Wrote a letter to the Catholic Chruch. (page 4)

Blueblades

FHN. Thanks for the link and recommendation.

As far as death is concerned I am sad because of not knowing what to expect. There is the myth of certainty that confronts all of us.

Blueblades

Casper

Hi Cas,

That is exactly what it means. Hope that is good news!

Tom

Hi Tom,

And Welcome...

Thanks for your response... as I said, I am just amazed by all this. I really had no idea that I was "affiliated" with any religion... I am going to think on all this awhile, sort of confused in my thoughts at the moment. All the JW teachings and all, going around in my head... lol.

That's true documents can be forged. Mine went out in the flood of '92 in my area.

Thanks for your help and understanding.

Blueblades,

I can understand your feelings also.

Cas

Tom Cabeen

Blue,

I am sorry you lost your faith, but it happens to many former JWs. My heart aches for them.

Faith is a conscious act of will, a response you make after using your intellect to examine evidence, a decision you make to believe something beyond the evidence, but toward which the evidence points. As time goes by, your perspective may change, you may come to see some new evidence (or the same old evidence in a new way) that there is a God who has not only communicated with us, but who loves us as his children and wants to share his divine life with us.

Sixty-three once seemed ancient to me, but now I see it more along the lines of middle age (I am 58). A lot of water may have gone under the bridge, but I believe there is still plenty of water up the river.

If you ever want to reopen your investigation, I would be more than happy to share with you the basis for my faith. But if not, you are still my brother, and I wish you peace.

Best regards,

Tom

Blueblades

Thanks Tom, I have always wondered with wonder where and how persons like yourself get your convictions from. Does Jesus really make himself known to you without any ambiguity, with a certainty that does not rely on a book to sought out the truth about his existence.

Blueblades

Casper

I reason that there is a cause of all life. What that is I don't know. So, here I am stuck in limbo so to speak, with no spiritual awakening, no personal experience with 'The Lord'. I'm 63 years old and my days are numbered, death will give me the final answer.

I can totally relate to the above statement. It's a terrible feeling for me, an emptiness... I have a spiritual nature and no where do I feel safe enough to express it.

The Witnesses taught us to question everything, except for them, of course.

I think alot of us are afraid of being gullible again.

Cas

Tom Cabeen

Hi Blue,

No, I don't think Jesus has ever made himself known to me without ambiguity. That would be too easy, and would not require faith on my part. I think the biggest component for building my faith is communication with other people. I love people. I love to talk to them or read what they have written down about what they believe and why. I think that is what drew me to the writings of the early Christians. Many of their writings just tell how they came to faith, what obstacles they overcame, what they found that they were willing to die for.

You should be aware of a very significant factor at work in many former JWs. It is the negativity with which we were trained to think as JWs. I posted what follows a few days ago on another thread, but you might not have seen it.

Many years ago, I ran across a quote which made a deep impression on me. I printed it out and it hung on my wall for several years. It is from Solomon ibn Gabirol, a Jewish rabbi who lived about a thousand years ago and had a good deal of influence on the Christians of his day. He said:

"A fool rejoices when he discovers error; a wise man rejoices when he discovers truth."

This quote impressed me. It conjured up in my mind a mental picture of the method so many use to analyze things. They seem to start by saying "I was tricked once; it won't happen again." Then they spend a lot of time trying to discover just where something doesn't fit, where the loophole or falsehood is. Every time they find something "wrong", they congratulate themselves on seeing through another lie. There is so little to be gained in proportion to the effort expended from that type of endeavor.

If they would invest the same amount of effort in becoming informed about things that can be verified to a reasonable degree, then each thing they would learn would contribute toward building a more correct model of reality, which is what truth is. You gain something you can live by each and every time you do it. It doesn't have to be about religion. I studied physics, astronomy, art, music and a host of other things; anything that caught my eye. After awhile, I began to feel much more reassured that the universe was really designed, that ultimately everything did fit together. It gave me the confidence to reexamine religion with a new perspective, finding truth.

I resolved to take Solomon ibn Gabirol's advice to heart. The result has made me so much happier than I was when I was looking for error.

I wish you success, bro.

Tom

Casper

You should be aware of a very significant factor at work in many former JWs. It is the negativity with which we were trained to think as JWs

That statement is so true. I wasn't negative before I became a witness, now after leaving, I do just as you said Tom, I question everything to death...

You've certainly given me alot to think about.

Appreciate your posts.

Cas

FlyingHighNow

FHN. Thanks for the link and recommendation.
As far as death is concerned I am sad because of not knowing what to expect. There is the myth of certainty that confronts all of us.
Blueblades

I found the book at my local library. There is a sequel to it about finding grace in today's world. It's an easy, pleasant read and enlightening. You can also find a lot of information on line about universalism. Many Catholics, Anglicans, other churches, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus, etc. are universalists. I've met both Catholic and Anglican priests and nuns who are universalists. One of Oral Roberts right hand men, Carlton Pearson, lost 2/3s of his church when he embraced universalism. I became intrigued with the subject of universalism when I read about Mark Farner embracing universalism and Carlton Pearson doing the same, at great loss to himself.

The interesting things I learned reading the book I linked to were that these former hellfire Quaker ministers believe that all of God's creatures, wayward angels included, will not be able to resist his love forever and will return to him. And also that Jesus death is not needed for salvation. They also show how the Bible cannot be fully from God and that Jesus taught universalism. I made a thread about this and you can find it in my topics started list. At least one person made a profound comment to the effect that a loving god would be much more amazing if he found a way to help all of his children. I recommend reading the book because I think it will give you peace of mind. The book will not tell you that you have to belong to any religion. Universalism tends to frighten people. They cannot fathom the idea that God would rescue all of his children and that his love is so pure no one can keep resisting it. People also find it hard to let go of the idea that perhaps Christ did not come to die for us, but to set an example in God's unconditional love and to show us perfection. Here's just one link that you could investigate if you have the desire: http://www.christianuniversalist.org/ This page is of great interest to me, especially number four and on: http://www.christianuniversalist.org/beliefs.html

FlyingHighNow

I want to add that I knew this universalist God from the time I was a tiny girl. No one told me he was that loving. I just knew it. I knew there was nothing we could do that God couldn't forgive.

Blueblades

Tom and FHN. You both have been very helpful to me. I have to digest this, it will take some time. Thanks for your support.

Blueblades,

Wrote a letter to the Catholic Chruch.

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