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WHAT DO YOU BELIEVE??

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magsdee
Disabled
Joined in 2006
January 8, 2009, 21:46

Yeh absolutely Mobileguy, healing can come from many places, we have the earth and overtime the knowledge of how to utilise it to help us and the wonderful giftings of health professionals. 😀



Anthony Venn-Brown
 
Joined in 2005
January 8, 2009, 22:33

I think what really strikes me as terrific about this forum is how we all have some beliefs in common, and others we may disagree on, yet we don’t have to fight about it.


It’s very refreshing to me.


that is greatest compliment you could give us mazdragon…….the space we create here as our guidlelines says……is a space of no judgment or agenda to convert….just sharing our journeys ….learning from and supporting each other to resolution…..and for some that resolution may mean rejection of their orginal christian faith.



Anthony Venn-Brown
 
Joined in 2005
January 8, 2009, 22:45

i’ve gone through such a journey with my beliefs…..from rejecting some…to putting some on hold…..to redefining others.


What I do now is catagorise them.

1. Non-negotiables = eg things like there is a god and there is and existence beyond this life

2. Maybe’s = things the jury is still out on…and I’m happy to live with question not answered.

3. Whatever’s = things that really don’t impact my life and I don’t need to have firm belief about. eg…..do people really communicate with those who have passed away. some say yes…other no…but it doesn’t affect my life.


I do believe in treating others as I’d like to be treated. Always with dignity and respect.


I believe in not judging others but allowing them their own journey.


I believe in love.



Myfanwe
 
Joined in 2007
January 8, 2009, 22:53

i’ve gone through such a journey with my beliefs…..from rejecting some…to putting some on hold…..to redefining others.


What I do now is catagorise them.

1. Non-negotiables = eg things like there is a god and there is and existence beyond this life

2. Maybe’s = things the jury is still out on…and I’m happy to live with question not answered.

3. Whatever’s = things that really don’t impact my life and I don’t need to have firm belief about. eg…..do people really communicate with those who have passed away. some say yes…other no…but it doesn’t affect my life.


I do believe in treating others as I’d like to be treated. Always with dignity and respect.


I believe in not judging others but allowing them their own journey.


I believe in love.


I think I have come a long way from when I first quit church. At that point, yes, I was hurting and angry and wanted nothing to do with ‘them’ anymore. Now I have mellowed down a bit and am starting to look at spiritual things again. I don’t think a mainstream or traditional church will work though. I tried with RCC and didn’t know how to fit myself in there, or fit it around who I am, and that is a very affirming and welcoming church. 🙂


I think I am a bit too much of a 1970s hippy for any ‘traditional’ church these days. 😆


I like your way of looking at it, Anthony. I am happy to live with the questions and doubts too, and wait to see what further light may be shed further on down the road.


There are non-negotiables for me, and the existence of God is one of those.


One of my former pastors used to say that faith goes through three phases from simple to complex to simple again, and sometimes it goes through that process several times. The fact that it changes over time is not a cause for alarm, but just a part of the journey. We won’t know in full until the end, after all.


Until the end, we can only keep learning, walking and letting things come as they come.


Now I am getting all Zen on us, so I will stop there.

😉



Anthony Venn-Brown
 
Joined in 2005
January 8, 2009, 23:28

have you heard of Fowlers Stages of Faith Mazdragon…..Iain spoke on this one night at our sydney f2b chapter meeting…..Fowlers concept was very helpful to him….i found it good but a bit too academic…..but out of the nights discussion I created this which i’ve often used and refer to explain my journey to people and groups..

http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dc82pv9d_54dbrzsqjh


I came across a modified version of Fowlers concept that I think was more help in understanding the stages we go through.


This is stage four which I think many here will relate to


Stage Four: The Journey Inward

Stage 4 is “the journey inward” – “a deep and very personal inward journey” that “almost always comes as an unsettling experience yet results in healing for those who continue through it” (93). In this stage, our former views of God are radically challenged. The disruption can be so great that we feel like we are losing our faith or betraying loyalties.

At this stage, we face an abrupt change (at least many do) to almost the opposite mode. It’s a mode of questioning, exploring, falling apart, doubting, dancing around the real issues, sinking in uncertainty, and indulging in self-centeredness. We often look hopeless to those around us. (93)

This newfound (and often surprising) uncertainty is usually precipitated by a crisis. “The move from stage 3 to 4 is more likely precipitated by a crisis in our life or our faith. That crisis makes many of the former truths and answers inadequate or inappropriate for the next phase in the journey” (83). The crisis “shakes our strongly held beliefs or assumptions and we feel adrift on a restless sea, fending for ourselves. Our sense of God is shaken and we can find no new direction, only more questions” (197).

The crisis shocks our system. We lose comfort and question our convictions as our previous faith-supports crumble before our very eyes.

For the first time, our faith does not seem to work. We feel remote, immobilized, unsuccessful, hurt, ashamed, or reprehensible. Neither our faith nor God provides what we need to sooth us, heal us, answer our prayers, fulfill our wishes, change our circumstances, or solve our problems. Our formula of faith, whatever that may have been, does not work any more, or so it appears. (94)

Why does advancing to this stage usually demand a crisis? The reason is simple: No one would choose this kind of experience on their own!


you can read the entire 6 stages here if you are interested


http://www.theocentric.com/theoarchives/000149.html



Anthony Venn-Brown
 
Joined in 2005
January 8, 2009, 23:29

…..and PS


I believe our purpose in life is the one we choose for ourselves.



Myfanwe
 
Joined in 2007
January 9, 2009, 00:12

have you heard of Fowlers Stages of Faith Mazdragon…..Iain spoke on this one night at our sydney f2b chapter meeting…..Fowlers concept was very helpful to him….i found it good but a bit too academic…..but out of the nights discussion I created this which i’ve often used and refer to explain my journey to people and groups..

http://docs.google.com/Presentation?id=dc82pv9d_54dbrzsqjh


I had not heard of those, Anthony, but I will certainly check that out as it sounds pretty interesting. I can definitely say I have experienced, and may still be experiencing the Journey Inward to some extent.


Fascinating stuff!



frogger
 
Joined in 2005
January 9, 2009, 09:45

I studied the stages thing a few years back and i think it is quite eloquent in enabling people to identify where they are.. and sometimes to assist them. I cant remember where I was then? And, i certainly would not be in the same place now



Anthony Venn-Brown
 
Joined in 2005
January 9, 2009, 13:37

at least when you read things like the stages you realise two things.


1. You are not going crazy

2. you are not on your own.


😀



iplantolive
 
Joined in 2008
January 9, 2009, 21:43

have you heard of Fowlers Stages of Faith Mazdragon…..Iain spoke on this one night at our sydney f2b chapter meeting…..Fowlers concept was very helpful to him….


I had a look at this, and was surprised to find that some of my previous posts about universal beliefs seemed to correspond to the fifth and sixth stages, although I’m not sure if I agree with Fowler’s “rare” assertion about the sixth stage;


In the fifth stage of faith (conjunctive), persons still rely on their own views but move from self preoccupation or from dependence on fixed truths to acceptance of others’ points of view they tend to be more tolerant and begin to consider serving others.


Individuals who move to the sixth and last stage of faith (universalizing) are rare. As older adults, they begin to search for universal values, such as unconditional love and justice. Self-preservation becomes irrelevant. Mother Theresa and Mahatma Gandhi are examples of people in this form of spiritual development (Fowler, 1981).


Source: http://gendertree.com/Stages_of_Faith.htm


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