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well said Gary.
I can’t even express how much I LOVE what Gary said!! Servantgirl, I really do hope you can begin to feel at home amongst all of us different flavored jelly beans!
I’m sure I’ll learn from you, Servantgirl, I hope you experience the freedom here to share your heart and be real.
Anonymous@Moxie, “different flavored jelly beans” is an awesome metaphor. OMG, I get to be a Harry Potter nerd again..we are Every Flavor Beans! As long as I don’t have to be ear wax or vomit flavored, it’s all good.
Haha, love it Amy! Woohoo HP nerdiness! (I myself am a Gryffindork) Lol..I am with ya..I have no interest in being a non-food flavor. But I’d love to be a chocolate frog.
Thank you all so much! I expected support but not this level of understanding. However knowing what I know about each of you, I can’t believe I ever had any doubts. I’ve known a few of you from your blogs before I even met you here. Those that I’ve met here have also blown me away. Ok David, thanks for not saying, “I told you so.”
What a great group of people!!!
Servantgirl, my thought is, bring whatever is useful for you or for someone here. I am also a bit of an odd duck here — having been an atheist for about twenty years, I am moving back into a structured religious community and tradition, and a “weird” one at that. Choosing what to say, when to be silent, how much to reveal isn’t easy, but my intention is always just to do what will be helpful for someone — myself or someone else. HTH!
AnonymousServantgirl – no need to hold back! I for one, love the diversity and learn a lot from the various viewpoints expressed here. Your posts always make me think, and your loving spirit is awesome!
I didn’t know what a non-thiest was and had to look it up. Very interesting that one word stood out to me: NONTOXIC. I was definitely in a TOXIC church so nontoxic sounds wonderful to me.
I still have my faith. But it surely isn’t the faith that I left at the church and it isn’t even the faith that I had two years ago. I had atheist friends and gay friends when I was in that church but I knew that they would not have been invited to a party outside the church with that group. Now, I’m not welcome to their parties. How awesome is that!!!!
I am excited about hearing more about non-theist and everything else.
This is such an exciting community. I am thankful for the diversity I am finding here and the journey that we are all taking together. My heart and mind is open on this journey… the journey into new places I’ve never been before.
me too Ang!
Servantgirl, you are _so_ not alone here…
How much should a non-theist bring here? As much as she wants!
When I read what you have to say, I have the feeling that there is someone out there (you) who would understand where I’ve journeyed from, am living at, and am traveling toward. Do you know how rare that is? (I think you do.)
No one’s path is identical to anyone else’s, but paths cross, intertwine, run parallel without touching, and are sometimes – for a day or a season – shared. And even when the path is shared we are each individuals with our own perspectives and insights. Sometimes I’ve wondered whether my perspective is too humanist/secular/rationalist for some of the conversations here. But I know David is working to make this a welcoming place for a variety of independent thinkers and seekers – most definitely including thoughtful and creative (which is my own take on “spiritual”) non-theists.
And I just have to add: What Richard said – yes!
Servantgirl,
When I set out on this journey out of church/religion (but not necessarily faith), my greatest fear was becoming an atheist. The “mortal danger”! Many Christian circles infer that atheists are the worst possible thing that you could become. And then…
I met a friend who does outsider interviews. And I met amazing people who offered empathy and understanding like i had never experienced in my christian circles. All of a sudden the stereotype did not hold any water. I am learning that those who are not beholden to any set doctrines are often able to offer things that those who are bound cannot.
I say all that to say that for myself, I have no idea how to describe where I am. And I definitely do not know where I will end up. Some days I am agnostic, some days I am angry, some days I have hope that my faith will recover. But reading/knowing amazing people who are agnostic, atheist, non-theist etc. is extremely comforting to me. It shows me that whether my faith remains or not, I can be an amazing, empathetic, kind and moral person. I can be respectful of people’s person-hood and individual journeys. So, I am with everyone else…Bring it.
I, for the most part don’t filter, I blurt out everything and deal with the consequences after.
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