The road to your faith?

[turk179]

Was just curious as to how you all came to your current belief system. I know my road took many turns. I started out taking a very zenfull approach to faith and ended up on Wicca blvd. Growing up with a Roman Catholic family, I was lucky enough to have been allowed to follow my own path. Of course my mom isn't too happy with where I ended up . But anyways, I would love to hear how you all ended up with your current faith(or lack of.)

 

[cardero]

The road to your faith?
Is always under construction.

 

[James the Persian]

Well, briefly, I was brought up Lutheran, fell out with the Church when I realised the absurdity of Protestantism (especially sola scriptura and sola fide), left and went on a bit of wander. Looked at and rejected islam, flirted with wicca, became a practicing Karma Kagyu buddhist for a couple of years. Then I came back to Christianity but no particular denomination, went out to Romania to do missionary work (as in, religiously motivated aid work, not preaching) and encountered Orthodoxy. I met a wonderful monk on a visit to a moanstery there who's example set me on the road to Orthodoxy. I did a lot of reading, entered the catechumenate and was finally accepted into the Church about 4 years ago. I have never looked back.

James

 

[BucephalusBB]

I was raised a catholic and when i was about 12 years old i guess i decided that the concept of God made no sense to me and became an atheist.. now im still deciding to follow the agnostic view or the atheistic..

 

[BruceDLimber]

Hi!

I was a very active Christian when in my Twenties I first encountered the Baha'i Faith. I attended a fireside (informational Q & A meeting), was impressed, and then did a considerable abount of reading, praying, investigation, research, and observation.

At the end of all this, I found myself--still not a Baha'i--telling others, "This is really neat; you should check it out!" I finally said "This is ridiculous!" and enrolled.

I've now been Baha'i for over 34 years, and in all that time I have NOT ONCE found any reason to regret my decision!

And indeed, I give my original church full credit for doing an excellent job of preparing me to be a Baha'i! Please note that I mean this as a compliment--high praise!, NOT as irony!

Also, as a Baha'i, I fully accept and believe in both Jesus and the Bible, as does every other Baha'i in the world! I am thus arguably still Christian, a fellow believer in Christ.

Best,

Bruce

 

[turk179]

James and Bruce, it sounds like you both had an interesting path to your faith. Thanks for your posts.
Bouncing ball, sounds like you had an interesting path as well. How long have you been an atheist?

 

[michel]

Was just curious as to how you all came to your current belief system. I know my road took many turns. I started out taking a very zenfull approach to faith and ended up on Wicca blvd. Growing up with a Roman Catholic family, I was lucky enough to have been allowed to follow my own path. Of course my mom isn't too happy with where I ended up . But anyways, I would love to here how you all ended up with your current faith(or lack of.)

I fell apart (mentally) when I was 16. I sat for many hours just thinking about the whole world, and life; I read a few books, and made my own faith.

Surprisingly, it is the same now as it was then; nothing I have learned since being here has changed my opinions, even if they are slightly "strange"

 

[Halcyon]

My path has been long and arduous.

I've looked into Buddhism, Christianity, Satanism, Vodun, Wicca - which then led to research into various different magickal systems, and about a million other weird and wonderful belief systems dotted all over the internet.

After realising these weren't for me i spent a long time analysing what i actually did believe about God, spirits, afterlife etc. Day to day my thoughts would change, and to this day they are still in a constant state of flux (which to be honest is quite tiring in a spiritual/mental/emotional way). But, now my thoughts have some constants in the basics of Gnosticism - now they only change daily on what i actually believe about Gnostic concepts. Pretty much the only constant is my belief in the Gnostic God, and Gnosis - in respect to these my beliefs are unshakeable.

I came to Gnosticism by accident, i was researching goddesses and came across Sophia - she led me to gnosis.org and kablam!

 

[Halcyon]

I fell apart (mentally) when I was 16. I sat for many hours just thinking about the whole world, and life; I read a few books, and made my own faith.

Surprisingly, it is the same now as it was then; nothing I have learned since being here has changed my opinions, even if they are slightly "strange"

I believe that is the best way Michel, custom built religions fit you perfectly. There's no dogma or doctrine that you disagree with, because you selected them yourself as they made sense to you.
If your religion has affected the type of man you have become, then from where i'm sitting it's pretty fantastic.

 

[Buttons*]

I was raised in the Episcopal Church. I was baptized and confirmed there. When we moved after my parents divorce, we began going to a Non-Denominational church... and it killed any respect I had for modern Christianity.
When I was 14 I knew that I'd looked into study Philosophy, and so I picked up a book by Jacob Needleman titled "the heart of philosophy" and it seemed to describe exactly how I felt. One day I found a book titled "the gospel of mary magdelane" Foreward by Jacob Needleman. I had such respect for what he wrote that I picked it up. In his books he discussed gnosis, but only its role in greek literature... So after reading the gospel, i had to ask myself what else was left out of the bible. I looked it up, found out that there was more to religion than God damnation, became obsessed with it, and now I'm Gnostic. *smiles*

 

[Feathers in Hair]

Ooo, frubals for the interesting thread, Turk! (Hoping I have enough to give you, still!)

Though my soul was constantly searching for something, even as early as 2 or 3, I grew up as a Christian. Since my family moved around so much, churches were pretty much the only constant. (One church was generous enough to let us use the old parsonage to live in!) I went through many denominations among them Presbyterian, Methodist and Lutheran. One of them was ELCA, and the pastor was a woman. She was one of those people that had a kind of glow around them, like you can see their inner beauty without even trying. It was a new experience for me to have a woman in a role of authority, and a kind of revalation that- out of all the congregations we'd attended- hers was the most welcoming, supportive and healing to the spirit. (One sermon, she played Billy Joel's "River of Dreams" and had a discussion with the church about what the lines meant. I was about 14, and was so enthused that she let me answer some questions! (We'd previously attended much more conservative churches, where it was only the adults and the little boys who were acknowledged as having valid insight.) In her obvious delight that I was enthusiastic and had some insight into things, I found myself suddenly interested in religion. Sure, I'd gone to church almost every Sunday (usually Wed. nights, too, heehee!) of my life, but I'd never wanted to study it.

My mom had volunteered to organize the church library (all five shelves), and I was happy to do the grunt lifting and shelving and whatnot. I began studying the books, seeing what they had to say. Some were very outdated, written in the celebrated manner of "Why Lutherans Rock and _____'s Suck." The newer ones, however, were full of information about getting to know other religions, their history and the theology. I was struck that other groups, which my elders used to dismiss as 'heathens', seemed to have ideas that were valid.


Arrrrrgghhh... I started this over two hours ago and my train of thought has derailed.

 

[jonny]

I was born. The rest is history.

That isn't to say that I haven't gone through points in my life where I had to decide if I wanted to keep following my faith, because I have. It makes me happy and it makes sense to me. I don't really need anything else from religion.

 

[Thorin the Skald]

I was raised in the United Church of Christ, and in HS searched throughout most of the local churches.....from Baptist to Christian Reformed. When I started college at GRJC, I discovered Wicca and Druidism though some friends in the SCA. When I married my first wife I converted and became Catholic, as that was her religion, and wanted our children to be raised in ONE faith. LOL Little was I to know where I would land! I still was very interested in Wicca, although it was not quite where I was headed. After transferring to Western Mich. Univ., I had a class on Oral Communication, and our main project was to tell a story from our ancestory during the time of the Oral Tradition. I told the tale of how Thor lost his hammer, and most of my peers told me to forget teaching and go into Storytelling! After telling tales from Norse Mythology in classrooms, libraries and at the Arts Festival in GR, Michigan, I came to realise that these tales were "hitting home" spiritually to me. However, I did not know if the Norse path was a "dead" religion or not. After doing research online, I discovered it was very much "alive" and thriving. It had re-started in three seperate countries back in the early 1970's....Iceland, England and here in the States. I have followed it since 1992, and am now a Priest of Thor, though the Universal Life Church at www.ulc.org . I am raising my sons in my path, even though they are being raised Catholic with their mother. My eldest son's view on death is that when he dies he will hang with his mom for a while in Heaven with God, Jesus and his grandparents, hop on the Shuttlebus, come over to Asgard and hang with me and the gods and goddesses, then get back on the Shuttlebus and go to the Summerland to hang with his Wiccan friends.....then go back and do it all over again! Could not have said it any better myself! LOL

 

[TheGreaterGame]

I was alway a spiritual kid . . . I was baptist nazarene catholic . . . then I converted to Mormonism . . . then to a Baptistic faith . . . then I saw the glory of Christ and it was more sweet then anything I had ever tasted and more beutiful then anything I had ever seen . . . I became a Christian . . . a Christian who has adopted the faith of my Reformed fathers who followed the faith of Augustine who followed the faith of the Apostles who followed the faith of Jesus.

 

[Jaymes]

My road involved going down several rabbit trails, tripping and falling on my arse, looking up and going "oh."

Baptist -> Nondenom Christian -> Pagan -> Wiccan -> Pagan -> Asatru -> Pagan -> Taoist.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I was raised as a Baptist, and followed it, very closly, for 16 years. A series of events that lasted for several years, in a way, shoved a crowbar into the box sealing my brain up. I began to question things, became non-denomation Christian, then over a few months, I realised my ties to Christianity were severed. I then became agnostic. After my brother had a severe car wreck, I studied Druidism a bit. And then a very little bit of Wiccan, which I never considered myself one. Then I read up on Nocturnalism, loved it, felt a degree of peace and happyness I've never felt before, and have stayed with it. I have kept some of the Druid teachings, so maybe I'm more of a Nocturnal Druid, but I'll stick to Nocturnal Pagan.

 

[dawny0826]

My Mom has always been such an amazing influence in my life. Her own living testament and journey to Jesus is quite a fantastic story. She told me that when she was pregnant with me...she often prayed for my health but the Holy Spirit came upon her one day and she jsut knew that I was going to be very healthy but that she would need to pray ceaselessly for my soul...as I would struggle greatly...and I did...

I was raised in a Baptist Church. I really rebelled against Church. I don't know why but I remember having yelling fits at age 5 with my parents about not wanting to go to church and choir practice. I was a very good kid but I got into quite a bit of trouble over arguments over Church.

We did find a church home that I was somewhat comfortable with when I was around 9-10 years old and I DID accept Jesus Christ as my personal Saviour. I thought I had a full understanding of what being a Christian meant but as the years went by...I started to rebel again...I refused to go to church pretty much all together by age 16 and by 19...I was a complete mess. It's not that I didn't believe in Jesus...I always have...there was just a blockage that I couldn't put my finger on...I know now that it was simply trust...I was unwilling to just trust HIM...but I really struggled as a young adult...trying to figure out what was wrong with me.

I started to read about other religions...searching for answers...searching for peace. I was particularly attracted to Wicca. I loved the naturalistic aspects of it. And I thought so much of it was beautiful. But when I tried to get into it...I just couldn't. There was something missing.

I went several years just really trying to figure out I was and what I wanted out of life. There was an enormous hole in my very core...like an abyss...of nothingness. And I had so much to be happy about. I got married to a wonderful man. I had a good paying job, where I received a management promotion very quickly. I had friends...I had everything that any young woman would want but I was still, so empty.

Then...I got pregnant with my first baby at 22 and my pregnancy was incredibly difficult. Pregnancy complications coupled with hormonal and seratonin imbalances nearly caused me to have a nervous breakdown. Then...the pregnancy resulted in emergency surgery. It was just a mess.

I was so grateful that she was born healthy, despite our nine months of turmoil. and I think it was her birth that made me question my mortality and question God and Christ again. I knew something was missing out of my life and I had a hunch that it was Jesus Christ but I couldn't figure out why I couldn't just surrender to him. I had this fear that just consumed me...that I would die and would go straight to hell...because although I believed in Christ...I didn't have the relationship with him that I was supposed to have.

So...several years later...we had our second daughter...and again...I had so much to be happy for...but I pretty much hit a spiritual rock bottom. Physically, mentally and even emotionally, I was okay but spiritually...I was just a mess...I came to a point where I KNEW what my largest issues were and I WANTED change in my life.

My husband and I enrolled our daughter, Emily into a Christian private school. We've known the folks who work there for years. The Pastor's son is marrying my youngest sister, actually. So...I felt comfortable placing her in the Academy and I felt on an even deeper level a pull towards the church...like it was really meant to be that we placed her there.

And from week one...things started to change in our lives. My, three year old daughter started to come home, saying the sweetest things..."Jesus loves us, Mommy." "Wer'e not supposed to lie, Mommy, Jesus doesn't like that."...just little sweet things...that I SOO needed to hear. She was just melting my heart with the things that she was learning in school.

At that time, I was listening to Anne Rice in my car...book on tape...Blood and Gold. And the story isn't really important but there was this one part of the story, where one of her lead characters was talking about his "parents"...these stone vampires...and he was just speaking of them with just love and reverence and I broke down in tears and just was like..."I want that! I SOOO want to yearn for a god like that." And I looked up and the van that was driving on down the rode in front of me...had this license plate that said "Call Him." And it just hit me...you HAVE a God like that, doofus...you just need to let him in...once and for all...

I felt at that moment, Jesus tugging at my heart strings. And I've felt him knocking many times in my life but have always turned away or made a half hearted attempt to live a Christian life. That time...I think I truly came to terms with the fact that I was LOST without HIM and that nothing was ever going to make sense in my life until I surrendered to him.

And then, the tape deck in my car broke. No more book on tape. And that was all the confirmation that I needed...circumstantial or not...that it was time to retire the old and make way for change...

I was on a mission to get to church that Sunday. Everything went wrong Sunday morning. My hose ran...I was frantically searching for my shoes...Satan just didn't want me to get out the door...but we made it...and I swear, the moment I walked into the church...I KNEW in my heart that the beginning of something WONDERFUL was about to take place.

The sermon was phenomenal. And my sister and my brother in law to be were sitting beside my husband and I in church. When Pastor did the invitational sermon...I wasn't going to raise my hand at first...but somehow...my arm managed to make its way up into the air. And then...when he asked if anyone would like to come up front for prayer...I wasn't going to go up but I was thinking in my head...if only my sister could go with me...and Pastor said "If you want to bring someone, grab the person sitting next to you." So...I grabbed my sister and we went up front.

He laid hands on me and prayed over me and I accepted Jesus Christ into my life right then and there...FULLY and COMPLETELY. My prayer this time was different than any other time I've gave a half hearted dedication to Christ. This time, I truly gave myself completely to Christ...asking him to bend my will and change me...really change me. And then...I felt something that I've never felt before...I felt the Holy Spirit enter my life. It was the single, most liberating experience of my entire life...surpassing in greatness...even my wedding day and the births of my babies. I literally FELT Satan lose hold of my soul and I was free...free AT LAST. It was incredible.

And instantly...the rawness...that aching void in my core...was filled with peace. And I've had it ever since. I then saw where in EVERY hard spot of my life...I saw where GOD had worked and had pulled me through...even when I didn't acknowledge him....I saw how HE made every beautiful moment in my life happen...it was as if my whole life flashed before my eyes.

Everything in my life has changed. My marriage is just so much better. I have a confidence that I never had before. I can go out into public and just strike up conversations with people that I don't even know. And although I've always been a good mother, I know now that I'm going to be a GREAT Mom to my little girls. They are such blessings to me. I don't worry about my life anymore. I'm not afraid to die. I have complete peace over my mortality. I'm just very happy. And I truly love Jesus Christ. I've always loved him but it took me so long to really TRUST him. I can attest that when you CALL him...He really does answer.

I attend a Pentecostal church. I love it because the focus is solely on Christ...and the Bible. There's no formalities...there's just a free...caring and loving environment where people come together to worhip and learn about the Lord. We speak in tongues when we feel driven to do so. We believe very much in the power of healing and the anointing. We lay hands on each other and pray over each in our time of need. We're pretty outspoken and I never in a million years would of thought that this would be the church home for me...but it just feels so right...it just feels like home.

I'm just head over feet for my Saviour and am enjoying my life. I still have so much to learn and so much to accomplish but I have hope and purpose now...and it's been my everything. I'm full and whole...and it won't matter what my station in life is...no one can take this fullness away from me.

I'm really sorry about my novel here...I kind of got carried away...

 

[Xmas]

My path has been long and arduous.

I've looked into Buddhism, Christianity, Satanism, Vodun, Wicca - which then led to research into various different magickal systems, and about a million other weird and wonderful belief systems dotted all over the internet.

It sounds like we have had much the same path. Mine so far has led me full circle back to Christianity, but I don't see my belief staying there forever, I have many concerns but those are mostly detailed things.
Intersting path it's been though, I don't regret a single part of it.

 

[uu_sage]

Unfortunately, my parents raised me in the Conservative Baptist Church of America (CBA) and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS). Never once did I believe in any of the dogmas they were preaching so in a way those years in being brought up in these two denominations could be considered my closeted Unitarian years. At 18, I decided to sever my ties with the church and orthodox, dogmatic Christianity. A year was spent was working on how I would come out of the heretic closet (especially to my parents). Often I was found crying and fearful over how they would react. In August of last year, I came out to my parents confident in my new found beliefs. I told my parents that although I respect them, and honor their right to believe, I could no longer in good conscience believe in the dogmas of my childhood. Then I told that I am a Unitarian Universalist and explained to them what that meant. My father who could be considered a mainline to liberal Christian (and I love him more for it) accepted me and wished me the best of luck in the purusit of truth, beauty, love, and justice. My mother being the fundamentalist she is ripped me a new one but told me to "Go to Hell". I shocked and appalled. How could my mother believe in a God that condemn his own creation to a place of suffering and pain? How un-Christ like of her. With my beliefs revealed, I took the next step in locating a UU congregation near me. I started attending as a visitor. From the moment I first set in the doors of Monte Vista UU, I finally realized that I was home, being welcomed by kindred spirits. At our Dia De Los Muertos service, I and three other people signed the book signifying our entrance into this free, liberal and awesome faith tradition. It's been a year now since I first became Unitarian and I still say with pride that I am Unitarian and proud of it!

 

[Scarlett Wampus]

Great topic! Great posts!

I had an active imagination as a kid and as a result my world was a strange one. I guess I naturally took to a kind of shamanism. A whole host of problems in my early teens gave me a rough ride and I turned to meditation and Tai Chi Chu'an for help. Worked wonders! Went to College (High School) and discovered Magick. Joined an occult freemasonic order and things got wild. Had some great times but pushed way too hard. Swooped so high then nose dived into serious illness. Had to leave everything and live in a hut in the middle of nowhere. Was in a bad way, extreme understatement. Studied Tai Chi Chu'an and meditation with the help of a Tai Chi master and a Zen monk. Got back to full health. Went to University to study Philosophy. Fell in love big time, oh wow! Didn't work out. Had a dramatic 'religious' experience, couldn't understand it. Dropped out of University. Withdrew into myself. Still couldn't understand it. Did nothing significant for years. Debt, depression, despair. Finally understood it.