Opposite Of A "Faith Crisis"

[Buzzard]

I read about people leaving the church or having their testimony challenged over historical incidents, or being offended by a leader, etc...and I contrast that to my own experience. I guess every pendulum swings, but I seem to be on the very opposite.

Through reading, study, pondering, and even a little prayer, I became utterly, totally convinced a couple of decades back of the truth-including the historicity-of the Book of Mormon. And I applied the keystone approach, that if the BOM was what Joseph purported it to be, then the rest just fell into line, making JS a prophet, giving the church the authority it claims, and so on.

The other day, I was thinking about the fact that despite my very imperfect efforts, I only feel the spirit from time to time. I have never been able to feel like the HG is my constant companion, and this has been a matter of some concern, since my mortality is not going to last several more decades for me to get it right. As I was pondering this, and what I could do about it, the thought came to my mind: "The gift of belief is also a gift of the spirit":

And for me, that has been true. It's not like I don't avoid material that might make me think twice, hanging around on this board will do that, and I roam other libraries, virtual and physical, as well. But no matter what I encounter, whether anti- or apologetic, it doesn't change the conviction I have carried with me for these years. I believe, and because I have absolutely-zero-doubts about the Book of Mormon, I cannot see a scenario in which that belief would go away. Maybe the flip side of that is that the HG only stops by to say hello every now and then. Maybe, having given me that certainty, the Good Lord leaves me out there to my own devices more than others who do not currently have that absolute assurance.

Or maybe I'm just sounding foolish, rambling about on an anonymous internet forum.

[Kenngo1969]

Re: Constant companionship of the Holy Ghost – It’s trite and clichéd, but it also just might be true: Don’t forget the story “Footprints,” in which, when the man looked back at the sands of his life through time, he could only see one set of footprints even though God promised to walk beside him. God told him that in the places he could only see one set of footprints, that’s when God was carrying him. I rather suspect that companionship of the Holy Ghost is like that. I rather suspect that Heavenly Beings are much more involved in our lives than we realize: we simply blithely attribute events in which they may well have had a hand to “luck” or to “coincidence,” et cetera.

God promised Joseph Smith that He would go before his face, and that His angels would be all about Joseph to bear him up. Joseph was a great man, but he was much like us: he had flaws, just as we all do. And if that could be true for Joseph (his imperfections notwithstanding) , why couldn’t that be true for us? I believe that, indeed, it can … and it is—much more so than, as mortals, we are capable of discerning or comprehending. Even Joseph, great as he was and is, cried out in his extremity, “Oh, God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that coverest thy hiding place?’ And when our Heavenly Father seems very far away, perhaps it would do to remember that, although there was no one more deserving of His Father’s constant companionship than Christ, even He said, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?”

And then there’s the example of converted Lamanites, who, although they had received the Holy Ghost, didn’t realize it. 3 Nephi 9:20 says that the Lord will baptize those who have broken hearts and contrite spirits with fire and with the Holy Ghost, “even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not” (3 Nephi 9:20, emphasis mine). And if you’ve never doubted since being converted, you have had the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, even if you haven’t felt it. As the Lord told Oliver Cowdery, “If you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried unto me in your heart. Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What greater witness can ye have than from God?”

We’ve never met, but as much as any person can tell about another through his “cyber-persona,” you don’t strike me as the kind of person who need be overly concerned about his standing before God. If anybody asks you why God should let you into His rest, simply tell them that He should do so because of His Son’s Atonement. Christ, indeed, is mighty to save. I wish you well.

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

I read about people leaving the church or having their testimony challenged over historical incidents, or being offended by a leader, etc...and I contrast that to my own experience. I guess every pendulum swings, but I seem to be on the very opposite.

Through reading, study, pondering, and even a little prayer, I became utterly, totally convinced a couple of decades back of the truth-including the historicity-of the Book of Mormon. And I applied the keystone approach, that if the BOM was what Joseph purported it to be, then the rest just fell into line, making JS a prophet, giving the church the authority it claims, and so on.

The other day, I was thinking about the fact that despite my very imperfect efforts, I only feel the spirit from time to time. I have never been able to feel like the HG is my constant companion, and this has been a matter of some concern, since my mortality is not going to last several more decades for me to get it right. As I was pondering this, and what I could do about it, the thought came to my mind: "The gift of belief is also a gift of the spirit":

And for me, that has been true. It's not like I don't avoid material that might make me think twice, hanging around on this board will do that, and I roam other libraries, virtual and physical, as well. But no matter what I encounter, whether anti- or apologetic, it doesn't change the conviction I have carried with me for these years. I believe, and because I have absolutely-zero-doubts about the Book of Mormon, I cannot see a scenario in which that belief would go away. Maybe the flip side of that is that the HG only stops by to say hello every now and then. Maybe, having given me that certainty, the Good Lord leaves me out there to my own devices more than others who do not currently have that absolute assurance.

Or maybe I'm just sounding foolish, rambling about on an anonymous internet forum.

I had a very good friend leave the Church and then considered me his enemy for not following him. It was about something he found on an anti-Mormon site (an issue resolved by FAIR, by then he had passed away. I had a spiritual experience that solidified my faith while he was losing his.

[Questing Beast]

No two life-paths are the same. No life remains static. The only dependable thing about existence is change. So in this shifting environment we call existence, what is constant other than change? I believe it is a growing awareness of "God". That is our purpose for being created in the first place, to discover "God" and find Joy by so doing. Mormonism is only one paradigm and a rather late-comer at that in our observable history as a species.

I went through the "faith crisis" thing, and I am still emerging years later. I feel good about the Church and its people, they are the people I have always lived with. I don't fight that. Rather, trying to live in harmony with the huge imperfections we all experience seems to be a core point to mortality, to give us perspective on what Joy Is and is not. Mormonism is as good or better at showing these things as another life could be. Going back to how it was is impossible, since learning truth and facts that we accept as such changes our perspective. You can't unknow something. I'm just grateful that I never felt like tossing a gospel centered life, and family joys, for something less....

Edited July 10, 2013 by Questing Beast

[Glenn101]

Buzzard, you seem to echo my own situation and perspective. or maybe I echo yours.

Glenn