The Goodness of Doubt

One thing I've learned since I started to do a lot more leisure reading (primarily apologetic texts by C.S. Lewis, Timothy Keller, et. al) has been to never dismiss your own doubts. "Doubt" has such a negative connotation but it can lead to increased wisdom, stronger conviction and renewed faith when addressed carefully.

Listen to your doubts. Question them. Deconstruct them. But only dismiss them once you've spent sufficient time wrestling with them. We've always been taught to disregard our doubts and the doubts of others as a means of maintaining self-esteem and self-efficacy. And I think we sometimes refuse to deal with our doubts because we're afraid of the truth that may or may not lie within them. But, there can come a time when you're forced to confront them and it can shake you to the core if you haven't already spent some time, alone, sifting out the goodness from your doubts. Please forgive me, that last line was so fake-deep, g. Cuh-lawd.