Feeling Lost

by faundy 22 Replies latest jw friends

  • sizemik
    sizemik

    I know how you are feeling faundy . . . believe me I do. I too suffer from depression/anxiety although in recent times I have been able to divest myself of dependence on meds . . . it has taken many years however.

    I take a lot of stock from Christs warning to "be on your guard against men" . . . and apart from his own words, much of what we come to read or believe is just that . . . the words of men. In time I felt a personal connection with Christ . . . not so much as a person, but as a reflection of all that is good about humanity. It is a connection that finds a good deal of agreement with the "inner person" and so does not need the intermediary involvement of men or man-made institutions. It's hard to explain, but I feel it harmonises with the energy that animates us and inhabits all of the physical world. It's almost a trust that develops . . . which dispels all fear and uncertainty. It allows me to live and accommodate the "unknown" knowing that I cannot be accountable for that which I cannot know for sure, and therefore is not fully trustworthy. This has come to mean for me "faith" . . . not in the declarations or assertions of men, but in the goodness of the source of my reason for being.

    In this way Christ becomes "the way and the truth and the life" to me. If I may suggest . . . read his words as much as you can . . . in it's pure narrative form . . . and get a feel for the nature of his teaching rather than looking for knowledge or instruction . . . pray to him also . . . and give some time to the process . . . periods of doubt and uncertainty will come and go . . . but for me . . . in time I found harmony . . . and it is dependent on nothing and nobody, and so cannot be taken away.

  • transhuman68
    transhuman68

    Maybe you are not doing what you really want to do, or aren't being the person you were born to be? You are still young- invest in yourself and spend some money on a therapist you can really trust.

    So maybe it is just a stage in your life- but an unproductive one. You may need help to get through it.

  • AGuest
    AGuest
    I feel I do have a spiritual void that needs to be filled. I believe there's something more to what I have here on earth and I wish more than anything that I knew what it was.

    Greetings, dear Faundy, and may you have peace! I don't a lot of time this morning, as well as don't want to be redundant (any more than I have to be) and fill up the board space with duplicate posts, so perhaps this (my last response to dear godrulz - peace to you!) will help:

    http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/210463/3/Exactly-how-many-different-views-of-Jesus-are-there-on-the-Board-and-doesnt-that-kind-of-tell-Believers-the-obvious-problem

    It may help to consider the part about what can become a "fountain" in YOU... the "waters" of which can "fill" ANY void you may have.

    Again, peace to you... and may you find "Peace"!

    A slave of Christ,

    SA

  • tec
    tec

    Faundy,

    I think you have a need for the spiritual, because you have a spirit that wants to be fed with spiritual things. Some people can live without this... perhaps because they fill that need through other things, as some here have suggested. (helping others, children, etc) But some have a true need to feed their spiritual seeking.

    I do think that Christ is the Son of God, though I understand that you're not sure, and that if you reject one religion, it tends to taint you for any other. But I think Christ embodies everything of God: Peace; love; forgiveness/mercy/justice; inner strength; truth; comfort. My spiritual need (and the connection that so many of us seek) is fulfilled in Him. I receive the gift of those things through my faith in Him.

    I think many religions have taken the spiritual out of faith, and turned it into something that we have to see and do. Not all of them. But some point us in the wrong direction altogether, too. Sometimes you just got to throw all that stuff away and say God, "Guide me to where you want me to be. If Christ is your son, then please help me to know Him."

    Not what people say about Him (and one person is as open to error as the next)... but Christ, Himself.

    This is one thing that I like and trust (something Christ is recorded to have said). One of his disciples had just asked why Jesus intended to show himself to them, and not to the world. Jesus replied, "If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."

    I'm not trying to preach at you, Faundy. Promise :) Just trying to share some of my faith about Christ and God.

    Peace to you,

    Tammy

  • eruption
    eruption

    You were created Faundy, so your maker knows the quandry your in, we can all give our 2 bobs worth, bit ultimateley, like you knew before you posted here, your situation wont be resolved here, Im in exactly the same posistion as you, and for what it is worth, I feel its up to our creator to inform us. I say this because we can all be easily influenced and manipulated, as many of us have been, or else we wouldnt have ended up JW,s.

    For me, the onus is on the creator to come up with the goods, this isnt blasphemy, quite the reverse, its an admissision that I need direction, and my criteria for any acceptance will be scrutinised like never before, and any subsequent involvment in an other religion, will be be put up here on this site to be scrutinised, and questioned before I make any kind committment, and if and when such a calling comes up, I will make that judgement call.

    Meanwhile we all collectively have to be involved with the mundane, going to work paying bills, having relationships ect, I watched my parents generation die off, maybe ours will go the same way,, I await, but in the meantime life must go on,so make the most of it, Explore, Educate, Expand, Its only my belief, but have a thirst for life and love, if your spiritual growth was the main topic for your life right now, nobody could have stopped your creator bringing it to your attention. I just believe we ALL must be more circumspect if we ever plunge into religion again.B

  • Curtains
    Curtains

    spend some time with us Faundy - you may find that something someone says resounds with you. I often find this here. Just meditating on the wisdom around you whilst feeling the ebb and flow of life can bring respite and refreshment.

  • I quit!
    I quit!

    Hi Faudy, nice to see you posting again.

    As JWs we had ready make friends as long as we stayed in step. We had what we then thought were very important activities to keep us busy. And we thought we had all the answers Then we found out that all the answers we had were wrong.

    After I left I remember feeling like I should be telling people something or doing something but my bag of tricks was completely empty. I haven't found anything gives me the feeling that I have found the answer to life the universe and everything to quote Douglas Adams but the nice thing is I no longer feel the need to know all. I just try to enjoy the journey I'm on. I'm still a Christian but it completely different for me now in that I no longer have to believe that I'm in the right and everyone else is in the wrong. I think we all have to work it out for ourselves and there is nothing wrong find ourselves in a position of not knowing what we believe or doubting our beliefs.

    I don't believe there is a God who is going hold it against us for not figuring it out. After all there is a lot of conficting information and we haven't been given long to sort through it. Sometimes I think the best thing for someone to do is just to stop searching and enjoy the moment and see if things don't fall into place for them.

  • nicolaou
    nicolaou

    Hi Faundy, I think we met once very briefly at the London Apostanoodle in 2007. I'm so sorry that you feel the way you do. For a few years after I left the Watchtower I struggled with feelings similar to your own. Eventually, my doctor also prescribed anti-depressants for me, I remember standing outside the chemists after getting my prescription just staring at those pills and knowing this was not the route for me. I threw them safely away and never regretted it.

    Please, please consider all the opportunites that lie in front of you. I have found that life without faith is wonderful, truly liberating! I find excitement in learning all about this wonderful, mysterious universe we live in. But that's me. Try to see this as a watershed in your life and a chance for a new beginning too.

    I wish you all the love and luck in the world,

    Nic'

  • Mad Sweeney
    Mad Sweeney

    Whilst I do not wish to hold to one particular set of beliefs, I do find alot of the above aspects, well defined in Buddhism.

    I'm on a similar page, though I feel like even Buddhism is too much of a "religion" for me. I really dig the Taoist philosophy though. Look inside yourself and look to the east. The kingdom of god is within you.

  • Curtains
    Curtains

    morning faundy

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