Long Time Getting Here

[metter1]

Hello, everyone!

 

I was raised as the daughter of a Baptist minister, was baptized at 10, and then floundered for several decades. At various times, I considered myself a back-slidden Baptist, an agnostic, a secular humanist, a little-c christian humanist, and now -- finally-- a Christian and an Episcopalian.

 

As many of you surely did, I struggled with the politics of many churches and the politics of my culture (I am a born and raised south Georgia gal). The church of which I am now a part is able to embrace progressive values along with a very structured program of worship -- a concept I would have thought oxymoronic before I experienced it.

 

Today I googled "progressive Christian forum" because I craved the opportunity to hear about and from other individuals who reconciled a progressive spirit with a true embracing of Christianity. Am hoping that some of your experiences will help guide my own journey, and I am happy to share my own thoughts and experiences as well.

 

A former mental health administrator, I now write full-time and am just beginning to explore spiritual issues in my work. I will also note that the month after I was confirmed in the church three months ago, I began to accumulate a variety of health issues. My first all too human thought was: Why does God strike me down after I have come back to him? Luckily, my next thought was: How wonderful that I found my way back to God before I had to face adversity. As you can see, I am still taking baby steps in my faith.

 

I look forward to interacting with many of you.

 

Pam

[soma]

Pam, You are more than welcome and I am sure you will stimulate the brain cells. Scientist and theologians are starting to agree that the separate parts of the universe are connected so we are just connecting the dots. I think that is what you are doing on your diverse spiritual journey. Forgive, relax and enjoy the dots around you. I am happy you are on board.

[PaulS]

Hi Pam,

 

Welcome to the forum and I hope you enjoy it here. I'm glad you have found what works for you and I look forward to your participation here.

 

Cheers

Paul

[JosephM]

Welcome Pam,

 

Good to have you here. I am happy you have found an acceptable church at this point in your journey.

 

It seems to me to be very productive to watch our thoughts such as you mentioned in your last paragraph and not put too much stock in them. After all, who knows where they came from? Most of them seem to me to be conditioned from our past programming. They seem to lose power over us as we are more conscious of them and acknowledge them for what they are. It seems at times good to me to rather laugh at them then to let them lead me.

 

Peace,

Joseph

[metter1]

Thanks for the welcome, everyone. Joseph, I think you are right about some of the stray, negative thoughts that pop into our heads, particularly in times of difficulty. I give them too much power by taking them seriously!

 

Pam

[AnnieG]

Hi Pam

 

Welcome:)

 

Good on you for moving into writing as a career - hope you find it rewarding.

 

To me 'a true embracing of Christianity' seems a very high bar; I'm going to think more about what that would involve.

 

 

Annie

[metter1]

AnnieG,

It is a high bar. I guess what I meant by that was that I would stop putting "Christian" in quotes when I described myself. I have had to many qualifiers on my belief system and spent most of my life trying to stay out of a box. Now I have decided to embrace the principles of Christianity and place my spiritual beliefs within the context of the Christian faith. That is not to say that it is the only way -- it's just a framework that works for me.

Pam