Evergreen,
Cute picture of the puppy!!
Congratulations, first of all for accepting that "the truth" is in fact NOT ABSOLUTE truth. That in itself is a big first step, my friend.
That is not meant to degrade that one particular religion (although most people will agree it is near the top of the list for "bad" religions, whether an ex-Jw or having never been in), but the more I began to search for what the one true religion was, the more I determined that they were all good and all bad.
Inherently, as humans, we want to know that what we are doing is right, or good, or kind, or positive..... you get the point. We join or stay in these very high-control religions, it seems, dependant on how secure we are with our own self-assurance and our ability to judge ourselves as being worthy of forgiveness or being able to please God. It is easy to be found worthy of this "acceptance" when it is given, no questions asked by the other members of these ONE TRUE RELIGION models, such as JW's.
Satanus said:
I guess i have found a couple of treasures, well actually one, quite recently. I will tell you what it is. It is the love of my maternal grandmother which had been blocked by my father. In one of my meditations, it broke through, and my fathers influence was thrown aside. It was wonderful feeling this love for a few weeks.
I know when I was first leaving I would have had a hard time listening to that because of the fact that my impression, (built in by years of "study"), that it could sound like Satan talking. Trust me it was just Satanus, not Satan himself. Point being, what bad can come from a genuine expression of the joy received by this love?
You said: There must be one true faith as there was in the first century.
There was one true faith, as Jesus taught it. Others (besides Jesus) have also taught it for centuries as well. When it comes right down to it, it is the most basic of his teachings... love your neighbour as youself.... do unto others as you would have done unto you..... and any other basic teachings. We make it WAY too complicated sometimes.
If you feel that you need to follow one specific religion, IMO, look for a religion that has the fewest absolutes, other than love and acceptance.
Brad