The ideological bubble is a coward’s way of not having to think about things. It may seem like a “stern holding to . . . faith”, but it’s a retreat into an artificial fortress.
Something that Martin Luther once said seems fitting here: however big anything may be, God is bigger; however small anything might be, God is smaller; however high anything might be, God is higher; however low anything might be, God is lower; however far anything might be, God is farther; however near anything might be, God is nearer. And I will add that He is also everywhere in between.
This helped me in one of my darkest periods, in this form: however deep you think you’ve fallen, God is deeper.
Okay. Thank you for the help. I’ve gone through a lot of anxiety and changing mindset to be here, but I think I need to try and push beyond that to get over my fears.
I wasn’t necessarily calling science a threat so much as saying people who I hold in high esteem to represent it may true to influence my thoughts. Or at least that is what many apologetics organizations say. I think for many of my issues I need to go back to the drawing board to see what is more dogmatic against other faiths and what is actual attempts to help see faith in a different light.
Don’t look at those fears, though – acknowledge them, because they’re real, but deliver them to Jesus because He paid for them. No, I don’t mean that fears are sin, I mean that anything that gets in between us and God is something Jesus paid for – the Cross was about sin, but not just sin, it was about fixing everything.
And if you’re really daring, learn to thank Him for them: each one is an invitation to turn to Him.
I read a book once, I think it was called Sacred Pathways. It talked about how people have different ways of experiencing intimacy with God, based on how they are wired. Some people excel at introspection and hearing from God in contemplation and meditation, some people feel closest to God when they are out serving the poor or hurting, some people connect to God in corporate worship experiences, some people find intimacy with God through study and reading theology and the Bible, etc. And some people experience God best by standing in awe of the natural world. So I don’t think you need to worry about your fascination with the stars taking away from your faithfulness. Your wonder at the natural world can certainly be a “sacred pathway” to experiencing closeness with God.
Absolutely not. I mean avoiding looking elsewhere because of fear about the resilience of one’s faith or worldview.
But, there is nothing that requires us to confront all challenges and fears at once. The stress can spill out and ‘puddle’ until everything feels overwhelming. Everybody in the world experiences intense stresses as they mature to adults. As time goes on we slowly develop ways of managing the uncertainties of life. The intensity and feelings of urgent need decline as we acquire lived experiences in dealing with it and identifying which stimulation requires your attention.
“How do you eat an elephant?”
Don’t worry about the whole elephant and take one bite at a time. You’ll finish it eventually.
Amen to that.
One of my most close experiences with God (that I know of) was spent sitting on a rock in a river staring at a leaf I had plucked from the current, then including my own hand in that gaze, lost in the wonder of the mechanism – just me, river, rock, and leaf. And I kept thinking, every now and then, “In Him all things…”
Love your reverence for the universe and stars as they serve as very clear evidence of our omnipotent and omniscient God. They visibly express God’s majesty and glory.
