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Hi fisherman, Welcome to the forum! One thing that works for me is to accept that just as religion leaves many questions unanswered, science/logic leaves unanswered questions as well. I think back on positive spiritual experiences that I have had in my life that really don’t have a scientific explanation that show some form of mercy to me or others. These to me confirm the existence of God. A couple of examples:
1. As a teenager, I was heading out one evening to my girlfriend’s house. I had a firm impression like a voice telling me that I should go talk to my father before heading out because it could be the last time I spoke with him. I went into his room and talked to him a bit before heading out to my girlfriend’s. Several hours later, I got a phone call out there that he had died of a heart attack.
2. Just this last week, the father of a woman I taught on my mission down in Argentina passed away from cancer (isn’t Facebook great — I can keep in contact with people I knew 30 years ago!). As I read through the messages and postings she had, I had the strong impression that God was comforting her.
Those are the kinds of things that help me. Good luck!
These are all good suggestions in my mind. I had a Religions of India class back in college and a swami came and did some guided meditation with the class and I know that stuff can work. I still remember him saying “you are a wave (pause) on the ocean of life”. For me, sometimes a couple squares of a good quality dark chocolate melting in my mouth and watching something funny will totally get my mind off of it for a spell.
Those are great resources, Mackay11, thanks for sharing them. I also took a peak at your blog — good stuff, especially the explanation at becoming a “cafeteria Mormon”. Learning about Joseph’s polygamy/polyandry also blew me away when I learned about it in detail within the last year. It totally floored me and I was born LDS! Anyway, learning about that has given me the same type of perspective that you have.
Turinturambar, Your letter comes from the heart and touched me – I don’t think you need to change anything and I hope things work out for you. Certainly if your local leaders have the true spirit with them, they will be compassionate and understanding.
For what it is worth, there a quite a few people out there, especially in this forum who would like to see the church change toward the LGBT community. I for one hope to be some sort of catalyst in my own ward for getting people to see a broader view. I also expect to get in trouble from time to time about it, but that’s fine by me.
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome! I truly feel like this is good place to have some level of belonging while sorting things out and trying to make sense of everything. Curtis, you are right – things are happening differently for all of us and I am glad we have this forum to exchange ideas.
Roy, you are right – I am so incredibly lucky to have a great wife. She grew up on an army base and has a broad view on people which is very refreshing. Common twit, I have an older sister who was a flow blown hippie – does that count for something?
😆 For all I know, it was her influence that got me to choose my name on this forum.Ann, I agree with you in God looking down and say that he is finally getting somewhere with me. I just hope he can work through me somehow that I can make some positive contribution to my family and others.
Again, thanks for the welcome.
Welcome! I totally agree with what others have said — definitely take it slow. It’s very hard gaining a knowledge that you have been lied to for decades of your life about something all of us in this forum have held close to our hearts. For me, the Mormon Stories podcasts have been a great help as well. At some point, you will need to talk to your spouse, but make sure you have thought through everything first. In my case, I actually found my wife had been learning about all the nice true history stuff before me, so that was a bit of a surprise as well as a huge relief.
It is fine to say “no” to meetings — we don’t need all of them. Personally, I think we should dispense with a bunch of them and go and paint somebody’s house!
journeygirl, I just joined this forum yesterday after lurking about as a nonmember for a while. Your post caught my eye since I am in the same boat (I teach 10-year-olds though). I, too, had a very hard time wrapping up last year in church history. In all honesty, I highly doubt I can teach the “ultra glossy” version of church history in the same manuals I am certain we will have four years from now. Needless to say, I was glad to have the chance to move onto a new topic this year.
SURPRISE!! It’s hard to teach Old Testament because of the lessons that children can be take from the stories if they are growing up to be literalists. I love the suggestion of using the approach that “In the story of Adam and Eve, we are taught that…” — I think it’s great and I plan on using it. I also love that there is always something you can pull from the lesson — I try to do that like others who have posted here and it really helps.
Another thing I do is to hone in on what can be applied to help us in the here and now. For example, during the creation lesson, we talked about what we can do to respect the earth. I brought pictures of all the trash strewn along the trail to the peak of Mount Everest and some information about people/groups who are trying to clean it up. I also brought the video of the men who toppled the rock formation in Goblin Valley last fall, as well as pictures of tree trunks in the forest with names carved in them. The discussion went really well even if it wasn’t your black and white creation lesson. I bring plenty of multimedia, because that is what these kids are growing up on (thank heavens for my Nexus tablet!!). I try to stick with the “theme” of some of the “activities” listed at the end of the lessons, but modernize them — those manuals are soooo old. A bit unorthodox I will admit, but hey, “they” called me to teach Primary
🙂 Bottom line is that I am trying to approach the teaching with the “here and now” mentality. It’s nice to know the stories, scriptures, doctrine, etc. but even better to know what you should do with them going forward in your own life. Hope this helps you some.
