Comments on: Inhale, exhale

By: RealTime - Questions: "Do atheists become spiritual in times of suffering?"

RealTime - Questions: "Do atheists become spiritual in times of suffering?" — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 13:52:08 +0000

[...] Is? – NYTimes.com Your Religion Is False » Blog Archive » spiritual, but not religious Inhale, exhale | Conversion Diary PTSD Shaman: Involuntary Call and Covering Your “Spiritual Back” The Most Dangerous Idea in the [...]

By: Misty

Misty — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:07:00 +0000

I love the analogy! I’d like to add that if you ask any asthmatic (like myself) who suffer not from too little inspiration but actually of too little purification we would say what a RELIEF it is to exhale, it isn’t breathing without it.

Having gone through the dark night of the soul a few times, you are right on. God Bless!

By: Laura

Laura — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 12:13:00 +0000

I just came across a meditation on spiritual dryness that I put up on my blog today. It is very helpful and I thought you might find it full of words of wisdom.
God Bless!

By: Esther

Esther — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 22:19:00 +0000

Jess, I will pray for your journey. God calls us so gently; your very desire to seek Him is the Holy Spirit. Our Mother Mary must also be saying prayers for you, knowing you are drawn to her.

By: Jess

Jess — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 03:00:00 +0000

I feel like my quest to figure out spirituality, religion and grow a relationship with God has been a total failure and "dry spell". No matter what I do I just don't feel much of anything. It is hard to truly believe in any religion without some sort of guiding feeling, that knowing in the pit of your heart that God is there and that your efforts to know, honor, love and serve Him are bearing fruit, so to speak.

I had that warm, fuzzy, genuinely sure feeling about God when I was saved at 17 and somehow it faded away probably due to laziness on my part. I didn't realize how special it was when I had it. I've explored other religions trying to find that confidence and security in God and still haven't felt that spark.

I have been progressively MORE active in the last year trying to find my way back, realizing that whatever is missing is probably due to myself and my lack of faith. I came to the conclusion a few months ago that I just need to go back to Christianity and try and find what is missing there. That is the religion in which I first found God and it is my best chance at finding him again. I have questions and even doubts about a lot of Christian doctrine. It is very humbling to shelve my own opinions about many issues and leave them behind for awhile to try and be more submissive in the HOPE that this will help me find my way back. Pride, I've decided, is the number one stumbling block for me.

I was raised a Protestant but I've been attending Mass with my children. I plan on doing the Inquiry portion of RCIA this fall. I have no idea where this is going but I really believe doing something tangible and productive, going through the motions, trying it another way than what I've been doing that hasn't been working, is the best idea right now. Catholicism has some sort of strangely weird appeal to me, the beauty and reverence of the liturgy of the Eucharist is compelling and there is something so alluring about Mary, I see images of her and I almost want to cry. It is so odd to say but that is the truth. She seems to soften Christianity in a way for me that I need, that was lacking in the fundamental evangelical Christianity of my childhood. And I like that there is a roadmap of sorts (the Rosary for instance) given to Catholics to keep them on their way even when they don't feel inspired.

I give huge credit to Mother Teresa for sticking with it all those long years when she didn't feel a thing. God bless her.

By: Esther

Esther — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 07:19:00 +0000

Oh yes, you've got it! Thank you for your beautiful expression of this.

I take heart in David's expression of offering a "sacrifice of praise" in difficult times.

Pax,

Esther

By: MightyMom

MightyMom — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 05:32:00 +0000

fabulous post!

remember, all things cycle like the tide. listen, pray, and wait for the next time the tide is in. In the meantime live in the moment that God has given you for right now.

For it is after our most trying times that we have to most growth.

God Bless

By: Bender

Bender — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 00:22:00 +0000

No voice of God booming in my ear to explain it all to me, no thunder-and-lightning vision to console me with a glimpse of God's unfathomable majesty. Just silence.

Then again . . .

I'm amazed at all the times, when I'm trying to figure some problem out, that some particular reading will present itself (lately, however, it has been Pope Benedict reading my mind and speaking directly to the issue at hand). So I was not totally shocked at today's (Sunday) first reading --

At the mountain of God, Horeb,
Elijah came to a cave where he took shelter.
Then the LORD said to him, “Go outside and stand on the mountain before the LORD; the LORD will be passing by.”
A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the LORD —- but the LORD was not in the wind.
After the wind there was an earthquake —- but the LORD was not in the earthquake.
After the earthquake there was fire —- but the LORD was not in the fire.
After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound.
When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave.
--1 Kgs 19:9a, 11-13a

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 04:17:00 +0000

All believers go through these dry times. The thing I have to keep myself aware of is not to trust my feelings as the Word says, but to trust the Bible and his word. We need to trust the Lords promises and not our feelings. I know from experience this is not easy, but it’s a must. He will never leave us or forsake us.

http://www.universe-with-no-creator.org

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 01:08:00 +0000

I only have a quick second to leave this comment, so I don’t have time to sit and read the comments posted before mine–Sorry if I repeat something that someone else already said—I had a horrible, unbearable “dry spell”–I think it was even more than a dry spell…Anyways, several people recommended me to read Dark Night of the Soul by St. John of the Cross and then when I was done with that, to read the book with Mother Teresa’s letters. I did it and it changed my perspective immediately. If you haven’t read these (esp. the first one), you should. St. John makes so many clever analogies that help you understand these dark nights/dry spells. It doesn’t make them any easier, but it sure helps! I am going through a dark night, right now, myself–It HAPPENS to happen when I am sick with something we can’t figure out–Terrible timing (plenty of asking “why?”–Maybe similar to what happened when you had the DVT???) Pray for me if you think about it and have time. And I’ll be sure to send some up for you! about it