My spiritual beliefs have been unstable for years...help?

[jlhbr100]

hello all,

I was raised Catholic but in 2006 I was exposed to a lot of atheist arguments and by late Spring 2007, my beliefs had basically collapsed after I started questioning everything and felt like I never thought deeply about things on my own as I should have. I became agnostic. I first re-converted back to Christianity in July 2008. I've still been going back and forth about what I believe about God since then, though. My faith actually got really high in late 2009/2010 because at that time I decided to switch from Catholicism to no denomination and I found a really great church that I like. I'm so tired of my faith/spirituality being so bi-polar. I can't seem to stay connected to God even though many times in the past I've felt like I've felt His presence in certain situations. I really want to have some kind of solid spirituality because I don't like the thought of believing in nothing. I'm also worried about if Christianity is true and I'm turning my back on God.

Can anyone help me?

Christians refer to Christ that is within you. This Christ or your being, is the energy that God is. You are not separate from anything. Accept what occurs as it occurs in the present moment, and you will experience heaven on earth like said in the bible. But belief is not a true thing. Only your experiences is truth revealed.

[psychoslice]

I like what Moke said, but also, as long as you are trying to believe in something to cling to, you will never be truly happy, the truth is not found in the bible, or in any church, its found within you, drop all belief systems and just observe what is happening around you, take what can be used as a tool, but then drop it, don't make it into a belief that you need for security.

I am a recovering Southern Baptist myself. And today I follow the Native American path. There is nothing wrong with what the Christ taught, but there are many more books to the bible that were left out by the church. Religion and spirituality have nothing to do with each other. Religion is a concept that someone has about God, it is given to us to believe. Religion also has someone else making the interpretations and telling you what the Creator, God, or Higher Power wants for you and/or from you.
Spirituality is doing your personal clearing work to develop conscious contact with God, Spirit, Higher Power or what ever you want to call it, which leads to a personal relationship and allows it to reveal itself to us on a personal level.
Your heart will tell you when you have found your path. And all of the answers that you seek are inside of you. Just do the personal clearing work and you will develop conscious contact.

Originally Posted by jlhbr100

hello all,

I was raised Catholic but in 2006 I was exposed to a lot of atheist arguments and by late Spring 2007, my beliefs had basically collapsed after I started questioning everything and felt like I never thought deeply about things on my own as I should have. I became agnostic. I first re-converted back to Christianity in July 2008. I've still been going back and forth about what I believe about God since then, though. My faith actually got really high in late 2009/2010 because at that time I decided to switch from Catholicism to no denomination and I found a really great church that I like. I'm so tired of my faith/spirituality being so bi-polar. I can't seem to stay connected to God even though many times in the past I've felt like I've felt His presence in certain situations. I really want to have some kind of solid spirituality because I don't like the thought of believing in nothing. I'm also worried about if Christianity is true and I'm turning my back on God.

Can anyone help me?

You need to demonstrate your life from the beginning, all that you could remember, on what kind of environment you were raised, where you have gone through many stages of your life and then put it all together beside what you believe now, what you think now and where do you wanna go with 'em. You are struggling with so many question that you don't follow their roots. Everuthing is a process. What is boggling your mind, you need to follow it to see where it's really coming from. Then you may find so many clearer answers to your questions.

Originally Posted by jlhbr100

hello all,

I was raised Catholic but in 2006 I was exposed to a lot of atheist arguments and by late Spring 2007, my beliefs had basically collapsed after I started questioning everything and felt like I never thought deeply about things on my own as I should have. I became agnostic. I first re-converted back to Christianity in July 2008. I've still been going back and forth about what I believe about God since then, though. My faith actually got really high in late 2009/2010 because at that time I decided to switch from Catholicism to no denomination and I found a really great church that I like. I'm so tired of my faith/spirituality being so bi-polar. I can't seem to stay connected to God even though many times in the past I've felt like I've felt His presence in certain situations. I really want to have some kind of solid spirituality because I don't like the thought of believing in nothing. I'm also worried about if Christianity is true and I'm turning my back on God.

Can anyone help me?

Hi!!
It happens with everybody, try reading Frithjof Schoun,Josef pieper or Mircea Eliade, If there are doubts, we will discuss.
TC
keep the faith

Originally Posted by jlhbr100

I can't seem to stay connected to God even though many times in the past I've felt like I've felt His presence in certain situations. I really want to have some kind of solid spirituality because I don't like the thought of believing in nothing. I'm also worried about if Christianity is true and I'm turning my back on God.

Can anyone help me?

I've done a bit of research on religion in the past, and particularly Christianity/Catholicism. The historical truth is what you believe it to be. I read that Jesus wasn't a Christian but a Nazorean Essene, Christianity was invented by the Roman Catholic church at the Council of Nycea for their own ends. Essene teaching is very different to Christian teaching in that Christianity teaches 'God without', as in the image of the old man with the beard and robes who dwells on high, too far away for mere mortals to even think about. Essene teaching is 'God within', as in inside all of us. When Jesus said "I am the Way", he didn't mean we had to worship him but look upon him as a role model and find God for ourselves, in ourselves. That makes more sense to me.

Spirituality-ways, when all has been stripped away and you stand alone, all you have is yourself. If yourself is all you have, yourself is all you need. Have the faith and the courage to make your own Journey, if you have felt God's presence then you must know he's with you somewhere along the way. If he's as omnipotent as he is believed to be then he'll understand that and understand better than you what's going on. The old cliche about footprints in the sand come to mind here, cliche or not it works.

See it as an opportunity to walk new ground and forge your own Path or to again fall into line with the beliefs of others, your choice.

Many have found that the energies we call God are different than they were taught via a specific religion. It is a given that various religions have different views about spirituality. Don’t expect these various religions to agree. They're not about to do so. Spirituality extends far beyond the different religions’ beliefs. So does God.

Many have found seeking spirituality outside of the restrictive parameters of religion to be a VERY satisfying experience in sooooo many ways. One’s spirituality can be very solid even if it isn’t identified by a particular religion. Others have walked away from organized religion too when it no longer made sense to them.

TRUST your gut feeling & move past the God of fear. You already KNOW this isn’t genuine. Your connection to God is there automatically. Don’t expect to stay in the state of feeling this fully (bliss) all the time though. That's OK as you can return to this feeling whenever you want.

Originally Posted by mattie

...TRUST your gut feeling & move past the God of fear. You already KNOW this isn’t genuine. Your connection to God is there automatically. Don’t expect to stay in the state of feeling this fully (bliss) all the time though. That's OK as you can return to this feeling whenever you want.

Exactly.

Changing your mind about the universe and God does not change God or the universe. Everything is just what everything is. This might seem like a silly point - but the thing to realize is the important thing is your connection to God and the universe, not just what you think of it.

The common mistake of religions is to try to commoditize God, when what is really needed is for each individual to find the individual connection within his/herself. Talk is cheap - Being there, not so much.

It is there, if you open to it.

Originally Posted by jlhbr100

I really want to have some kind of solid spirituality because I don't like the thought of believing in nothing. I'm also worried about if Christianity is true and I'm turning my back on God.

Can anyone help me?

Atheism doesn't mean "believing in nothing". It simply means believing in nothing identified by the label "divine". Perhaps atheism is your calling and you are trying to resist that?

Hey, I'm just trying to cover all of the bases. You may be fighting something you shouldn't.


eudaimonia,

Mark