glacierscout (whom, along with a number of other people, I will be LJ-friending once I have some free time again) said to me in a recent comment:To me, lack of belief in the way that you express is not a real barrier to true faith. Belief isn't a matter of knowledge or creedal accuracy, it's simply a matter of going forth in your life. I don't need to know how or why a bridge will keep me from falling into a river. (well actually. I did need to know; as I went to college as an engineer). Real faith is walking forward in your relationship with God in spite of the lack of knowledge or certainty. You have that kind of real faith in spades, as these pages clearly show.
What has also comforted me is the belief that my relationship with God does not really depend on the strength of my belief in Him (Him/Her?). It really depends on the fact that God believes in me, and has been seeking me out. I don't see how God will ever turn away anyone sincerely seeking Him, and I expect that there are a lot of people out there who don't even realize that they're on a path that will eventually reach Him. If there was any heresy that I'd willingly subscribe to, it would be that of universal salvation - that it is God's will that everyone be in relationship with Him, and that god will do whatever he can to reach that goal.
I still love the intellectual discussions and the learning, but now they are a way to flesh out the relationship hat already exists, and not a way to establish that relationship to begin with.
Edit: And
mari4212 posted a write-up of her experience at an Episcopalian service this Sunday for me. Aww! /editAlso,
likeadeuce is talking [flocked; link for my own reference] about stuff that makes people think of her, and she said the word "ecumenical" makes her think of me. Awesome!| hermionesviolin was the cause of the apocalypse. | |
| ... afterward, hermionesviolin walked across the desert for no reason. | |
| 'How will you be remembered in history books?' at QuizGalaxy.com |
