by janelle 21 Replies latest jw friends
Welcome to the board.
I think I am in sort of a spiritual limbo right now. I still believe in God for I believe there is too much complexity to the whole universe for it to be just an accident. As for truth, I guess I will have to search further for it now that I know the JW's don't have it.
IronClaw
Hi Janelle, welcome to the forum! I'm still on a spiritual journey myself.
Hi Janelle, welcome to JWD! You sound like you have a lot of spunk mixed in with a good dose of self examination! I like that. I guess everyone deals with the escape from the Borg in their own way. I never felt bitter or that my time had been "wasted" but then I left before my 15th birthday. For many years I looked into a lot of other religions, philosophies and world views. For the most part I considered myself an agnostic which was the only honest conclusion I could come to as no difinitive answers were forthcoming.
After 18 years I found a cosmology/'religion that not only met my expectations, but far exceeded them. It gave me good reason to once again consider the idea of a "god" but certainly not one patterned after the old testament Jehovah.
Peace.
carmel
Welcome janelle
We are all glad you found us! We know how hard the journey is after leaving the JWs. We are all here for you, whether you want to talk, laugh, rant, rave, or cry. You have to follow your own heart to find your path. There is a little bit of everything here. Just keep an open mind!
I've been DF'd for 20 hard years. It still doesn't seen that long. I've tried alot of things. For me, I found my spirituality with Wicca.
Just be true to yourself, and take your time!
shelley
welcome !!
a spiritual journey is a good way to put it.. consider yourself on a journey and there will be many experiences in your life that will make you believe one thing or another..
a very wise person once told me that organized religion of any kind only vary in that they believe different things about the afterlife..that is they teach what they believe you should to to be accepted after death by God or whatever higher power they believe in..
put like that, it helped me accept that there may not be ONE TRUTH out there. we all have to find peace within our own minds and LIVE the life we have NOW. let the after life figure itself out once we are dead.
create standards that you want to live by and have integrity by sticking to those standards. know that your worthy of life now and have the self esteem and confidence to go after what you want in life.
I'm still open for truth, but so far have nothing to put faith in. As soon as some evidence comes along to convince me of a God that is active in mankind's life I will be glad to converse with him and follow his advice. I want something other than a few stories in a book, thousands of years old, with contradictions, unexplainable parables, and revelations that reveal nothing we can understand.
Ken P.
Welcome to the board! I am not sure what I believe. I am just trying to find myself right now and figure out where I want to be. I think I do, but then there are times when I think don't... but I am trying to research and put together a belief system for me because I dont know if there is any one right religion that is out there.
Hey janelle, welcome to the board!! Glad to have you along!!
You'll find all sorts of people here at JWD, from all different walks of life and with all sorts of religious beliefs. I think that most people here are on a journey to figure out what they want to believe and what they don't want to believe, but we're here to help each other out and hopefully, everyone will be happy with whatever they find.
Me, I've never been a JW, I'm just dating an inactive one, and I'm not horribly jaded with my faith - I'm an Anglican, just like everyone else in my family, and proud of it!! I'm quite happy with my faith, I'm very comfortable with it, but that's just me. Everyone here has a different view of the world and religion, so everyone here has a different opinion on that concept.
Stick around, there's lots of stuff to talk about and lots of stuff to learn here, and I'm sure you'll make lots of friends here, too!!
-Becka :)
Welcome to the board...great group of people.
I've been out since the late 80's/early 90's and after a brief time away began my involvement in the ministry. I am currently ordained with the Lutheran Orthodox Church which is discribed as the Catholic Church - Lutheran Rite due to the close relationship we have with the Catholic Church. I also am an active Colonel serving as the Commander of the NH Brigade of the United States Corps of Chaplains.
I firmly believe a person can have a relationship with God without losing themsleves in a mind numbing cult. I choose to remain in an organized religious denomination partly for the fellowship and partly because I find the pagentry and ceremony a grounding and calming part of my own personal faith. I respect that many not only don't need the ceremony of an actual religion but also that many have had a terrible personal experience and can not find a place for religion in their hearts. I only wish that they find whatever force or inner spirit that they need to cope with the daily problems of life in their own way.
i beleive in most of the stuff the WTS taught me, except the parts that are unique to them them, eg. 144,00 FDS, 1914, Jesus not on a cross.. etc..
