Why I Stay: A Follow up
Why do I stay a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
I think this is an important question for numerous reasons, and reflecting on it has sharpened my perspective on why I continue to attend Church despite the difficulties I experience as someone who is more nuanced and struggles in many ways with faith.
I stay for three big reasons.
The first is that the Church gives me opportunities to exercise Godlike love in relation to other people. I give lots of hugs at church. I practice gentleness and display interest and curiosity. I give lots of validation. I practice nonjudgment, compassion and firm boundaries when others fall short. Life is so precious, too precious to allow oneself to be inundated by bitterness. I love my Church tribe, and I express that love by being as good of a support as I can to those also engaged in it. This is perhaps the biggest and best gift the Church has given me, and I carry it with gratitude.
The second is that attending Church reinforces the best of my perspective. I find that perspective, not usually through the lessons or talks or testimonies, but A) when I sit in the Sacrament process and reflect on my week, B) when I engage with other people in a spirit of love, and C) when I take the time to bear my testimony. As an example of A, since I am a gay man who is currently sexually active, I haven't taken the sacrament in about a year, but I still love the moment of silent reflection it offers. I feel God's love this way as I pray, in a way I don't get in the muck of everyday life. As an example of B, I've been struggling with my testimony of tithing, for example, and haven't tithed in months, and I expressed this to a close friend who proceeded to bear her testimony in a very gentle but firm way based out of her experiences. Even though it didn't exactly answer my concerns, it still gave me perspective. As an example of C, I bore my testimony last Sunday about how God gives us the power to love others as He loves us, and desires for us to share in that love with each other. By expressing that spontaneously, I taught myself something about how I experience God.
The third and biggest is that simply, I feel God's love there. That love, like a fountain of pure water, gently invites me to come and drink. So, I do.
I am currently exploring other religions to see if I can find any of this better elsewhere. So far, the answer to that has been no. I’ve found a great deal of perspective and love in other religions, but honestly, this is it for me; it is my home, and I feel God in it the best of any way that I’ve ever felt it, though granted my search has been brief relatively speaking. For now, the Church is it, and so I stay.
I think this is an important question for numerous reasons, and reflecting on it has sharpened my perspective on why I continue to attend Church despite the difficulties I experience as someone who is more nuanced and struggles in many ways with faith.
I stay for three big reasons.
The first is that the Church gives me opportunities to exercise Godlike love in relation to other people. I give lots of hugs at church. I practice gentleness and display interest and curiosity. I give lots of validation. I practice nonjudgment, compassion and firm boundaries when others fall short. Life is so precious, too precious to allow oneself to be inundated by bitterness. I love my Church tribe, and I express that love by being as good of a support as I can to those also engaged in it. This is perhaps the biggest and best gift the Church has given me, and I carry it with gratitude.
The second is that attending Church reinforces the best of my perspective. I find that perspective, not usually through the lessons or talks or testimonies, but A) when I sit in the Sacrament process and reflect on my week, B) when I engage with other people in a spirit of love, and C) when I take the time to bear my testimony. As an example of A, since I am a gay man who is currently sexually active, I haven't taken the sacrament in about a year, but I still love the moment of silent reflection it offers. I feel God's love this way as I pray, in a way I don't get in the muck of everyday life. As an example of B, I've been struggling with my testimony of tithing, for example, and haven't tithed in months, and I expressed this to a close friend who proceeded to bear her testimony in a very gentle but firm way based out of her experiences. Even though it didn't exactly answer my concerns, it still gave me perspective. As an example of C, I bore my testimony last Sunday about how God gives us the power to love others as He loves us, and desires for us to share in that love with each other. By expressing that spontaneously, I taught myself something about how I experience God.
The third and biggest is that simply, I feel God's love there. That love, like a fountain of pure water, gently invites me to come and drink. So, I do.
I am currently exploring other religions to see if I can find any of this better elsewhere. So far, the answer to that has been no. I’ve found a great deal of perspective and love in other religions, but honestly, this is it for me; it is my home, and I feel God in it the best of any way that I’ve ever felt it, though granted my search has been brief relatively speaking. For now, the Church is it, and so I stay.
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