Comments on Decompressing Faith: Fear and Honesty: Diverting from the Norm

Oh Susie, have no idea how you made me smile. I so...

2009-06-25T09:52:27.140-07:00

Oh Susie, have no idea how you made me smile. I so agree about the coolness of finding each other, somewhere out among those cyberspaces that are able to make us friends, even over 8000 miles.

I'm not worried about your ego...otherwise I wouldn't have quoted you. Thank you forever for being the voice you are, because it's brought me such a very long way.

PS: Sorry to keep crapping on here, but Barbara, ...

2009-06-24T18:05:37.511-07:00

PS: Sorry to keep crapping on here, but Barbara, that Darrin Hufford quote, when I read that it reminds me of your journey, and where I sense you are at this point in time. I know it feels like you have quit everything. But I actually think you are taking the harder, more honest route. There's a lot of gold along that route :)

Ps: I missed this post the other day. Sometimes ...

2009-06-24T17:59:31.257-07:00

Ps: I missed this post the other day. Sometimes I think these things are sort of for a reason, you know? I needed to read this today (not because you quoted me, but because of what you said yourself).

I only got as far as your Darrin Hufford quote bef...

2009-06-24T17:56:41.722-07:00

I only got as far as your Darrin Hufford quote before I was filled with joy that I have connected up with you, Word dude, across the miles, my sister in the faith.

And then I ran back to my own blog and posted that Hufford quote and a link back here. Then I came back to read the rest of this post and got a jolt when I saw my own name there, heh!!

Going away now to deal with my swollen ego.

(Aside: been thinking about Jesus talking about "In my father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you," and how that place is us. And how beautiful people look when they get a whiff of what it's maybe all about after all, and start getting onto that Life that He was banging on about. I see it in you. Honestly, it just keeps me going for hours and hours, just one glimpse in one person.

Thanks for this post, Erin. I am feeling so anxious at the moment. Reading this has sort of calmed me and tethered me somehow. (Maybe I've just been tethered to my swelling ego but hey, better than nothin' ;)

Oh Gary...you are the laugh I needed tonight!! I ...

2009-06-23T21:39:44.703-07:00

Oh Gary...you are the laugh I needed tonight!!

I don't know about dangerous...or maybe too dangerous for my own good? I guess I'm not afraid to go there, but then isn't there something inherently stupid about "jumping out of a perfectly good airplane"?

I used to be taught about how we have to be in the center of God's will...and I'm thinking, it's WAY more fun to explore the boundaries of that will than to sit quietly in the middle and take what's dished out to us.

Erin, Has anyone ever told you that you are a dan...

2009-06-23T21:07:00.703-07:00

Erin,
Has anyone ever told you that you are a dangerous woman? I start reading and almost feel like walking away with my hands over my ears, going lalalalalalalalala. Except, considering the fact that I READ these disturbing things on your blog, I should cover my eyes. Hmmm, would I still have to go lalalalalala?

Sometimes it's good to have dangerous friends.

Cyndi - Wow. You know you can e-mail me if you wan...

2009-06-23T08:59:04.667-07:00

Cyndi - Wow. You know you can e-mail me if you want to chat about this further.

I have only read excerpts of Jesus Interrupted, and yes, it scares me too. Until I remember, that, like you said at the end, whatever anyone "discovers" is true or not true about the historical Jesus or historical religion, it doesn't change my personal experiences of the divine in my life.

But I have been that person:

I have worried to no end that I was actually going to completely unravel God and lose my faith altogether.

I have been that person who prayed to God "I don't even think I believe in you anymore, yet here I am". But it's like BMac says "I'm an atheist of THAT God". It's revising our image of God, not losing him entirely.

I have found without fail that no matter how far I go, how much I deconstruct, or how much I grow, Jesus is still there. I'm stuck with him, and can't seem to chase him away for all my trying. Every new level, there is a new Jesus.

And I'm OK with that. :)

I kept this unread in my googlereader all day yest...

2009-06-23T04:26:25.683-07:00

I kept this unread in my googlereader all day yesterday and just kept reading those quotes over and over.

Just when I think I have deconstructed it all, there is still more. I am experiencing that now. Maybe deconstructing isn't the correct word, maybe it is more like I am expanding. I am allowing my understanding of God to be big enough to accept more than the very small box I had been given.

I scan read Jesus Interrupted in Barnes and Noble and honestly, just had to put it aside. It caused too much fear to rise up in me. I am not sure what all of that is about but I really had a crisis of faith just after that, wondering if I am going to quit believe in Jesus and even as I write that, I don't know what that means or what the repercussions are.

In some ways, I think it made me even wonder if I didn't believe in this story of Jesus, would I even believe in God. I even had a conversation in the car, starting out with, "If I don't believe that there is a God, I am not sure who I am talking to right now but let me just say all of this out loud ... and if there is a God, then You will hear."

I don't want to lose my faith. Throughout all of this deconstructing, I never feared losing my faith in God, in Jesus. It is not even really fear that I am feeling as much as I am grieving.

I was reminded ... and I guess I just have to believe it as the Spirit of God revealing ... but I was reminded of some very specific things in my own life that cannot be explained except by a belief in God. That comforts me.

I don't know what point I am trying to make in this comment. There probably is none. Just talking.

Grace and Peace, Erin.

You're welcome. Katherine. It's stuff I needed to ...

2009-06-21T22:45:06.352-07:00

You're welcome. Katherine. It's stuff I needed to hear, too.

Barbara - Sue is pretty smart, huh? I agree with y...

2009-06-21T22:44:45.199-07:00

Barbara - Sue is pretty smart, huh? I agree with you there. Seriously, I have learned more freedom from her than any other source...maybe because she's real-life and not some book or theoretical thing.

Back to Life - It's very nice to meet you. What yo...

2009-06-21T22:42:59.413-07:00

Back to Life - It's very nice to meet you. What you say seems true to me...and when we focus om something very narrow we can miss a lot. This is what I've been learning.

Erin, thanks for sharing. This is good.... I need ...

2009-06-21T22:28:03.011-07:00

Erin, thanks for sharing. This is good.... I need to hear....

That Sue Stevenson is brilliant. I learn so much ...

2009-06-21T11:16:09.674-07:00

That Sue Stevenson is brilliant. I learn so much from her. I need to visit Jim's blog. All of these are very though provoking and important. thanks for sharing them!

I remember the day I realized how much I had misse...

2009-06-20T21:35:20.126-07:00

I remember the day I realized how much I had missed focusing ONLY on the fact that I beleived Jesus' resurreciton was literal. That was only ever the question - did it realy happen? And when that is the only question, no other meaning can bloom. When I realized that maybe Jesus wants resurrection (to bring back from the dead) certain things in my heart, it seemed like the whole world opened up.