Safe haven chat thread for believers

[Starwisher]

I thought it be lovely to start a" safe haven"thread for all the believers on mumsnet. It doesn't matter what religion or spirituality you are, the important thing is a belief in God or higher power that unites us.

The idea is too talk with other believers to share ideas, thoughts and feelings or even general musings.
So come in and relax!

please can I respectfully ask that this is not a debating thread to challenge people. While I am not the mn police, there are other threads to debate on or please start your own. This is a safe haven

Does anyone here get the Crosswalk email newsletters?

I recently discovered them and some are really interesting.

www.crosswalk.com/newsletters/

I like Girlfriends in God as it is sort of chatty.

Glad it went so well, Cod :)

Hello nokissy (think we have met before), I know what you're saying about distancing yourself - was what I was trying to say in the post-evangelical wotsit. I won't distance myself from charismatic worship but from some of the connotations of evangelicalism.

Blimey you lot can chat. Fascinated at thegreatestMHD and new church - and everyone's different perspectives. mucho church-shopping being considered?
It's taken me well over 20 years to find somewhere that's "right" and it turns out to be less than a mile from my house but it's the people who are the key thing. I've got my faith wherever I am, just a case of finding enough likeminded people to share in it, and it's a very rich blessing to have done so.

Hiya folks, glad to see this thread is still going. There have been loads of thought provoking posts.

One in particular that struck a chord with me was about free will and answered prayers. Last year I found myself in a bit of a bind. I prayed for something and was offered it. The challenge however was that I would have to swallow a bit of pride and accept help from someone else. I have always struggled with this. I initially declined the gift, but as soon as I got off the phone I struggled with my decision.

Here was the answer to my prayer, yet my pride was stopping me from accepting both the object and god's grace. I realized that answered prayers are not cost free, they involve trust, a letting go and learning a lesson.

That's a good insight Dione.

Dione, a lesson learned there!

Hia Sophie are ya feelin' a bit better?

yes a little. Pain is still bad, getting a little less intence. I got lots of rest today, dc were very good at not giving me a hard time for resting, which is helping a lot.

Oh, that's good. I didn't know you were poorly. Glad the dcs have been behaving

I really like the positivity of this thread, the lack of putting others down and dehumanisation that goes on elsewhere, it is a happy place.

I have been putting the JWs down. They're trying to lure that poor woman in

She needs to come over there I think

I agree Sophie. I think it is important to have at least one positive place. A place to muse without fear of judgement.

Hello everyone! What a lot of catching up to do! I don't think i can respond to all the posts sice I last posted there are so many!
Glad you are feeling better Sophie and lucky you having dc that are giving you some peace!
I had my baptism last night it was great! It passed in a blur. my lovely vicar made me go last out of 7 (when he knew I was terrified! He said he faith in me to be great and he was making me go last on purpose!) God totally got me through my testimony. I can't remember it at all, but I blethered on, and got loads of claps. Gods work - not mine. I couldn't have stood in front of 250 odd people and done that! It was lovely, despite slipping in the pool! I felt really surreal, and I was sort of overcome and my memories are really hazy, but I feel amazing!

And dh turned up at the end! He missed my actual baptism, but came to the church when we were all drinking tea and coffee and chatting. It was good to have him in church even if it was at the end. He said I should just go the whole hog and be an ordained minister now! But he has been lovely about it, which is a relief!
I hope everyone has had a lovely Easter, and Bank Holiday too.

Cod glad your confirmation was so lovely!

Blob thanks for the Crosswalk tip - will have a nosy at that later

Such a shame to hear the stories of being made to feel unwelcome at church. It is such a shame, and is surely against everything that a church should be. It is not meant to be a closed group for those that attend, churches are there to reach out to the community, not scare the community away!

Dione the ways in which a prayer can be answered are amazing! It is great that God answers our prayers with a personal challenge, helping us to grow. We have an amazing God.

Oooops sorry - that was a bit of a ranty long post!

I have been thinking about this thread and oddly enough have decided that I'm not going to shop for a church. Rather, I want to explore different belief systems and see which make the most sense to me. I'm not sure that there is one church that would suit me tbh.

aww Tummy that's brilliant about the baptism :)

We're all here to talk with you on your journey chipmonkey.

Evening [busmile]
I have been busy today but have read through.
I have been driving this evening so am tired but will pop in tomorrow as I am enjoying this thread. :)

chipmonkey it sounds like you have an interesting journey ahead of you! Do you know how you are going to start? I find religion endlessly fascinating. I love to read about the beliefs of others. I hope you share with us!

I am pleased your dh showed up at church.

tummy the thing is, I'm not sure if I need to belong to a group of people who all share the same beliefs. I was brought up catholic and while I liked the sacraments and ceremonies I had far too many moments where I went "I really can't agree with that" and I would honestly say that having looked at a lot of religions I get the same feeling. So am not sure if there is any religion to suit me.

I believe:
1/ in an afterlife
2/ Possibly in a God or group of Gods
3/ that love is the driving force behind everything
4/ that all people should be equal and in particular male and female.
5/ that animals have souls and can live on after death.
6/ possibly in re-incarnation but like proof of these things.

I don't believe that there is any one book or creed that fits this except maybe spiritualism and is that actually a religion?

1 agreed
2 agreed
3 agreed
4 agreed
5 strongly agreed
6 disagreed but my mind would change if I saw proof :)

Hello all! I'm Holo.

Cod, your confirmation sounds wonderful. Congratulations!

Well I've been reading this most uplifting book over the Easter weekend; Fathe Joe (And no, I'm not the author / agent / publisher / owner of Amazon!) It's about a lifelong friendship between a comedy writer and a Benedictine monk, and there is so much warmth and love and wisdom in it. I'd really recommend it as a brilliantly written 'spiritual autobiography.' It made me think about my own 'spiritual autobiography' too, all the different phases of faith I've gone through, and made me wonder how many are yet to come...