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Philosophy/religion

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Original poster

I want to believe but I just don't.

31 replies

stottiecake · 31/07/2014 22:46

Sad I wonder a lot.

OP posts:
capsium · 01/08/2014 07:18

What sort of things do you wonder about?

I think wondering is important and can affect you deeply. Pondering on questions in life IME is an important step towards faith. If there were no wonderings, questions or uncertainties there would be no need for faith.

Wondering I believe shows self knowledge, in that we, in ourselves, do not know all. Smile

Original poster
stottiecake · 01/08/2014 08:43

Crikey loads of stuff! I wonder about the patterns in nature - why some stuff looks like other stuff even though it's not related (trees/ lungs) I wonder about the beauty in nature and the horror. I think about love and the deep bond between parent and child and how if you don't put your child first, with love, you can affect their development. It seems there is a right way - love is the way - but what's it all for? I sometimes think there is a right path to follow, and it is so obvious, but we choose to put ourselves first so often (generally not just with children) I have felt at peace and exhileration and also deep depression and emptiness. The depression was worse when I failed to see the beauty in life - the free stuff like the sky and trees and all that stuff. I guess I can carry on filling my soul up that way. I suppose it's a desire to have a parent (dad died 22yrs ago, mum has alzhiemers) hmm

OP posts:
Original poster
stottiecake · 01/08/2014 08:47

Thank you for replying Smile

OP posts:
capsium · 01/08/2014 08:47

I think concentrating on the beauty in life is a good start. You sound like quite an artistic soul Smile.

If you want to pursue a faith, do so and see where it takes you.

That is my best advice, I think. I decided to pursue my Christian beliefs further, I had a more nominal Christian belief from a child. Funnily enough it was some archeological documentary that set me off thinking more about this initially. I've not regretted doing this though.

capsium · 01/08/2014 08:51

In fact I really have enjoyed lots of it. There was some initial difficult soul searching and I had to persevere with this, but now I find my faith gives me comfort and makes me approach things much more calmly. I have being able to draw strength from it when I have really needed to, but it didn't happen immediately, there was some uncertainty about aspects of it in the beginning, which I had to work through.

Just my experience, hope that is helpful.

Original poster
stottiecake · 01/08/2014 08:54

Do you mind me asking about the documentary? What was it that struck you about it?

OP posts:
Hakluyt · 01/08/2014 08:58

Don't try to force yourself into a box that doesn't fit. Glory in nature, beauty, human kindness, and delight in being free of the chains of superstition.

capsium · 01/08/2014 09:00

It was quite a long time ago in the 90s but it linked some of the Egyptian hieroglyphs. To Biblical events. This man worked out some of the Pharaohs were given nick names. I can't remember all of it but it impressed me enough to eventually pursue my beliefs further.

capsium · 01/08/2014 09:03

Hak I 'tried on' the Christian Faith to see if it did fit...it just did fit me. Smile

ELR · 01/08/2014 09:11

Why do you want to believe? What is it that attracts you? Sometimes I think it's the belonging and companionship that attracts people to religion and not always the believing.

Hakluyt · 01/08/2014 09:17

Before you do anything else, read The Magic of Reality

It shows how there can be glory and wonder in reality and science- no need for anything supernatural. Then keep looking for faith if you want- but at least you will have considered the alternative.

fredfredsausagehead1 · 01/08/2014 09:21

It's difficult as it has to be an unconscious decision based on feeling as lot of the time.

I'm a bit the same I think it's why it's called faith, but I do question so many things, probably too many!!

capsium · 01/08/2014 09:24

Why does it matter that OP reads the book you mentioned first Hak?

Hakluyt · 01/08/2014 09:26

She's already done lots of wondering and looking for faith. I said before she does anything else.

Hakluyt · 01/08/2014 09:27

"I do question so many things, probably too many!!"

You can't question too much!

Hakluyt · 01/08/2014 09:28

Sorry, capsium- pressed post to soon. She has already done lots of wondering and s sad because of her lack of faith. The book I suggested might help her find a way of being happy and having a sense of the transcendent without trying to force herself into a faith that doesn't fit her.

Seriouslyffs · 01/08/2014 09:40

Do you want to believe in God? A pattern and purpose to life? Nature, being still and sitting in church, sometimes alone and sometimes at a service all bring me peace and a full up sense of awe at the bigness of it all and how small I am.
But the biggest rush of belief I get is looking at buildings and people and thinking wow we're all here moving through streets people long dead designed and built and made on a rock hurtling through space in a timeframe I can't begin to understand...
I choose to believe. It's a choice. It gives me structure and comfort and joy. Read around, be still attend some services with an open mind.
I hope you find what you're looking for.

OneEggIsAnOeuf · 01/08/2014 11:21

Re patterns in nature, you may like this book.

combust22 · 01/08/2014 11:42

The universive fills me with awe and wonder, undersanding some of th eelegant mechanisims driving the star stuff leaves me reeling and wantingto know more.
The magnificence and beauty of life casts me speechless. Never a day passes when I don't bask in the glory of the universe that I live in.

I don't need a god to feel this way though. In fact the idea of a bearded guy pulling the strings behind the curtain would diminish the magnificence of it all.

I am a very happy atheist.

Choochootrain1 · 01/08/2014 11:55

I had a faith...and lost it, it was an incredibly painful dark night of the soul experience, I wish I could believe still actually - but after all that I learned when I went on a journey to prove to myself that what I believed was true (and finding it wasn't) I finally settled on being a happy "I don't know" eventually

That said, I adore sacred geometry - worth looking up, just to wonder and awe

Original poster
stottiecake · 01/08/2014 13:32

Thanks all for sharing your thoughts Thanks Thanks Thanks

Those books look fabulous - really my cup of tea! I wish I had time to order them but going away tomorrow - would have been great to take with me!

I deeply respect people who have a faith and am quite envious. One of my oldest and best friends has always gone to church and lives a very Christian way of life and appears to be very content. There is no struggle for her. (...that I know of). I have thought about trying meditation and yoga perhaps. I suppose I want to find what's missing and feel complete.

OP posts:
OneEggIsAnOeuf · 01/08/2014 14:16

Yoga and meditation is what works for me. It takes you to a place where you can make a deep connection. What that connection is to is a matter of interpretation, but if you are not restricted by pre-held beliefs you are free to explore it unencumbered, and that's not a bad position to be in.

Personally, i don't find any gods there, but i do feel a deep sense of who i really am, and feel an expansiveness that is hard to put into words. I also become very aware of the interconnectedness of all things - for me that is a spiritual thing, but for others it is a reflection of the fact that we are all interdependent and made out of the same stuff, which is in itself pretty amazing.

gingerdodger · 02/08/2014 15:28

Wonder is fabulous. It keeps us thinking and you may find that something just creeps up on you and feels right. Faith is strange, I don't think it can be forced but I think you can find it in strange places. It can't be assumed that those with faith don't struggle but it does bring an added dimension to life I find as we go along our personal journey.. I can only advise you to keep wondering and to seek your own path but perhaps try lots of routes. If you have a friend you could always ask to go with her to church if it appeals, try it on and see how it fits, but if it doesn't keep wondering and trying.

Good luck with finding your pathway.

Thistledew · 02/08/2014 15:48

You can believe without having to follow a religion. Like you, I have moments where I am struck by the wonder of the world and the awesomeness of life, and I feel that I am a very tiny part of a much bigger 'whole'.

I think that many people who call themselves religious have similar feelings and that they ascribe these feelings to a belief in a deity.

For me, ascribing the feelings of connection to a 'whole' as the existence of a sentient god who knows, cares or interferes in the lives of people on earth makes absolutely no sense at all. Likewise, I feel that religious doctrine is merely a man-made thing and that it has no power to compel me to pay it any more heed or to live my life in the way it prescribes, any more than any other work of literature.

So the question is - are you looking for a belief, or a religion? Perhaps you do believe already, but your definition of god is different from that which the major Abrahamic describe? What would following a religion bring to your life that you currently feel is missing?

combust22 · 02/08/2014 15:50

thistle- I agree. I am a spiritual person, but without a belief in god.