Tarquin Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 Hi, I am new here so I guess I should do the intro! Basically and briefly: grew up in Evangelical household, father was pastor. Rejected it all and went on a journey to find myself/Truth/God/Whatever - went through many things - Gurdjieff, Islam, magic and assorted other things. I learnt a lot and, believe it or not, grew a lot through it all but none of it brought me closer to God. I never felt I was lost or sinning or anything, just not closer. I was always opposed to literalist Christianity (but not Jesus) though I was never an atheist, I saw myself mostly as Muslim I suppose in an ideological sense though I did not practice or know many other Muslims. But then things changed this week. My father passed away last week and when I went to see him in the hospital as he was passing I just experienced Love (capital L). He could not speak so we did not talk (though I said some things and he could understand) but we shared an experience where both he and I moved on and transcended. I believe he went past his literal readings of Jesus and I did too. Since then I have come back to Jesus so.... here I am! The loss still is a bit raw but there is this new found Love and Acceptance underneath. It is as if everything ha been "let go of" - I put it like that because it was not me that did it, it happened for me or to me. I just want now to move on and follow Jesus. I don't quite know how but that's for another time I guess! Anyway, that's me so hello! I am in the South of England btw if anyone else is and wants to catch up! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulS Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 Hi Tarquin, Welcome to the forum, and sadly, commiserations on the loss of your father. I hope you reading and participating here meets whatever need you may have. Cheers, Paul PS - I live in Australia so a bit far for a catch-up, but if you’re ever over this way...:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burl Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 3 hours ago, Tarquin said: Hi, I am new here so I guess I should do the intro! Basically and briefly: grew up in Evangelical household, father was pastor. Rejected it all and went on a journey to find myself/Truth/God/Whatever - went through many things - Gurdjieff, Islam, magic and assorted other things. I learnt a lot and, believe it or not, grew a lot through it all but none of it brought me closer to God. I never felt I was lost or sinning or anything, just not closer. I was always opposed to literalist Christianity (but not Jesus) though I was never an atheist, I saw myself mostly as Muslim I suppose in an ideological sense though I did not practice or know many other Muslims. But then things changed this week. My father passed away last week and when I went to see him in the hospital as he was passing I just experienced Love (capital L). He could not speak so we did not talk (though I said some things and he could understand) but we shared an experience where both he and I moved on and transcended. I believe he went past his literal readings of Jesus and I did too. Since then I have come back to Jesus so.... here I am! The loss still is a bit raw but there is this new found Love and Acceptance underneath. It is as if everything ha been "let go of" - I put it like that because it was not me that did it, it happened for me or to me. I just want now to move on and follow Jesus. I don't quite know how but that's for another time I guess! Anyway, that's me so hello! I am in the South of England btw if anyone else is and wants to catch up! Christianity and Islam are very close relatives. I find Islam more concerned with not being incorrect and therefore more generalized but Christianity is always seeking greater specificity and begs forgiveness for its errors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thormas Posted July 25, 2020 Share Posted July 25, 2020 Welcome Tarquin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Elen1107 Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 Hello and welcome to this forum Condolences on the loss of your father. Glad to hear that you both "transcended" near the end. I hope that you are finding peace and that things are feeling less "raw" and painful. Like yourself I'm not a literalist Christian. I guess I could say I'm faith based instead of bible based. You'll find more on that and these perspectives if you join the conversations here in this forum. Can I ask, are you safe in leaving Islam? I know a few people who are afraid, even for their lives and even from their own family members, and that is here in the USA. There are some groups that exist to help and support these people. If you need the names of them perhaps I can help you. I hope you are safe and well and that everything is going well and good for you. Again welcome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JosephM Posted July 26, 2020 Share Posted July 26, 2020 Thanks for the introduction and welcome to the forum. May you find some benefit to your journey here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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