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Josh's avatar

Wonderful. What a beautiful thought

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Jason Jonker's avatar

I watched Marty Stouffer's Wild America as a kid. I loved seeing the footage of the animals and I couldn't figure out why I sometimes felt an intense existential sadness. [An odd thing for a 10 year old to feel].

Looking back on it, I realize that I was picking up the show's purely naturalistic and evolutionary worldview. It made me lonely for God.

I wanted to hear that God had created these animals and had uniquely formed them with special purposes and defenses that held nature together. I wanted an explanation of the natural world that included a sustaining and loving creator.

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard."

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Mike Rodrigues, Portland's avatar

“My friends, God is necessary for me if only because he is the one being who can be loved eternally.” (Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Demons)

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Mike Shell's avatar

This post speaks so directly to my own experience.

When I was a young child I "knew" Jesus as an actual person. I didn't know anything about adult theology. I just knew that this guy was the person I most wanted to be like. Then I got to Lutheran confirmation classes and had to learn to give the "right" answers to the catechism questions about "right doctrine." And I thought I had to convince myself to believe all of that stuff.

This lasted till I made it to seminary, at which point I came to two openings. First, I finally admitted to myself that I am a gay man. Second, I finally admitted to myself that much of that "right doctrine" makes no sense to me. More importantly, it gets between me and the person Jesus. I left seminary, I left the church, I left Christianity...but Jesus went with me. Jesus has no fear of the wilderness.

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Ethan Stuart's avatar

Indeed. Beautifully said.

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