Resonant Reading (Wednesday)-On Pascal’s Wager from Pursuit of Wonder

An exploration of ideas, feelings, and our life experiences, using a different short reading as our springboard each time. The sessions are on Saturdays, 4-5, and on Wednesdays, 12-1. All are wide open and you are welcome to come twice a week or once in a while.

The participants over the years have found that the approach we take, and the respectful, affectionate community of inquirers in which we read and converse, are as important as the reading itself. While many small groups begin with a check-in, with a session only an hour long, Resonant Reading jumps right in to the conversation. Those who are frequently in the group get to know each other very well this way, and those who are new will soon find they are among friends.

Facilitators use a light hand, posting the reading in the chat and calling on whoever’s Zoom hand is up. Suggestions for readings* come from group members, who also take turns facilitating, if they want to try that role.

The reading for this session: Wednesday, March 11th

One of Pascal’s most famous arguments is what is known as Pascal’s Wager. In short,  the argument claims it is a better bet to believe in God than to not. This is because  if you’re right, and God exists, you gain eternal salvation in Heaven; if you’re wrong, you  only lose some finite, earthly pleasures, which, for Pascal, are ultimately trivial relative to the stakes. And even if God doesn’t exist, Pascal argues that living as if he does leads to  a more stable and meaningful inner experience here on Earth. He doesn’t see this argument as proof of God but rather proof that it’s worth searching for him—the hope and striving toward him. However, could not the same fundamental argument and wager be applied to the search for the value and meaning of earthly, human existence without belief in God? Could not a compelling wager look like this: It is a better bet to believe this life is meaningful, valuable, and good in and of itself, and that this life is all there is, because, if you’re right, then you win the reward of experiencing the only time you have as positively as possible—not with disdain or dejection, not with the hope and holding out for something else, but with the embrace and love  for this right now. If you’re wrong and there is some kind of afterlife, then you also gain the upside of whatever that may be—which surely no human can know enough about to predict the terms of. Likewise, this is not proof that human existence is meaningful and worthwhile in and of itself, but it is proof that it is worth striving toward this belief, toward creating its truth. Pascal wanted to compel us toward God by showing us how terrible our condition is. But in the process, arguably, what he really showed us is how strong we are—or can be. He shows us that everything isn’t and won’t be okay, and yet, somehow, we can and continue to endure. Whether through God or something God-shaped, we can create and imagine worlds and ideas  worth living in.The morbid absurdities of our condition. The frenzied nature of our lives. Our anxieties. Our depravities. It is all real; it is all in everyone. But we can survive these  qualities—and the knowledge thereof—and still be compelled to seek redemption. Regardless of any religious belief, this profound impulse and ability is embodied in Pensées, and it is found in every instance where the human psyche confronts the hardship of existence and continues  forward, overcoming, transmuting, and justifying.
—On Pascal’s Wager from Pursuit of Wonder

Questions? Drop an e-mail to resonant-reading+owner@uucpa.org.