Selina, I can see you are a deep and thoughtful person and I appreciate your journey with this writing piece. I am a former pagan. I grew up in the Baptist church in childhood, fled from God due to terrible grief in youth and came stumbling back to the Christian faith 35 years later. I wandered through all kinds of paths, including Buddhism, Leftist politics, metaphysics of all stripes including witchcraft and tried being agnostic. We as humans are wired for a spiritual experience. What I do not follow is "religion", as religion has no power and often is mis-used. I know people have been wounded by the church. The wounds come from flawed human beings, not from God. He is not a thug! I have a relationship with God, as my Heavenly Creator and Papa and I can repent and cast all burdens on Him and Lord Jesus day by day. I do not have to have all the answers, I cannot, but I can keep my heart and spirit clear of darkness and seek counsel, wisdom and Comfort. Holy Spirit Himself is called The Comforter and indeed, He is. I suggest the words of Christ in Matthew 11:28-29, where He says "come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." I am not "preaching" at you, I hate to be preached at. I am simply responding to your writing piece on Christianity. I hope you will just sit down in your spirit and talk to God, ask Him to show you things, ask Him questions. He is a a very kind Papa and One Who had mercy on me in my deep distress and continues to do so, day by day. Wendy
I write in good will and appreciate your response! It's obvious that it comes from a place of care, and that you've finally found a place to be at peace. That's wonderful.
I'm driven to bushwhacking through the theological forest. Which might sound terrible, but it makes me happy. It's a call to adventure. My gods have supported me and continue to give me inspiration and guidance. I have some thoughts about the failings of Paganism as we experienced it.
I hope you'll keep commenting from your perspective. I value it. This is the sort of conversations I want to have.
Selina, blessings! You are a fellow "spelunker" and I also appreciate your concept of "bushwhacking"! The search for spiritual meaning is needed and I went on a three and a half decade journey in the same manner. It is good to ask questions, to seek answers, to do as God told me, "seek, ask, knock." In closing for now, I suggest Isaiah 61:1, which speaks a long time in advance of Christ, of His mission: "The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and to proclaim the opening of the prison to them that are bound." What a great statement and mission, part of which I myself pursue, especially here on Substack, the "binding up the brokenhearted" one-person ministry. I have one piece of my own that might shed some light for you on just how I experience "church", as not a social club but essentially, a Hospital. Broken and brokenhearted people gather there to pray, to minister to one another, to stand together, to provide spiritual support. The piece, which is one that I wrote back in July or August 2022 when I began my Substack "a blunt Oregon girl", is called "A Church, a Hospital." It is about a 5 minute read. You can find it near the beginning of all my pieces. Please keep writing and I will too! Goodnight, Wendy
Very Well written. A. Must READ... I myself was brought up Catholic, My Mom was a religion school teacher at home. I personally would seek out other religions to learn as I grew.I am an Artist, and I paint my experiences with the thing's that I see, feel and what I can express in my Art. I am an open minded person who believes in mankind, love hope and spirits..I don't go to a building to pray. But I do pray everyday for Peace, kindness and the healing of ALL. Without believing in something, anything for the better of all,, then that would be like leaving all belief empty. I believe I have a good soul and continue to create and spread positivity Blessings to All, is what I like to say.
Selina, I can see you are a deep and thoughtful person and I appreciate your journey with this writing piece. I am a former pagan. I grew up in the Baptist church in childhood, fled from God due to terrible grief in youth and came stumbling back to the Christian faith 35 years later. I wandered through all kinds of paths, including Buddhism, Leftist politics, metaphysics of all stripes including witchcraft and tried being agnostic. We as humans are wired for a spiritual experience. What I do not follow is "religion", as religion has no power and often is mis-used. I know people have been wounded by the church. The wounds come from flawed human beings, not from God. He is not a thug! I have a relationship with God, as my Heavenly Creator and Papa and I can repent and cast all burdens on Him and Lord Jesus day by day. I do not have to have all the answers, I cannot, but I can keep my heart and spirit clear of darkness and seek counsel, wisdom and Comfort. Holy Spirit Himself is called The Comforter and indeed, He is. I suggest the words of Christ in Matthew 11:28-29, where He says "come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me for I am meek and lowly in heart and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light." I am not "preaching" at you, I hate to be preached at. I am simply responding to your writing piece on Christianity. I hope you will just sit down in your spirit and talk to God, ask Him to show you things, ask Him questions. He is a a very kind Papa and One Who had mercy on me in my deep distress and continues to do so, day by day. Wendy
I write in good will and appreciate your response! It's obvious that it comes from a place of care, and that you've finally found a place to be at peace. That's wonderful.
I'm driven to bushwhacking through the theological forest. Which might sound terrible, but it makes me happy. It's a call to adventure. My gods have supported me and continue to give me inspiration and guidance. I have some thoughts about the failings of Paganism as we experienced it.
I hope you'll keep commenting from your perspective. I value it. This is the sort of conversations I want to have.
Selina, blessings! You are a fellow "spelunker" and I also appreciate your concept of "bushwhacking"! The search for spiritual meaning is needed and I went on a three and a half decade journey in the same manner. It is good to ask questions, to seek answers, to do as God told me, "seek, ask, knock." In closing for now, I suggest Isaiah 61:1, which speaks a long time in advance of Christ, of His mission: "The spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good tidings to the meek, he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives and to proclaim the opening of the prison to them that are bound." What a great statement and mission, part of which I myself pursue, especially here on Substack, the "binding up the brokenhearted" one-person ministry. I have one piece of my own that might shed some light for you on just how I experience "church", as not a social club but essentially, a Hospital. Broken and brokenhearted people gather there to pray, to minister to one another, to stand together, to provide spiritual support. The piece, which is one that I wrote back in July or August 2022 when I began my Substack "a blunt Oregon girl", is called "A Church, a Hospital." It is about a 5 minute read. You can find it near the beginning of all my pieces. Please keep writing and I will too! Goodnight, Wendy
I will check that out!
Very Well written. A. Must READ... I myself was brought up Catholic, My Mom was a religion school teacher at home. I personally would seek out other religions to learn as I grew.I am an Artist, and I paint my experiences with the thing's that I see, feel and what I can express in my Art. I am an open minded person who believes in mankind, love hope and spirits..I don't go to a building to pray. But I do pray everyday for Peace, kindness and the healing of ALL. Without believing in something, anything for the better of all,, then that would be like leaving all belief empty. I believe I have a good soul and continue to create and spread positivity Blessings to All, is what I like to say.