Faith Crisis

[OceanSoul]

I converted to Christianity when I was 16 years old after having gone through a lot of pain and through which I had the courage to improve my life. I stopped being angry at the world and have been a believer up until a year ago when for whatever reason something broke or maybe it's just me who has. I don't know if it is just a temporary thing due to so much crap coming at me in life.

About a year ago, I was laying on my bed trying to pray when an overwhelming sense of emptiness came over me and I could feel it in my bones. I didn't feel any connection. Nothing hearing me. I tried praying here and there afterwards but I felt it did no good and made zero difference in my life so I stopped, not to mention I started feeling anxious every time I would pray since my expectations would make me feel worse. My family lost someone in recent months and after that I went digging spiritually to figure out why that happened. I no longer call myself a Christian because I struggle too much with the faith and have no reason to.

I have been studying different religions, included deeper into Christianity which has only made me feel even more uncertain and confused not to mention how overwhelming it is too see just how many religions and spiritual paths there are! How does one even begin? I have read up on Buddhism, but that is it.

How do you find spiritual connection in this world with so many religions? What should I do?

 

[metis]

The only things I can recommend is study and soul-searching, realizing that solid answers in this area are very hard to come by. Keep an open mind in the process, and there's simply nothing wrong with thinking and saying "I don't know", especially if you don't know. What's far worse is thinking and saying "I know" when there's insufficient information to base that on.

Good luck in your spiritual journey.

 

[OceanSoul]

The only things I can recommend is study and soul-searching, realizing that solid answers in this area are very hard to come by. Keep an open mind in the process, and there's simply nothing wrong with thinking and saying "I don't know", especially if you don't know. What's far worse is thinking and saying "I know" when there's insufficient information to base that on.

Good luck in your spiritual journey.

I am trying to keep an open mind and I don't think answers to questions of mine will just appear and the uncertainties will go away completely. There is a lot of information out there and that is overwhelming.

Thank you for your response.

 

[Sundance]

My dear, “the steed of the Valley of Search is patience.”


In all of your searching, @OceanSoul, you must be patient. Study them all! If you see a religion that you feel is the right one, be cautious not to just dive head-first into it, y’know? Take some time, really get a handle on it. Very excellent advice by @metis which is do some very deep soul-searching and reflection. Trust me, you'll be fine. I know.

 

[OceanSoul]

My dear, “the steed of the Valley of Search is patience.”


In all of your searching, @OceanSoul, you must be patient. Study them all! If you see a religion that you feel is the right one, be cautious not to just dive head-first into it, y’know? Take some time, really get a handle on it. Very excellent advice by @metis which is do some very deep soul-searching and reflection. Trust me, you'll be fine. I know.

Patience *is* something I need to work on! Yeah I want to dive into a religion, but moving too soon isn't a good idea. I also feel spiritual and have no way to channel that (feels blocked) hence my impatience to experience a connection.

 

[Jumi]

You felt the emptiness to your bones and didn't feel a connection. Maybe the emptiness is what you connected to. That is surely not a bad sign and it has made you question what was a given to you.

 

[Sundance]

Patience *is* something I need to work on! Yeah I want to dive into a religion, but moving too soon isn't a good idea. I also feel spiritual and have no way to channel that (feels blocked) hence my impatience to experience a connection.

Just be calm through it all, and don't forget that you've got a lifetime to figure this out.

 

[Neo Deist]

I converted to Christianity when I was 16 years old after having gone through a lot of pain and through which I had the courage to improve my life. I stopped being angry at the world and have been a believer up until a year ago when for whatever reason something broke or maybe it's just me who has. I don't know if it is just a temporary thing due to so much crap coming at me in life.

About a year ago, I was laying on my bed trying to pray when an overwhelming sense of emptiness came over me and I could feel it in my bones. I didn't feel any connection. Nothing hearing me. I tried praying here and there afterwards but I felt it did no good and made zero difference in my life so I stopped, not to mention I started feeling anxious every time I would pray since my expectations would make me feel worse. My family lost someone in recent months and after that I went digging spiritually to figure out why that happened. I no longer call myself a Christian because I struggle too much with the faith and have no reason to.

I have been studying different religions, included deeper into Christianity which has only made me feel even more uncertain and confused not to mention how overwhelming it is too see just how many religions and spiritual paths there are! How does one even begin? I have read up on Buddhism, but that is it.

How do you find spiritual connection in this world with so many religions? What should I do?

Like you, I grew up as a Christian and started having doubts. The older you get and the more you open up your mind, the more likely you are to question things. I struggled with this for years. I actually enrolled in seminary and studied theology in order to find answers.

I am now a deist and could not be happier. Religion, or more personally, spirituality, makes perfect sense to me. I have cast aside all the man made hubbub and understand the universe as it was intended. I am free from the guilt trips and the fear mongering. I know why bad things happen and they have nothing to do with a devil, demons or sin. Understanding deism literally lifted a weight off of me.

If interested, I have plenty of posts in the Deism DIR that goes into detail about all of this.

 

[OceanSoul]

You felt the emptiness to your bones and didn't feel a connection. Maybe the emptiness is what you connected to. That is surely not a bad sign and it has made you question what was a given to you.

Interesting, I never thought about it like that. I guess when I felt it, the experience was...jarring...a little scary for me. My reaction since then has been to figure out why I did and what to do now.

 

[OceanSoul]

Like you, I grew up as a Christian and started having doubts. The older you get and the more you open up your mind, the more likely you are to question things. I struggled with this for years. I actually enrolled in seminary and studied theology in order to find answers.

I am now a deist and could not be happier. Religion, or more personally, spirituality, makes perfect sense to me. I have cast aside all the man made hubbub and understand the universe as it was intended. I am free from the guilt trips and the fear mongering. I know why bad things happen and they have nothing to do with a devil, demons or sin. Understanding deism literally lifted a weight off of me.

If interested, I have plenty of posts in the Deism DIR that goes into detail about all of this.

Yes! My dream use to be to become a minister and I use to be a Sunday School Assistant. Loved it. But to see where I am now struggling with my faith...it's unexpected. The older I get, the more I realize how big the world/universe is and feel like I have so much to learn and may never know just how much.

Organized religion has positives and negatives, IMO. I see people who do great things because what they have spiritually is meaningful and inspiring to them, however, there are also people who do great harm in the name of their religion and use it as a weapon. I don't like the latter either. Sad to see as religion is personal and sacred yet there are always those few individuals who like to spit on it by bringing pain and woe onto others.

 

[George-ananda]

How do you find spiritual connection in this world with so many religions? What should I do?

Well instead of looking for a 'right' religion I would start by reading stories of people that have had powerful life-changing spiritual experiences (things like Near Death Experiences (NDE), After Death Communications (ADC), Spirit Communications, etc.). I think you will learn from this that us living people get so overwhelmed by the earthly events and misfortune that we lose sight of the Big Picture. Reading these type of things may help you feel again what matters and what is just passing clouds..

 

[Twilight Hue]

I converted to Christianity when I was 16 years old after having gone through a lot of pain and through which I had the courage to improve my life. I stopped being angry at the world and have been a believer up until a year ago when for whatever reason something broke or maybe it's just me who has. I don't know if it is just a temporary thing due to so much crap coming at me in life.

About a year ago, I was laying on my bed trying to pray when an overwhelming sense of emptiness came over me and I could feel it in my bones. I didn't feel any connection. Nothing hearing me. I tried praying here and there afterwards but I felt it did no good and made zero difference in my life so I stopped, not to mention I started feeling anxious every time I would pray since my expectations would make me feel worse. My family lost someone in recent months and after that I went digging spiritually to figure out why that happened. I no longer call myself a Christian because I struggle too much with the faith and have no reason to.

I have been studying different religions, included deeper into Christianity which has only made me feel even more uncertain and confused not to mention how overwhelming it is too see just how many religions and spiritual paths there are! How does one even begin? I have read up on Buddhism, but that is it.

How do you find spiritual connection in this world with so many religions? What should I do?

Maybe examine things as if you just started out. Unbiased, unfluenced, a blank slate untarnished by fabrication and embellishment, and allow things to present itself through its own terms.

 

[Ouroboros]

I converted to Christianity when I was 16 years old after having gone through a lot of pain and through which I had the courage to improve my life. I stopped being angry at the world and have been a believer up until a year ago when for whatever reason something broke or maybe it's just me who has. I don't know if it is just a temporary thing due to so much crap coming at me in life.

About a year ago, I was laying on my bed trying to pray when an overwhelming sense of emptiness came over me and I could feel it in my bones. I didn't feel any connection. Nothing hearing me. I tried praying here and there afterwards but I felt it did no good and made zero difference in my life so I stopped, not to mention I started feeling anxious every time I would pray since my expectations would make me feel worse. My family lost someone in recent months and after that I went digging spiritually to figure out why that happened. I no longer call myself a Christian because I struggle too much with the faith and have no reason to.

I can totally relate to that experience. I had something very similar. It's a long journey, but I'm sure you'll find a place with or without faith with you'll have peace.

I have been studying different religions, included deeper into Christianity which has only made me feel even more uncertain and confused not to mention how overwhelming it is too see just how many religions and spiritual paths there are! How does one even begin? I have read up on Buddhism, but that is it.

How do you find spiritual connection in this world with so many religions? What should I do?

I was a proclaimed atheist for 10+ years, but I still felt a spiritual side that was not addressed, and I realized that pantheism was more my suite.

 

[OceanSoul]

Well instead of looking for a 'right' religion I would start by reading stories of people that have had powerful life-changing spiritual experiences (things like Near Death Experiences (NDE), After Death Communications (ADC), Spirit Communications, etc.). I think you will learn from this that us living people get so overwhelmed by the earthly events and misfortune that we lose sight of the Big Picture. Reading these type of things may help you feel again what matters and what is just passing clouds..

Yeah there is a lot of suffering in the world which does cloud how I see things, including spiritually. What doesn't help me is that I become emotionally overwhelmed by what goes on in the world like the recent shootings. I can't even have the news on as background noise anymore. Detaching is difficult for me.

I don't know if there is a right religion or not mainly I think I'd like to know which one is right for me. Also I do find the paranormal to be an interesting subject.

 

[OceanSoul]

I can totally relate to that experience. I had something very similar. It's a long journey, but I'm sure you'll find a place with or without faith with you'll have peace.


I was a proclaimed atheist for 10+ years, but I still felt a spiritual side that was not addressed, and I realized that pantheism was more my suite.

Glad I'm not alone! Having a spiritual side that desires the numinous in life yet feels faith going through dark nights is painful. What to do? What is Pantheism like for you?

 

[George-ananda]

Yeah there is a lot of suffering in the world which does cloud how I see things, including spiritually. What doesn't help me is that I become emotionally overwhelmed by what goes on in the world like the recent shootings. I can't even have the news on as background noise anymore. Detaching is difficult for me.

I don't know if there is a right religion or not mainly I think I'd like to know which one is right for me. Also I do find the paranormal to be an interesting subject.

Perhaps eastern religions like Buddhism and Hinduism that stress quieting the mind through meditation and more detachment from what is beyond your control may help you get your center back.

 

[OceanSoul]

Maybe examine things as if you just started out. Unbiased, unfluenced, a blank slate untarnished by fabrication and embellishment, and allow things to present itself through its own terms.

Good point. I have been trying to not force myself to find answers and let whatever comes to me come on it's own time instead. Unfortunately, religion is a subject I like learning about which means I think about it often and my personal existential questions about life too.

 

[Thief]

I converted to Christianity when I was 16 years old after having gone through a lot of pain and through which I had the courage to improve my life. I stopped being angry at the world and have been a believer up until a year ago when for whatever reason something broke or maybe it's just me who has. I don't know if it is just a temporary thing due to so much crap coming at me in life.

About a year ago, I was laying on my bed trying to pray when an overwhelming sense of emptiness came over me and I could feel it in my bones. I didn't feel any connection. Nothing hearing me. I tried praying here and there afterwards but I felt it did no good and made zero difference in my life so I stopped, not to mention I started feeling anxious every time I would pray since my expectations would make me feel worse. My family lost someone in recent months and after that I went digging spiritually to figure out why that happened. I no longer call myself a Christian because I struggle too much with the faith and have no reason to.

I have been studying different religions, included deeper into Christianity which has only made me feel even more uncertain and confused not to mention how overwhelming it is too see just how many religions and spiritual paths there are! How does one even begin? I have read up on Buddhism, but that is it.

How do you find spiritual connection in this world with so many religions? What should I do?

I don't need religion
perhaps you are finding the same........

 

[OceanSoul]

Perhaps eastern religions like Buddhism and Hinduism that stress quieting the mind through meditation and more detachment from what is beyond your control may help you get your center back.

I have actually read a little bit about Buddhism. Meditation is a practice I would need to work on hahaha monkey mind syndrome right here. Mindfulness is something I try to incorporate into my life because I think it's sensible and helps to bring more awareness into my life. I will read more about them.

 

[OceanSoul]

I don't need religion
perhaps you are finding the same........

Maybe.