What was your journey to faith like?

[Unification]

Have you stayed in the faith you were born in? What made you look for something else? What's it like to know that 'this is it'? Etc.

Just curious as to how bumpy the road was.

I was evangelized to by a mainstream "Christian" at work. Kind of depressed, living the mundane routine life, near rock bottom. Also meant nothing to me at the time. I went to a church building as I was "told to do," intuition instantly took force within me by the doctrines and stuff making no sense. While I didn't agree with the guys doctrine and stuff, I'm very grateful that my path led to him and for the seeds planted into my mind.

Rather than just give up,
On my own and at home, I denied and rid of everything that I thought that I knew and was conditioned to believe. Also denied a lot of other things to a point where my mind was clear/clean and in a pure state and not influenced or conformed to anything. A sudden rush of what felt like this beautiful energy just flooded within my heart and mind.

I remember when this happened, a random thought came into my mind: I wondered if Jesus ever smiled. Instantly, I smiled uncontrollably. I realized Jesus was a force within me and not an exoteric deity.

There were what felt like lightning jolts going off in my brain where I was hospitalized for three days without being able to see or hear. After every nuerological test, nothing was found. Afterwards, I became aware and awake to all sorts of things I had never known or seen. What I once loved or thought to be alright, became repulsive. What I once had no care for or hated, I now loved and cherished. My mind was radiantly clear and aware, my heart was radically transformed.

Ever since, nothing but love, happiness, peace, joy, self-control, awesome awareness, and all sorts of other awesome stuff and best of all, the journey doesn't end. Don't really care to prove it to anyone, don't really care to have knowledge of it... I know it and experience it and earnestly would love for all to have an abundantly fulfilled and peaceful life and experience.

 

[Sundance]

I was brought up a nondenominational Christian to a Christian mother and a father who even today describes as “spiritual, but not religious”. Early on, being the ever-curious type of individual, I studied all different reIigions. Fast forward to sophomore year in high school, I became a Unitarian Universalist while still exploring other reIigions. That lasted until my freshman year of college. At that point, I began to seriously reflect on what it meant to me to be a UU. “What are some things that make my (then) religion distinct?” I paused and realized there's nothing that I could see that makes UU a unique faith. All of the aspects that initially had drawn me to it, I could just as well find in other faiths. So, I left, pressing on. I became a Christian again (this time, exploring Anglicanism). Though, my Anglicanism was more Anglo-Catholic. I did some looking online about Spiritualism and Spiritism, neither one of which I had ever heard of before. There it/they was, a religion that I could authentically get behind, focused on concepts I had prior knowledge and experience with: spirit possession, trance, one's body being used as a channel through which God or other spirits in the Spirit World could communicate; a religion rooted in the Protestant Christianity of 19th century America, but open to wisdom from all religions and cultures; a religion with broad principles that each individual was free to interpret for him- or herself (these spoke to me as a former UU); and a very central belief in personal experience and communication with Deity and the many spirits of the Spirit World, especially those of the ancestors and of other deceased humans. Plus, so much more! This got me hooked on it and keeps me a Spiritualist/Spiritist. Now, still a Spiritualist/Spiritist, an exploration of my ancestral traditions as a “Black” man has led me to various African-Diasporic religions, such as Santería, Candomblé, Hoodoo, Sanse, and Espiritismo (Cruzado). As a cultural formality and a serious intent, I'm also thinking about becoming Roman Catholic. (but shhhhhh....don't tell @Saint Frankenstein.)

 

[David1967]

I'm still in my journey to faith.

Me too Terese.

 

[Unveiled Artist]

I was brought up a nondenominational Christian to a Christian mother and a father who even today describes as “spiritual, but not religious”. Early on, being the ever-curious type of individual, I studied all different reIigions. Fast forward to sophomore year in high school, I became a Unitarian Universalist while still exploring other reIigions. That lasted until my freshman year of college. At that point, I began to seriously reflect on what it meant to me to be a UU. “What are some things that make my (then) religion distinct?” I paused and realized there's nothing that I could see that makes UU a unique faith. All of the aspects that initially had drawn me to it, I could just as well find in other faiths. So, I left, pressing on. I became a Christian again (this time, exploring Anglicanism). Though, my Anglicanism was more Anglo-Catholic. I did some looking online about Spiritualism and Spiritism, neither one of which I had ever heard of before. There it/they was, a religion that I could authentically get behind, focused on concepts I had prior knowledge and experience with: spirit possession, trance, one's body being used as a channel through which God or other spirits in the Spirit World could communicate; a religion rooted in the Protestant Christianity of 19th century America, but open to wisdom from all religions and cultures; a religion with broad principles that each individual was free to interpret for him- or herself (these spoke to me as a former UU); and a very central belief in personal experience and communication with Deity and the many spirits of the Spirit World, especially those of the ancestors and of other deceased humans. Plus, so much more! This got me hooked on it and keeps me a Spiritualist/Spiritist. Now, still a Spiritualist/Spiritist, an exploration of my ancestral traditions as a “Black” man has led me to various African-Diasporic religions, such as Santería, Candomblé, Hoodoo, Sanse, and Espiritismo (Cruzado). As a cultural formality and a serious intent, I'm also thinking about becoming Roman Catholic. (but shhhhhh....don't tell @Saint Frankenstein.)

(Pssst Hey Frank! Guess what?)

 

[Town Heretic]

Have you stayed in the faith you were born in? What made you look for something else? What's it like to know that 'this is it'? Etc.

Just curious as to how bumpy the road was.

Startling. I was brought up in the Episcopal church and I had a lot of respect for the people of faith around me and the work they did for others in my community, but I didn't believe in their premise, was an atheist for as far back as I could think of having an opinion on it and remained that way for a fairly long time. If you'd asked me, pre-conversion, if I ever had a religious conviction or turn what form I thought it would take I'd have said Buddhism. But I thought even that was half imagination.

So there I was, happily puttering along in my second year of law, satisfied that I had the general shape of the answers I'd been asking about being and context and valuation. I had a wonderful fiance and a SCL groove, a mentorship by a state Supreme Court Justice and a fast track to money and power. To put a cap on it, life was good.

Then. . . the unthinkable and unexpected.

It came one very long night as I was making my way through the intricacies of tax law. I had a sudden clarity that began with the unmistakable sensation of being presently observed though it was more subsumed, encompassed than simply that... Within that context I was presented, over a period of some time...me. How I was, not what I'd constructed as my narrative. And I saw, plainly enough, as I considered, that I was, in sum, something other and less than I'd seen in my mirror and estimation prior. As this went on I became aware that my self-deception was integrally threaded through the human condition. My fellows, excepting a few close competitors, would have painted an impression of me not that dissimilar to the one I'd held onto and out for public consumption before the revelation of that falsity and deception was illuminated in me, with the same sort of caveats and "insights" into flaws that we each couldn't help but interject in the name of honesty, though more honestly as a means to preserve our own, superior narratives, wherein we were ultimately the good and sometimes misapprehended hero.

So I was absorbing the blow of finding God and being judged simultaneously though the judgment part was mine. That is, I wasn't being told and judged, but being shown and responding to the stripping away of layers and years of construct. It was--something like being broken, or maybe more like discovering that all of your joints were out and having them set. And in the midst of that I understood that I was getting, after a surprising fashion, what I'd always said (and to the extent I could have understood it, meant) I'd wanted, the plain truth. Though I really meant it as a self-congratulatory declaration that the inherent futility of a beautiful and indifferent universal mechanism failed to unnerve me.

Now the world had changed. I knew I had a choice to make about what I did with that new understanding, both of myself and of the very thing I'd never seriously contemplated might actually exist, open minded declarations notwithstanding. The question presented me was twofold: what to do with and about myself and how to meet the root of this comeuppance. What was I going to say to God?

I suppose that's a good a place as any to stop for now.

 

[Geoff-Allen]

Me again ...

I somehow forgot 2 mention a great little book called "Happiness" by Matthieu Ricard

I have read it several times and find most enlightening!

I even started a little thread aout the book -

http://www.religiousforums.com/threads/happiness.181474/

Enjoy!

 

[psychoslice]

I was a Christian for about 17 years, but it always kept me feeling like there was something beyond it, and that is what I have realized, now I am beyond any religion, thank God.

 

[ThePainefulTruth]

Have you stayed in the faith you were born in? What made you look for something else? What's it like to know that 'this is it'? Etc.

Just curious as to how bumpy the road was.

I was raised Christian. Then, having conversations with an atheist brought my doubts, which I think were there all along, to the surface. Facing the void was a traumatic experience. But I didn't become an atheist myself, which seems to require a faith of its own. Casting around, I first determined that doubt is unavoidable, making me necessarily, above all, an agnostic. That said, I had to chose choose between the only two reasonable positions on God there appear to be, atheism and deism. From our perspective, the only difference between the two is hope. So I chose to hope (believe) in deism. If I'm wrong, I'll never know it.

 

[Senseless]

Thank you all for your candid answers, all your stories are very interesting

 

[viole]

Have you stayed in the faith you were born in? What made you look for something else? What's it like to know that 'this is it'? Etc.

Just curious as to how bumpy the road was.

Here is my bumpy road.

- believe in Santa and boogie man
- Santa and boogie man apostate. Believe in Jesus
- young earth creationist Christian, saved and all that
- old earth creationist Christian, still saved, probably
- evolutionary Christian, not sure about safety
- universalist Christian, safety not relevant
- jesus apostate. agnostic atheist
- naturalist
- gnostic Atheist

Climbing mount improbable, so to speak.

Ciao

- viole

 

[Demonslayer]

the only two reasonable positions on God there appear to be, atheism and deism.

I agree with this idea. I don't believe in any God but I haven't much to say about the deism idea.

"Maybe some being started all this, the end" What is there to argue?

The trouble is when people start pretending to know the God's name, God's life story, who God impregnated, specific things God said, ideas God had, God's moods, etc.

Theists sure do seem to know a lot about God's personal business!

 

[Agathion]

My journey into religion is quite odd when I think about it though I am glad it occurred. In the beginning I did not worship god not because I thought he did not exist but rather because why would a being of his power have any interest in us poor insignificant humans. Surely if he had that kind of power we would be little more then ants compared to him and nobody cares about ants. Logically one would assume such a being would have no interest in mortals and may not even be aware of our existence. Thus I assumed religion was worthless and focused more on the lighter side of the occult. I was always spiritual and always wanted spiritual power so i threw myself into my studies but never managed to gain any benefit. I simply lacked the mental power to use any kind of magic.

Then one day things got real bad. Really, really bad. The situation was hopeless, there was no way out, and doom was all but assured in my mind. Having exhausted every possible option the only one left was to ask god for help. I did not think it was going to work but when one is desperate one must try. And then the problem went away. Literally overnight the situation just went poof and I was delivered. I was still somewhat unsure if it was him or just luck but decided to thank him anyway just incase so as not to be rude. Over time though more problems cropped up and time after time things got desperate. So I asked for help more and more... and got it. Every time I asked for aid it was granted. Every single time! Thus I realized religion was not worthless and that god does take interest in mortals.

Since then I have performed all kinds of minor miracles and have discovered I seem to have a knack for using holy powers. I became a minister and now seek to share the power he has granted me with all who are in need of it. God exists and he does care... If you make the effort to find him you will. It truly is amazing.

 

[David1967]

My journey into religion is quite odd when I think about it though I am glad it occurred. In the beginning I did not worship god not because I thought he did not exist but rather because why would a being of his power have any interest in us poor insignificant humans. Surely if he had that kind of power we would be little more then ants compared to him and nobody cares about ants. Logically one would assume such a being would have no interest in mortals and may not even be aware of our existence. Thus I assumed religion was worthless and focused more on the lighter side of the occult. I was always spiritual and always wanted spiritual power so i threw myself into my studies but never managed to gain any benefit. I simply lacked the mental power to use any kind of magic.

Then one day things got real bad. Really, really bad. The situation was hopeless, there was no way out, and doom was all but assured in my mind. Having exhausted every possible option the only one left was to ask god for help. I did not think it was going to work but when one is desperate one must try. And then the problem went away. Literally overnight the situation just went poof and I was delivered. I was still somewhat unsure if it was him or just luck but decided to thank him anyway just incase so as not to be rude. Over time though more problems cropped up and time after time things got desperate. So I asked for help more and more... and got it. Every time I asked for aid it was granted. Every single time! Thus I realized religion was not worthless and that god does take interest in mortals.

Since then I have performed all kinds of minor miracles and have discovered I seem to have a knack for using holy powers. I became a minister and now seek to share the power he has granted me with all who are in need of it. God exists and he does care... If you make the effort to find him you will. It truly is amazing.

What kinds of miracles and holy powers?

 

[Agathion]

Nothing awe inspiring yet but I will list the incidents I believe were such. Lets see... I have healed several of my pets when they were ill though I still took them to the vet. One seemed to be dying and then got better overnight. Then the other one had breathing issues which went away after I interceded. I have healed myself several times. Prob the greatest thing I have done so far was it seemed to slightly alter weather patterns. I was late to a very important event and it was very rainy. I needed the rain to stop just for a few minutes so I could make the trip. Subconsciously I jokingly asked god if he could help and lo and behold the rain stopped. I was able to get to the event and as soon as I got there the rain came back with a vengeance. It held off just long enough for me to get there and no longer. I was quite shocked at what had happened but happy for it happening nonetheless.

 

[Demonslayer]

I seem to have a knack for using holy powers.

Wow! Can you smite? Smiting seems to be one of the main holy powers.

 

[Demonslayer]

I was late to a very important event and it was very rainy. I needed the rain to stop just for a few minutes so I could make the trip.

You should use your powers for good and help drought-stricken areas of the world instead of just allowing yourself to get to an event without getting wet. Can you fix California's severe water shortage?

Also, isn't it an abuse of holy powers to stop rain when you could have just brought and umbrella?

 

[Agathion]

Er... no, have not tried that yet and prob would not be able to anyway. So far it seems to be limited to healing and sometimes other benefits but definitely no wrath of god stuff. Don't get me wrong I would not mind such but its prob not going to happen lol. The purpose of the powers are to help oneself and others, not go around smiting stuff. This aint D&D or Warcraft... real spiritual power does not work like they portray in Hollywood. Its much more subtle and low key.

 

[Agathion]

And as for drought, I could try just for the fun of it. When next summer comes and if we get a drought we will see what happens.

 

[Demonslayer]

And as for drought, I could try just for the fun of it. When next summer comes and if we get a drought we will see what happens.

The fun of it? Hundreds of thousands of people's lives are on the line. If you could make it rain over the wild fires you'd be a genuine hero.

 

[Agathion]

Finally should prob clarify... its not my power, its his. Any power I am granted is not mine but his and like everything else the lord gives he can also take it away. At best I am a conduit for his power to flow through into the world, I have no power in and of myself. I can intercede and ask his help but if change does occur its not being done by me. Im just a standard model human like everyone else... nothing special.