Barnes & Noble Leaving Church, Finding Faith: Six Steps for Finding Your Purpose in the World After Leaving the Christian Church at Hamilton Place in Chattanooga, TN
I've left the Christian Church. I've turned away from the structure, the sense of community, the doctrine, the dogma, the ritual, the thing that gave my life focus and grounding, the WHY of my life. My life made sense when the church was at the center of it. It doesn't now. Owning the decision to leave involves: --The realization that you simply can't stay.--You cannot go forward with these people, with this structure, within this context of loving and serving God while frozen in your seat-- You cannot participate in ritual in this place while being handcuffed to a particular way to serve the God you love and the people God loves-- You do not fit. You no longer speak the language, If you ever did. This is no longer your home.Finding your path and your purpose in the world AGAIN, without the moorings of that which nurtured and informed your perceptions of the world is disorienting at best, completely life altering at worst.You think you are lost, but you are really found - perhaps for the first time in your spiritual life
I've left the Christian Church. I've turned away from the structure, the sense of community, the doctrine, the dogma, the ritual, the thing that gave my life focus and grounding, the WHY of my life. My life made sense when the church was at the center of it. It doesn't now. Owning the decision to leave involves: --The realization that you simply can't stay.--You cannot go forward with these people, with this structure, within this context of loving and serving God while frozen in your seat-- You cannot participate in ritual in this place while being handcuffed to a particular way to serve the God you love and the people God loves-- You do not fit. You no longer speak the language, If you ever did. This is no longer your home.Finding your path and your purpose in the world AGAIN, without the moorings of that which nurtured and informed your perceptions of the world is disorienting at best, completely life altering at worst.You think you are lost, but you are really found - perhaps for the first time in your spiritual life
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