Dear Chelcie, just a few words. The irony is I believe this is actually you spiritually evolving.

I have family who are devout Christians and if their not arguing amongst themselves which flavour of Christianity is most relevant, they are projecting hate towards people born with a different sexual orientation or worshipping God via other faith systems etc. Despite claiming they are “deeply religious”, they’re actually spiritually asleep. How bizarre is that.

The thing that frequently amuses me, is how at odds much of the Christian religion is actually to the teachings of Jesus. When you  read what Jesus said in isolation from the rest of the bible, you can feel it resonate in your heart: Love, forgiveness, tolerance, acceptance, kindness. Note how different this is to much of the bible and some of the crazy doctrine within the church.

The man we call Jesus today did walk this earth and was probably the most spiritually evolved being yet to do so, but remember Jesus did not write the bible. (and nor did God via holy dictation or some nonsense). This was the work of men, who in the early years tried to capture the teachings of someone who was quite frankly on a different spiritual plane. They then tried to fuse it altogether with other doctrine into something vaguely comprehensible. But even then, its so full of contradictions and teachings that are not congruent with those of Jesus, that when you step back as your doing now you see the truth. This is why the Church tries to guilt trip people, because when your shine the true light of reality on it, you see it for it truly is.

However I fully appreciate how unsettling it can be stepping outside the framework your previous church offers, but what I say may surprise you; because I actually recommend you turn to Jesus on your own terms. He is there for you within your heart and let me assure the church does not have exclusivity on God!

I was brought up a Christian and have studied all the major religions and read hundreds of books on spirituality trying to find my way over decades. For where you are right now check out Eckhart Tolle books particularly a New Earth. There is also a wonderful free series of 10 talks by him on Youtube (the Oprah show / New Earth) where you will encounter many people calling in with similar dilemmas to yours and Echart really gets the challenges of letting go of the church. This may be of help to you. Also do not be afraid to check out Buddhism. If you find the right community it can be fantastic and a spiritually enlightening way to live your life.

All the very best

Tim

• This reply was modified 7 years, 3 months ago by Humanoid.