Posted by dillon on September 23, 2003, at 23:56:36
In reply to Re: strruggling with faith, posted by rayww on September 23, 2003, at 10:20:44
I am very interested in faith also, and I used to be very depressed and/or anxious about finding the "correct" faith. (In fact I was terrified.)
I don't know if I can help, but I'll share a little of my experience with you and you can take what you want from it... I'm not implying that my problems are yours, but I'm just offering my experience so you don't feel so alone... maybe it will help.
The fact that you are struggling with faith, is in itself, at least to me, is proof there must be something more. Somehow it would seem counterintuitive to be able to imagine something without any basis for such thought.
Now I used to worry about how to find the CORRECT faith, I used to worry that I was going to die and never find the correct faith, I even got to a point where I didn't feel like enjoying life because I was always worried about finding faith... even after I joined a very nice church (LDS a/k/a Mormons). I found that for me joining this church didn't help my problems (even thought they were wonderful people)... the worries and anxiety were always there because the worries were more a process of my chemistry being "off" than anything else.
I had to try A LOT of medicines (and a few doctors) before I found a series of meds that worked for me....
Now that I'm not driven by fear I have to find a religious group that is relevant for me, one that I fit into comfortably, but that is a different story.
Perhaps .... maybe the anxiety you are going through is caused by meds or by some brain chemistry being off and you are experiencing it in the way you are... by worrying about faith... I don't know.
However, I do know that the mere fact that you are worrying about faith says a lot of good things about you. Hang in there, you sound like a good person.
I recently found a book I really liked (it made me smile and it was about faith) and perhaps you'd like it, Its called "THE BOOK" by Alan Watts. I mentioned it in another thread and I don't want to take up any more space here... But it has a great story in it about how God got bored and started playing hide and seek with himself (by becoming you and me)... well... you have to read the book.
My thoughts go with you tonight. You are not alone in your struggle.
poster:dillon
thread:262623
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/faith/20030908/msgs/262846.html