Hello

Public forum, tell us about yourself and what brings you to StayLDS!
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Willhewonder
Posts: 81
Joined: 28 Jul 2016, 08:54

Hello

Post by Willhewonder »

Thanks for adding me to the group. I have been lurking about for awhile. I have appreciated many of your comments, and the loving and reasonable ways that you have presented them. I don't have a specific desire to leave the Church, and yet I see many of the foundations of my primitive faith under attack or disillusionment. When I take stock of the core of my testimony, it comes down to memories of a few very strong experiences, some pretty intense tribal loyalty, and the remnants of an early constructed worldview that seems ever increasingly nibbled away by new revelations from friends on one hand, personal and such as Nibley and Sorenson, and from the ever circling hosts of the anti- Mormon on the other. More and more people I respect and have known over the years are telling me how many things it's not necessary for them to believe literally for them to have a testimony, and I just wonder how long that will be the case for me. I hope it will be forever, but I note a sizeable number of paradigm shifts in my understanding of the Gospel since Primary days and I would expect them to slow down rather than to accelerate. Sometimes I feel a cold wind blowing.

So, I'm happy to be here. I'm in my 60's, BIC to BIC parents who divorced but stayed in the faith. I was 8. Except for my dad, we then moved from a non- Mormon metropolitan area to a small Mormon town. It was a shock for me, since among other things, I remembered hearing one swear word prior to the move (and I also remember getting the soap in the mouth for repeating it at home!), but I was hearing them everywhere after the move to Deseret and not of the mild sort.

I tried to be a good boy growing up, but on reflection don't think I was as good as I thought I was then. I participated in scouts, seminary, roadshows and dance festival, went away to BYU, came back to leave on a mission, returned after two years to jump into the block program at BYU. I married the wrong girl in the temple within a year, and just under 20 years later, things came to a head and we divorced, not amicably. After 3 years I married the love of my life, gained two children, and have had the best, though most tumultuous twenty or so years of my life since.

I recently was diagnosed with an incurable disease, have retired, and am now looking around at the shape of the cosmos from my current place in life. That's pretty
much me in a nutshell. Happy to be here.
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DarkJedi
Posts: 8050
Joined: 24 Aug 2013, 20:53

Re: Hello

Post by DarkJedi »

Welcome to the forum. It sounds like you might be a good fit and I hope we can help you as you work through things. Non-literal belief and embracing the idea of non-literal belief has been good for me, and I don't see that I could believe much at all otherwise. Sounds like you're already taking it slow and that you haven't dumped all at once. Focus on what you do believe. Don't be a stranger, I'm sure you have much to offer and I hope you find the peace you seek.
In the absence of knowledge or faith there is always hope.

Once there was a gentile...who came before Hillel. He said "Convert me on the condition that you teach me the whole Torah while I stand on one foot." Hillel converted him, saying: That which is despicable to you, do not do to your fellow, this is the whole Torah, and the rest is commentary, go and learn it."

My Introduction
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LookingHard
Posts: 2946
Joined: 20 Oct 2014, 12:11

Re: Hello

Post by LookingHard »

Welcome and I am glad you joined and made the post. I would encourage others that are lurking to join in the conversation!


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Ann
Posts: 2597
Joined: 09 Sep 2012, 02:17

Re: Hello

Post by Ann »

Hi, Willhewonder - I'm glad you're here.
I recently was diagnosed with an incurable disease, have retired, and am now looking around at the shape of the cosmos from my current place in life. That's pretty
much me in a nutshell. Happy to be here.
Happy to be here. That IS it in a nutshell. I wish I'd known how fast time was going to go. (Disease definitely focuses the mind; we're mortal.) I wish I'd tumbled to my conclusions about the church sooner. I wish I'd opened up my mind and heart earlier in life. But I am happy to be here, and the lateness of all my growth won't make it any less exciting and enjoyable. I hope that's true for you, too.
"Preachers err by trying to talk people into belief; better they reveal the radiance of their own discovery." - Joseph Campbell

"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes." - Marcel Proust

"Therefore they said unto him, How were thine eyes opened? He answered and said unto them, A man that is called Jesus made clay, and anointed my eyes...." - John 9:10-11
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Heber13
Site Admin
Posts: 7245
Joined: 22 Apr 2009, 16:37
Location: In the Middle

Re: Hello

Post by Heber13 »

Welcome to the forum and posting your intro. I enjoy hearing the short background of people's stories.

I have also been through divorce so I share that in common with you.

Faith in church evolves as we go through life, I think. Like the political rhetoric I hear this time of year, some can use fear and doom and gloom to try to talk about issues and the extreme opposing views, and people at church get like that at times about leaving church, or getting divorced, or other issues.

But I have found there to be many possible options if we open our minds to them, to find right vs wrong on many paths. If we seek love and growth, not fear and obedience.

I'm happy. I'm remarried. My kids are doing great. There is no doom and gloom. Just life, filled with lots of experiences.

Glad you joined us. I look forward to learning more from your posts.
Luke: "Why didn't you tell me? You told me Vader betrayed and murdered my father."
Obi-Wan: "Your father... was seduced by the dark side of the Force. He ceased to be Anakin Skywalker and became Darth Vader. When that happened, the good man who was your father was destroyed. So what I told you was true... from a certain point of view."
Luke: "A certain point of view?"
Obi-Wan: "Luke, you're going to find that many of the truths we cling to...depend greatly on our point of view."
Old-Timer
Site Admin
Posts: 17243
Joined: 21 Oct 2008, 20:24

Re: Hello

Post by Old-Timer »

Welcome. It always is good to get to know someone who has lurked for a while.

I hope we can be mutually helpful. It sounds like you up have a lot to offer.
I see through my glass, darkly - as I play my saxophone in harmony with the other instruments in God's orchestra. (h/t Elder Joseph Wirthlin)

Even if people view many things differently, the core Gospel principles (LOVE; belief in the unseen but hoped; self-reflective change; symbolic cleansing; striving to recognize the will of the divine; never giving up) are universal.

"For every complex problem there is an answer that is clear, simple, and wrong." H. L. Mencken
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hawkgrrrl
Site Admin
Posts: 3559
Joined: 22 Oct 2008, 16:27

Re: Hello

Post by hawkgrrrl »

Great to meet you! I love to hear the stories of people's lives. Sorry about your diagnosis--I imagine that gives one perspective. We look forward to hearing your wisdom!
Minyan Man
Posts: 2222
Joined: 15 Sep 2011, 13:40

Re: Hello

Post by Minyan Man »

Willhewonder, thank you for your introduction & welcome.
One thing you said:
...I see many of the foundations of my primitive faith under attack or disillusionment.
Can you be more specific? Maybe we can help. Or, there maybe other posts that will help. This is a great place to work things out.
Keep coming back & keep contributing to the discussions.
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nibbler
Posts: 5027
Joined: 14 Nov 2013, 07:34
Location: Ten miles west of the exact centre of the universe

Re: Hello

Post by nibbler »

The Wonder Years!

Welcome to StayLDS. It sounds like you've got invaluable life experiences to share. I hope to hear and learn from them.
I kept a diary right after I was born. Day 1: Tired from the move. Day 2: Everyone thinks I'm an idiot.
— Steven Wright
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dande48
Posts: 1443
Joined: 24 Jan 2016, 16:35
Location: Wherever there is danger

Re: Hello

Post by dande48 »

Welcome to the forum! This small, wonderful group has personally been a great help to me. I'm glad you've decided to join.
We hope you find peace with the gospel, and the happiness you're looking for.
"The whole world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel." - Horace Walpole

"Even though there are no ways of knowing for sure, there are ways of knowing for pretty sure."
-Lemony Snicket
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