Here it is: my da letter

by BlackSwan of Memphis 45 Replies latest jw experiences

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  ESTEE

  Back to the top! Great thread.

  ESTEE
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  truthsearcher

  Black Swan, I would love to hear where your Bible study is leading you...
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  BlackSwan of Memphis

  Wow what timing....

  Thanks Estee

  Hmmmm where has my bible study led me...

  Well, hmmm ok this is where I am at now:

  I don't take the Bible as the Word of God anymore. I do think it's possibly inspired. In all honesty I go back and forth.

  There are some things that have remained constant, I tend to go back to the teachings of Jesus as a basis for things.

  I had made a promise to a friend a while back to read the Catechism of the Catholic Church and slowly I am keeping that promise. And truthfully, it is quite interesting in terms of it's teachings on sin, grace and communion. Through that I still read the bible.

  I've considered myself a pagan for awhile. I think lately though, the best description of where I'm at, is not pagan or this or that..

  I believe.

  In the last year I've had my own experiences, that which I've Not shared here openly for various reasons, that have left me just saying, I get why people don't believe in God, but I do. I don't think of God as being Male or Female, I think of God as being the perfect whole. There are glimpeses (sp) of truth here and there. I don't think that any one religion has all the answers. And that's ok with me.

  I was thinking the other day about Jesus. About what man learned from him. And I thought of it like this:

  I ***think*** that the idea is this:

  God is perfect love, perfect compassion, perfect peace etc. Now, yes I have gone through the whole "Why doesn't God intervene?" thing. That would be an entire other thread and ya know....not up for that right now.

  When we work towards love, compassion and peace we are in effect reaching for God. Do we do this perfectly? Well I can safely say I don't (and I'm sure several others would agree).

  And that's just it.

  We can't.

  And I think Jesus was telling us that. "Don't get so comfortable in your spiritual gains, because you are not perfect. Look at these men who pat themselves on the back for all that they do. They are so proud of themselves. Don't be like that, don't stop trying to be a loving and compassionate and forgiving person, but don't get full of yourself. None can earn anything from God like that. Look ahead, be loving and do what is right for the sake of righteousness not for the end result."

  Now, I do realize that there is the issue of Jesus being the Savior of mankind. That's where I divert. Not sure about that.
  I have many many questions about that right now.

  But I'm ok with that. It's taken a long time to get there and I know that what I believe right now could very well be greatly different next month. Just because I constantly read and think and ponder....no I'm not patting myself on the back, I just rarely am able to turn off my brain.

  Some of the people here absolutely amaze me. Those who are so well versed in the bible and science. I think for me, I am just constantly curious about the history of religion. How man came to be spiritual beings etc.

  Soooo I realize that this greatly different from where I started and ya know, I don't like to say never. Perhaps one day I will be a very devout Christian...don't know what the future holds.

  Heck, right now I'm more concerned about figuring out how medicaid works ;-)

  Hope the update wasn't too disappointing for ya.
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  ESTEE

  BlackSwan. . . I see you as "spiritual," and that is very different from being "religious." No need to feel apologetic for your personal views. We are free here on this forum.

  Sounds healthy to me!!!

  ESTEE
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  BlackSwan of Memphis

  Thanks Estee. That is basically what I strive for, though I know that often, especially lately I've turned into mega watt meanie with people and am not showing much patience. So, thank you for such a kind compliment!

  What was interesting about this being brought to the top.....

  As I posted on another thread, I cut things off with my family. The thing is there is a recent development, nothing real exciting, but it had started me thinking about nearly rewriting the da letter and Adding to it.

  But seeing my original and seeing how it affected others, helped me to realize that I could give them every reason in the world to get "out" of the Org, but the fact is, they don't want to. This was just very good timing for me and it helped a great deal.

  So many thanks, I realize it was for the benefit of others, but it was quite beneficial to me.
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  dawg

  THat's awesome