If you were ever a theist...

[*Deidre*]

MTL, I appreciate you sharing your experience here! Your story is moving, and interesting to me at the same time. For me, I think why I’m viewing it as something ‘divine,’ is that I wasn’t seeking or asking anymore. I truly had grown indifferent. No more prayers, nothing. I had accepted that atheism/agnosticism was the path I had come to, after exploring other religions last year. And I was okay with it, at that time. So, my experience took me by surprise, and there were subsequent experiences, of which seemed surreal, and again, I wasn’t seeking to understand God anymore. Or look for Him, or any of that. I decided last year after these things had happened, to google to see the faith experiences of others, and the after feelings were nearly identical to me. I have sort of lost the desire to cling to secular things like I once did. And that change happened pretty rapidly. I love my life, and the people in it, but I sort of lost interest in chasing the things I used to chase to ‘make’ me happy. I appreciate your understanding and perception of it, and yes…maybe a better way to explain it is that it’s just real for me, and no I’m not crazy lol and that is where perhaps we can all share some common ground. I don’t expect anyone to believe me, or even desire that, but when asked why I returned to Christianity…this is why. I wasn’t seeking to return, that’s the interesting thing about my experience. There are days when I sit back and think…wow, I’m back to faith? Lol Didn’t see that coming.

Much of the Bible is allegory though, and many of the parables are designed to teach the reader a greater moral, using the parable as a backdrop. I’m of the opinion though that one doesn’t need to stop asking questions or even doubting certain things in the Bible, in order to profess a love for God. The Bible doesn’t dictate my own faith. Faith is a personal thing, the problem with faith and religion in a broader sense, is that many religious people want to control others with it, and that’s why there is so much angst between atheists and theists, me thinks. I have no right to tell someone to believe what I believe. We all have the freedom to believe as we wish.

Thanks for listening!

Thank you for listening, Deidre.

It seems you are really open to hearing what people have to say.

Thank you, and the same to you as well
You are easy to share things with, and talk to, here.

Honestly, I love hearing about different beliefs, and alternative ways of viewing life and perspectives. It's only when people come at me from a view of 'you're stupid, you went back to religion,' or 'you're irrational because you went back to faith,' etc...that I tend to tune out. lol If someone wants to attack my beliefs, then at least there is room for discussion.