Faith Crises and Grace

[Anonymous]

Roy wrote:

DarkJedi wrote:

Except we all don’t have the same experience. For whatever reason (pr perhaps no reason at all) some people get an immediate witness while others may go years, decades, or a lifetime without that witness.

I suppose an extra frustrating part about this video from that perspective is that once Bro. McLean had his awakening experience he says that looking back he could identify 25 instances where God was reaching out to him. Rather than suggest that maybe God had a purpose in having Bro. McLean wait it out for 9 years, this instead suggests that God was there all along and that maybe Bro. McLean was just blind to it.

I do think this is at least somewhat a matter of perspective. From Br. McLean’s point of view, God was always there, and as you point out, he probably just didn’t recognize it. From my point of view, God was never there even though I had thought God was there before my crisis. I have given it quite a bit of thought (I have lots of think time on my commute but I had thought about it well before that). Any of the times I could say “God may have had a hand in that” could just as easily be “coincidence” that God had nothing to do with. I don’t believe I’m any more (or less) blessed than anyone else, including my “unholy” neighbors and acquaintances. Is it possible God has been involved in things in my life and I just don’t recognize (or won’t admit) it? Yes. Is it also possible God has nothing to do with my life and I do recognize (and admit) it? Yes. The Santa myth has been busted, I can’t go back again. McLean still believes in Santa, and I’m really all good with that. What I’m not good with is McLean being held up as a model,either by himself or by others. For some he could be a model, for the rest of us it just doesn’t work that way.

[Anonymous]

Quote:

for the rest of us it just doesn’t work that way.

And every time it gets sold like that, a mass set of people get thrown under the bus.

I appreciate that the church is allowing the acknowledgment of faith crisis’ – like many things – the depth and severity of crisis’ is ranging.

I lived through a massive, life destroying earthquake. I felt the full impact. Yet my house, in didn’t suffer. Just blocks away it was different story. And for miles around me in other directions, it was even worse. The Richter scale was no different, nor the buildings or infrastructure, but the consistency of the damage was insane. The epicenter was 80 miles from San Francisco – and passed right through my town – San Francisco went up in flame. The epicenter town had Armageddon type destruction. Entire malls sunk. For us, the power went out, stores were closed, fire men were out of town pulling people out of rubble.

That’s how I see Faith Crisis. They are real. Their impact should not be dismissed. I keep praying someone will grow a pair and send aid the burning houses and collapsed malls of humanity before we get too far. Brother McLean had some power outages, water shut off, and no fire department to call for a few hours.

We owe it to the severely impacted to send aid to them, too. It would be most humanitarian of the church to do that. Not holding my breath.

[Anonymous]

I think the earthquake is a good analogy, Mom. In my area it’s flooding. As a young teen we lived through a flood where we lost absolutely everything. When we were evacuated I was wading through water up to my knees. Our house was washed off it’s foundation and floated about a quarter mile down the road. There was nothing left except literally the clothes I was wearing. In the early 2000s when my kids were early teens we had another flood. Our house got water in the basement, easily pumped out in about an hour with a generator, and we were without power for a week. We weren’t able to go anywhere for a couple days because of flooded and/or washed out roads. A quarter mile away were people who suffered what I suffered in the earlier flood. Put in perspective, I know which one was the real crisis and which one was more of a pain in the butt inconvenience.

[Anonymous]

An additional feature with this “natural disaster” analogy is it can also explain the secondary ripples and triggers after the initial crisis (which is a thing).

Mostly I have more or less “made peace” with where I am – but there are little things (and some doctrinal points) that spike my cognitive dissonance and shake the foundation I have rebuilt (or try to).

[Author]

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