mms wrote:wenglund wrote:I do wish you well on your test of faith and spiritual journey.
For what it is worth, I have found the following to be of help to me when my faith has been challenged:
1. Put the faith-trial and decisionmaking process into context. In effect, figure out what all the purposes, intents, functions, role, and value the Church is or might be in my life and the life of my family.
2. Within that context, fairly weigh all factors about the Church in the balance. In other words, create a mental list of what I may find right and workable about the Church (faith promoting) as well as what I find troubling and wrong (faith troubling), and weigh them against each other.
3. Within that same context, direct my evaluations internally as well as externally--focusing as much if not more on my own internal rightness and wrongness, as well as the same regarding the Church.
4. Make the decisionmaking processes about choicing the best of multiple viable options, rather than about simply negating a single existing option. In other words, comparatively evaluate the Church in relation to other proven developmental systems (secular and religious) in effort to determine which individually or in combination will enable me and my family to become the very best people possible--in terms of happiness, love, understanding (both physically and spiritually), respect, ability, and being responsible and mature
In other words, I put the trial of my faith in the mix of my whole life's journey, and evaluate it in terms of the destination I have chosen for myself. Metaphorically speaking, if I have some doubts about a specific aspect of a complex navigational devise (such as the Church), I look at the importance and meaning of that specific aspect in relation to the entirely of the complex navigation devise and other navigational options (such as other religious and secular institutions), so as to avoid unwittingly jettisoning a viable navigational devise and finding myself without direction and tossed to and fro by the winds, waves, and currents of public opinion.
Thanks, -Wade Englund-
This is fantastic. Again, Wade, for some reason the way you have presented things since I have been around (not too long) speaks to my mind quite clearly (I think this may be because you do not spend time taking a position, but trying to figure out what the concerns are so that they may be addressed in the most reasonable and methodical way) and what you have written, here, is extremely valuable in my opinion. I have printed it and will use it. I expect that you have provided it to others? If not, keep it handy. A very understandable, thorough, unbiased approach.
I am very gratified that you would think so.
I wish that I had figured this out some time ago, and thus saved myself from wasting years and years of my life going nowhere but down in the seemingly bottomless pit of back-and-forth blame, jugementalism, and criticism (particularly on cyberboards), when really what I and most everyone else wanted is to resolve our respective challenges and move forward in life. But, if I can now help others to learn from my huge mistake, and avoid wasting years or months or days of their life in that bottomless pit, then that would make me very happy. It is just that the bottomless pit can be extrodinarily alurring and seemingly justified and warranted. So, my solution-oriented message is up against some pretty stiff competition--not to mention being disadvantaged by my understandable lack of credibility that I earned over years in the bottomless pit. ;-)
I feel I must also give some credit to Dr. Phil and the title of his book, "Doing what Works, Doing What matters", that became a wake-up call for me a while back.
Thanks, -Wade Englund-