Hello to all! I'm so happy to be here! Here's a little information about myself: I was raised in a conservative Southern Baptist household. In about 1999 or thereabouts, I figured out that Jesus and what I was being taught was not the only path to god. I had a lot of love for a higher power but was not religious until 2001, when I discovered Hinduism. I should mention that I'm Caucasian and from Southeast Kansas. I never connected with anyone with my new found faith, and had to keep it a secret. I was lonely, but I had strong faith. In 2013 I lost faith. I don't know what happened. I'd call it a midlife crisis, but I'm only 37. I was looking for god again, and thought maybe Christianity would give me just what I needed: new found faith and friendship with others. (I'm a bit of a shut in; I have Bipolar Disorder and a bad anxiety disorder so it's hard for me to make friends. I thought church would be a good place to start.) My husband and I went to an Episcopalian service and it was quite nice. I wanted to familiarize myself with Christianity so I bought a bible and stared reading, front to back. What a mistake! My new found faith in Christianity was crushed because I simply could not accept the god of the bible, although I did like the works of Jesus. I'm very logical and a scientist by heart (though not by trade: I'm a housewife) and the bible had no place in my life. I have been struggling for half a year now with religion, beliefs and faith. I've waffled between this religion and the next, and finally decided I must be an atheist. While I do have a lot of atheistic views, I couldn't shake off the feeling that I needed more in my life than just facts. I needed spirituality. I needed a higher power. By chance I discovered Progressive Christianity. I was blown away by what I found. I didn't know there were others out there in the world with my frame of mind. I've checked, and unfortunately there are no progressive churches in my area (big sigh of disappointment) but then I found this forum! I'm hoping to expand my mind a little and hopefully make some friends here and have some much needed fellowship. I'm pretty new to forums, so bear with me if I screw anything up! Thanks for reading!