with all her doubts, with all her darkness. Doesn't God have an even more special place for her? At least by common sense. I mean, that would strike me as, wow, look at what you did even when you weren't certain of me. That, that sound— that sounds terrific.

And oh, there was another thinker, and I'll remember his name in a moment too when we come back, who spoke about God wanting us to grow up.

And that's—

that, that also strikes me as part of it.

Just as our parents can't be there as we grow up, God takes a different role as we grow up too.

We'll be back in a moment.

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

As a new school year begins, The Salvation Army's Words of Life podcast is launching a special series designed to encourage and equip families for the journey ahead. Featuring conversations with a veteran high school math teacher, a licensed student counselor, and experienced parents, this series tackles the real challenges students and families face today.

Don't be afraid, I guess, as parents, that it's gonna be messy. It's gonna look ugly. What a blessing it is to be entrusted with the lives of people that can pour out their dirty and their mess and you be there to pick them up. That's awesome.

Whether you're a parent, grandparent, teacher, mentor, or student, these practical and hope-filled conversations offer biblical encouragement alongside real-world wisdom from people who have spent years investing in the lives of young people. This series begins on August 12th, so be sure to subscribe to Words of Life so you don't miss any of these episodes. To learn more about the show, visit wordsoflifepodcast.org.

Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom.

All right, let's hear it, everybody. We're back at the Minnesota State Fair.

And hello, gang. It's, uh, you guys hearing me? You're not hearing me? What happened to the applause? I mean, why, what am I, what am I, chopped liver here?

I don't understand.

They couldn't hear me. All right, I feel a little better now. I go, let's hear it, gang, and all I see are dead faces. Amazing. A very humbling moment.

Welcome to the Ultimate Issues Hour on the Dennis Prager Show. And this one is about doubt and faith.

Can't get more ultimate than this. But I really do pick the big issues for this hour because that's the way it is. By the way, those of you who do care about these issues should know, and just a personal note for a moment, I will be conducting, and I've never done this in Southern California, High Holy Day services, which are coming up in a couple in a couple of weeks. And if you are interested in attending them, please send me an email to either prageradio.com or dennisprager.com and let me know and I'll send you information immediately. And this, of course, my first love is religion. These are the ultimate questions of life and if there is no God, life is inherently absurd. That's not an argument that God exists, but I think one has to be honest to understand that life is an absurdity. And a tragic absurdity if there is no God.

On the other hand, it is okay to doubt.

And I, and I quoted this rabbi, God created doubt, and he did. I mean, whether you're Jew or Christian or, or whatever you are, you have to acknowledge that, that God created that. God created faith and God created doubt.

Could have made us absolutely certain of his existence, no question about it. And even when we were certain, people did see manifestations of God, then a week later they went back to, uh, to their own, uh their own ways anyway. 1-800-PRAGER-776.

And the—

let's go to Redlands, California, and Jake.

Hello, Jake. Dennis Prager.

Dennis, it is a real honor to speak to you.

I thank you.

I admired you for quite a bit and listened to you for quite a bit.

Great.

What I wanted to say is that I am a Christian. I really heartily believe in Christ and in the teachings of the church. But I doubt all the time, and I used to have a hard time with this. One of the things that really helped me to understand that this is somewhat necessary is the book Brothers K by Dostoevsky. There's a great quote in it where a lady comes to this father, this wise father, Zosima, and she says, I've lost my faith. What can I do to get my faith back? And he looks at her and he says, love other people. He says you have to love other people before you have faith. And I think that understanding is what illumines, you know, what Mother Teresa says, because if you don't understand that, then you think she did what she did out of faith, she did her acts out of faith. It might be the other way around, that she was acting in order that she might work out—

That's right.

You're good. You're only 30?

Yes, that's right.

Are you married?

Uh, no, I'm not, but I went to an excellent college, and we talked a lot about these kinds of issues there.

Wait a minute, that's a non sequitur. No, I'm not, but I went to an excellent college.

Yeah, I'm not—

I asked him if he's married and I go, no, I'm not, but on the other hand, I did go to a good college.

Did anybody else follow that?

I'm just curious. You're connecting some wisdom with—

No, no, I was just wondering. I want to find you a good girl. I mean, you are a catch. You sound like a terrific guy.

That means quite a bit coming from you, Dennis.

Well, you're very kind.

No, by the way, what was the terrific college?

Thomas Aquinas College.

Oh sure, I know about Thomas Aquinas.

Absolutely fantastic.

What do you do now, by the way?

I, I own my own business. I'm a landscape contractor in Redlands.

Very interesting.

Well, you, you are right about the behavior. And my argument to people who have problems—

and I'm going to say goodbye. Jake, thank you so much.

Thank you, Dennis Prager.

Very welcome. Good guy. Now, that's a lovable guy.

The, uh, what I tell people who want to be, want to feel religious, want to feel faith, is act it. This, this, it's true for everything. Whatever you want to feel, act it first. That's my whole point on happiness. You have to act happy. I don't care, everybody's unhappy inside in some way. You have to act happy, then a people around you, you, you owe it to people around you.

That's a moral obligation.

That's my biggest thesis about happiness. But B, if you want to feel happy, start acting it. Don't wait to feel it till you start acting it. You're doomed if you act based on how you feel. You will act differently at 3 o'clock than at 3:30, differently at 3:45, because we have moods. Everybody does. The same with religiosity. Start acting it. And you will start feeling it. That's a— and that includes kindness to people.

Absolutely.

We continue on the Ultimate Issues Hour on the Dennis Prager Show.

Woo!

Woo!

Woo!

Woo!

Thank you.

This episode of Timeless Wisdom will continue right after this.

As a new school year begins, The Salvation Army's Words of Life podcast is launching a special series designed to encourage and equip families for the journey ahead. Featuring conversations with a veteran high school math teacher, a licensed student counselor, and experienced parents, this series tackles the real challenges students and families face today.

Don't be afraid, I guess, as parents, that it's gonna be messy, it's gonna look ugly. What a blessing it is to be entrusted.

Yes.

With the lives of people.

Yeah.

That can pour out their dirty and their mess. Mm-hmm. And you be there to pick 'em up. That's awesome.

Whether you're a parent, grandparent, teacher, mentor, or student, these practical and hope-filled conversations offer biblical encouragement alongside real-world wisdom from people who have spent years investing in the lives of young people. This series begins on August 12th, so be sure to subscribe to Words of Life so you don't miss any of these episodes. To learn more about the show, visit wordsoflifepodcast.org.

Now back to more of Dennis Prager's timeless wisdom.

Alrighty everybody, by the way, oh, oh, a wave! You're doing a wave! I like Minnesota.

You guys are fun. It's my 5th year. I hope to do a 6th and a 7th and an 8th. And so on.

Welcome back, the Ultimate Issues Hour on the Dennis Prager Show, coast to coast here and beyond the coast. Got some calls here from Honolulu, in fact, and I will try to take as many as possible.

I'm talking about the great question of doubt, and it's okay to doubt. You should be calm about it and not feel everything's falling apart. I'm a big believer in God, I'm deeply religious, and everybody gets doubts.

It's just, it's inevitable, and it's not even bad It's not bad. Don't even think of it as a bad thing. It's— remember, it's the God of Israel. Israel means struggle with God. It's okay, it's okay, it's okay. And if you read, you know, Doubting Thomas has become a phrase in Christian life, but in fact, if you read the episode with Thomas and he wants to feel the nail holes and so on, remember, it does— he's not chided for it. All Jesus says is, blessed are those who haven't seen, which is true, of course. Blessed are that— that, that's obviously true. Those who have not seen are blessed. If those who have not seen and believe, in other words, those who have not seen and believe, of course that's true. But, but he's not chiding him. It became a term later on, but it's not, it's not in the text. It's okay, whatever your religion, it is okay. It happens to the best religious people. That's why the Mother Teresa story is a good one. And, and look, life is a struggle. That's the way it is. Every—

pretty much everything is a struggle.

The only thing that isn't a struggle is sitting in front of the television set, which is why people do it for 6 hours.

There's no struggle. You are entertained until you fall asleep.

I find it depressing. I actually do. I find TV depressing, but that's a separate issue entirely.

That's my own— that's my own issue, and it's irrelevant here.

Anyway, Alan reminds me to tell all of you listening that I have a number of lectures on this subject that could be of real help to you.

So call, call the, the Prager office there, 800-225-8584. That's not to get online, that's my, my office, 800, where we, where we sell these, uh, the tapes and the— well, they're not tapes now, the CDs and everything. 800-225-8584, or just go to DennisPrager.com. And as promised, let's go to Honolulu. And hello, Pam in Honolulu. Dennis Prager, thanks for calling.

Hi, Dennis.

Hi.

You, you are the feel-good in the morning here in the Aloha State.

Oh, that's true, it is early in the morning when it's on live. That's right.

Yes, yes.

Well, thank you for that. It's very sweet.

I consider myself an intelligent woman, and because I do consider myself an intelligent woman, if I didn't have faith. My intelligence wouldn't work. And doubt feeds my faith. It drives me to seek out God and to— for questions in life and to go in the direction I need to go, you know.

Well, I like that. I like that a lot. Forgive me for stopping you there. But I like that, that she's— that her doubts feed her faith. Let me give you a good biological example. It's a good thing that kids are exposed to germs. You know that because they develop antibodies.

But from some of those germs, they'll get an ear infection, or they'll get a cough, or they'll get— they'll get a fever.

For all of us, healthy people get sick sometimes. And often we get stronger thanks to that. It is almost like inoculations. You get inoculation against measles, against chickenpox, and so on. You get a little of that illness in you. In a flu shot, you get a little flu. Our faith is strengthened. Those of you who have fought doubts and then come out at the other end in the light, you are stronger in your faith, not weaker. But when you're going through it, it's very difficult, understandably.

Thank you, Pam. That's a very, very powerful point. And let's go to Centerline, Michigan.

Bob, hello Bob.

Dennis Prager, also in the Midwest with you.

Hi.

Hi, how are you doing today?

I'm—

I know your crowd lost its time delay.

Yeah, that was funny. That was funny.

When I was younger, I used to have more questions than I do lately, because when I would see evil things done and wonder, like your last guest of last hour, uh, where is God and where is his hand in this, I would— if I was patient and watched, things would eventually work out. And I could recognize, as I looked at the series of events from that time onward, I would recognize this, the hand of God. And as such, I then realized that the hand of God is always present, and or else we wouldn't even exist. I feel thankful every day that we live in this country, which I thoroughly believe was set aside for the coming together of Israel. That's how— that's how fully the faith, the keeping the faith and watching for these events, watching for the hand of God in all things, has, has helped me.

Well, that's excellent. I thank you for that call. I'll have some comments in a moment. I did want to get to Sister Teresa in Philadelphia.

Are you a nun, Sister?

I am. I have been a sister for 63 years, 64 years.

For 64 years.

What were you before that, a bartender?

No, I worked for the FBI during World War II for a year before I entered the community.

No kidding.

I'm a Sister of St. Joseph. Yes.

Well, it's a pleasure to hear from you. Thank you for calling. What's on your mind? Tell me.

Well, I agree with what you're saying. I listen to you frequently. I serve now as a receptionist, and if the doorbell rings, I'll have to jump up and go answer it and say goodbye. I understand. I listen to you while I'm serving here at the front door of our convent, and I skimmed the article about Mother Teresa. I haven't had time to read it thoroughly. And the, the dark night of the soul, as it's called by Saint John of the Cross, and is felt by many religious. Many of us have gone through periods of that, and I think it should make the opinion or the, the cause for her canonization even stronger.

Yes, indeed.

Yes.

Love of God. And in her—

no, no.

And I want— and people should hear that here you are, a nun, devoting your life to your faith and you have acknowledged doubts.

Of course.

Yes, God bless you, sister. That—

you see, this is so beautiful. I love this show. You see why I love doing this? Is it a great profession or what? Back in a moment, Ultimate Issues Hour, Dennis Prager.

Hi, this is a message for Dennis Prager at the Happiness Hour, Choosing to Be Happy. I also have been very emotional, very moody. I let myself for no real reason in college. I thought the artistic side of me being genuine to my emotions spiraled down into depression. And it was so bad. I mean, literally, I got to the point of almost being suicidal. But what I learned was it's a constant choice. You do have to fight it. But all you got to do is just one domino at a time. That's Mike. And so I love Dennis Prager. Thank you. I hope this will help. And this is one of the most important things I've learned in my life to have— going from an emotional person to being— people love my positivity and happiness, but I choose it and I fight it. Thank you, Dennis and Jennifer and everybody else. Love you guys. Bye.

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Alrighty everybody, welcome back here. Final segment of my visit to Minnesota too, guys.

And I'll be coming out afterwards. You're going to have the march here, and after the marchers I'm going to come out.

Let's get some questions though here. I'm talking about the ultimate issues area.

Got a comment?

Who are you going to choose here?

Well, we've got this gentleman here.

He's 62.

He has a question about doubt.

Okay, take it away, Mr. 62.

Well, okay, 62 years of age. It's an honor to speak to you, Mr. Prager. Thank you.

Thank you.

Um, 62 years of age, and I've been seemingly heavily burdened with doubt. And so I guess I'm 62 when the clock is ticking. I think maybe you answered the question earlier by acting or participating in a religious activity versus waiting.

Well, that, and I would love to know what the heavy burden of doubt is. You see, I, I think a lot of people start with a vision of God that does become doubtful. For example, if you expect God to do what you want, you will doubt. I never expected God to do what I want, you know. I, I, it just— that was not my— it was not the God that I was taught about. God, I knew from a very early age, God allows terrible things to happen to good people. He allows it. It's just, it's part of the universe that God built. I've— it's fact. Autobiographically, let me tell you something. I, I've had very few doubts about God, but I, I have had a struggle, and that is to love him. And that is why one of my favorite essays that I have ever written is, is God lovable?

It's in my favorite of my 4 books, Think a Second Time, and it's an essay, Is God Lovable? And I—

and you know what makes God lovable to me?

The fact that God tells us to love him. It's in Deuteronomy. God himself knows that he is hard to love. We, we're never told to love our children because it's, it's not, it's not hard to love your children.

But we're told to love God because God knows that this existence is so difficult for the vast majority, if not everybody, that it becomes hard to love God. But I, I, I— but doubting, it's, it's just inconceivable to me that all of this just came about. But if I would have started out with the idea that God will take care of me, I would have issues.

I just don't think that way. And, uh, do we have time?

Yes, let's get a quick final thought here.

Hi.

Hi. I'm sure that you've addressed this before, but it's— a lot of people struggle with this, being a Christian and a non-Christian and the path to heaven versus, you know, doing— you're not a Christian, you do wonderful good things, but still your life. That doesn't make sense.

That is plaguing a lot of Christians today, and I'd like to do a show on that. We don't— we have 10 seconds. It's a little too heavy for that.

Thank you all for the Ultimate Issues Hour. Thank you, Minnesota.

And until next fair or my next visit, God bless you all. This is Dennis Prager.

Tomorrow on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager.

Guys, how can you control your sexual natures.

I live in Colorado Springs. I'm often up in grad school in Boulder where women proliferate.

And, uh, every chance I get, I talk about my wife.

I brag about her.

I tell—

that's great. That's great.

I can—

that is a terrific, terrific idea.

Uh, my contribution to this is the, um, realization that a moment of an affair happens at the end of a very long journey, a journey into the dark side, a journey of which a lot of men don't even know where they're on. But I think that what makes the affair so enticing isn't just the sexual reward, it's the use of all the manly tools of adventure, of ingenuity.

That's why I want men to use their love of adventure and ingenuity and all, and conquering the world in other areas. Why my first suggestion was stay busy.

I just wanted to make a— probably sounds a little lame, but from a practicality standpoint, I'm a fireman and I'm just commenting about your point about wearing a wedding ring. And it's actually recommended that we don't wear wedding rings because they can get caught and you can rip your finger off.

Okay, I will now from now on say All men who are fighting fires are absolved from wearing a wedding band.

Well, that being said, Dennis, I still wear mine.

That is pretty funny. Okay, all men except Bill are hereby— thank you, Bill, I appreciate it.

Join us tomorrow to hear more on Timeless Wisdom with Dennis Prager. Visit DennisPrager.com for thousands of hours of Dennis's lectures, courses, and classic radio programs, and to purchase Dennis Prager's Rational Bibles. We want to take just a second to thank the team at Life Audio for their partnership with us on the podcast. Go to lifeaudio.com to find dozens of other faith-centered podcasts in their network, including shows about prayer, Bible study, parenting, and more.

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