What does Christianity bring you?

[1newname]

I'm going through a bit of a hard time and when this happens I start to question what the point of it all is. I always feel like there's some deeper meaning missing from my life. I quite like the idea of being a Christian but can't get past the not believing in God! What does Christianity bring you? Thanks

Nothing.
After 'finding god' in my twenties I realised in my 30s that it was just all a big con.
I hope you find happiness, however you chose to live.

Nothing - the more I learnt about Christianity, the more I learnt to dislike it.

Nothing, I’m atheist.

A sense that the (ongoing) story of this world might yet turn out to be a divine comedy, not a tragedy. That healing unimaginable may still be promised and that the divine also loves the least, not merely the most qualified and capable. I quite like JRR Tolkien’s essay On Fairy-Stories, which brings this angle into perspective.

Peace, belonging and challenges.

I like the sense of community and familiarity (e.g. mass is pretty similar wherever you are in the world), and the sense of there being something 'more' than just what we can see.

Rotas and guilt.

Reassurance, calm.

Oh and all the quaint festivals like harvest festival in the UK or 'patron Saint of the local town' festivals in Europe

Hope

The choice isn't between Christianity and nothing, check out some eastern ideas and teachings.

Hope and a very grounding sense of something so much bigger than myself. Being a Christian changed the questions I asked rather than giving me all the answers, as I think some people want, though.

Christianity brings me nothing other than Christmas. However, I am getting more spiritual as I get older. But believing in an all seeing, greater God? Nope.

I would love to believe in God.

Unfortunately the mass of contradictions inherent in Christianity, and certain Bible stories that portray the Christian God as a complete sociopath make that impossible for me.

Peace. Belonging. Family. Familiarity. Friendship. Calm. Wholeness. And a ton of questions!

A bit of peace, and hope.

I love the sense of calm I get when I go into church, it's quiet and peaceful. The congregation and vicar are lovely people and it's not endless chat about how wonderful God and Jesus are.

I enjoy the music, the routine, its almost meditative. I light a candle every week in remembrance of family and friends who have died. Life is busy, and for an hour a week I just listen and contemplate. There is a rhythm to the services, seasons and sermons, and our vicar is very good at tying everything together in a relatable way.

It helps me feel part of a community, connected if you like, and I feel like I've become a kinder, more thoughtful person.

After a couple of years attending, I still don't believe that there is a God so I'll remain agnostic.

Maybe check out an Alpha course at a church local to you? Which one depends on what you like. More traditional, maybe a parish CofE. More lively, maybe an evangelical church (some CofE are also lively and evangelical), you are more likely to find younger people there as well if you want that. There is also Alpha for Catholics if you prefer.

A standard to try to live by. Simple rules to try to live up to (love god, and love my neighbour as myself). That sense of universality - every Catholic, everywhere, reading the same Scriptures week on week.

The potentialities of prayer, giving an ongoing relationship with the dead as well as with the living.

The ability to hand things over to God rather than stress about things I can't change (mindfulness for non believers maybe?).
A community of some of the nicest people I have ever met who are like family.
The chance to help the local community in positive ways.
Hope
Thankfulness
Somewhere to sing loudly (my singing is terrible but no one minds in church)

Praying calms me down.
Being a Christian helps me to ask what can I do to serve others rather than what can this religion do for me. And it equips me to have the peace of mind and strength to do this.
I also love church, I love the community and i love worship and praying together. I love learning about the Bible and how to apply it to my life, every sermon is really helpful each week.

Joy!

I also went through a period of trying to become a believer because I was severely depressed from the levonorgestrel in the Mirena and was starting to think the unthinkable. I read and prayed but, as you say, I couldn't force myself to believe, even though I love beautiful churches and religious music.

I learned about the philosophy of absurdism, and it really helped! A good introduction is a YouTube video called 'How to Party at the End of Meaning'. I also enjoy reading about Zen Buddhism and watching Christopher Hitchens speak.

That's what I love about the RC church. The sense, that millions of people are reading the same reading, and saying the same prayers. That Mass is Mass, wherever you are in the world.

I initially thought it sounded good and was advised to study my bible - I am not sure it had the result they thought it would. ;)

Can any Christian here answer the question as to why an all powerful, all seeing, all knowing, all loving God made my son with the genes that have resulted in him having leukaemia at 19?

Because I see Christians thanking God for things that look to me like random good luck, and never blaming god for the hideous things that happen to completely innocent people all the time.

Had a leaflet through my door two weeks ago from a local Evangelical church which explained that illness is the 'result of sin'. Whose sin?

I don't get it.

I'll never get it.