In true gestational style, the last nine months have been something of a spiritual rebirth for me. If you read my blog, I’m sure you’ve noticed. It seems nowadays that I rarely blog about anything other than religion and spirituality. That’s because it’s on my mind almost 24-7. I rarely get a chance to write up the thoughts that occupy my brain, but they’re there in abundance.
December 2012 was a pivotal month for me. The month started with me at the top of my spiritual game. In a period of less than two weeks, I went from being at one of the highest points of my spiritual life to wallowing in spiritual despair. In a recent blog post, I recounted this experience in limited detail. I concluded that the experience was God’s way of preparing me to empathize with those who struggle in their faith. As you may recall, my own crisis of faith had commenced with me asking God in prayer to help me help others. That’s when the rug of conviction was so violently swept out from under me. It was jarring, and only after my faith had been restored could I understand why I would feel so abandoned in the midst of what had theretofore been a phase of spiritual rejuvenation.
Little did I know, in terms of having my prayer answered, this was only the beginning. In a series of events that a skeptic would call coincidental but that I call miraculous, I have been invited to contribute regularly to a blog whose sole purpose is to help those who struggle in their faith. The blog is an appendage to A Thoughtful Faith (ATF), one of several LDS-themed podcasts that I discovered within the last year. The official mission statement of ATF, according to its website, is as follows:
A Thoughtful Faith features the stories and perspectives of intelligent, thoughtful believers who maintain a strong faith in Mormonism despite their awareness of and/or struggles with common challenges and issues. Our hope is to model potential paths for individuals in faith transition or crisis that allow them to maintain faith, as well as provide resources for thoughtful believers everywhere.I don’t know if I can stress how humbling this opportunity is for me. Podcasts have played a major role in my spiritual journey. ATF was not only among those podcasts, but my favorite of the bunch! It is quite literally a part of what led me to ask God to help me help others. I had no idea that I would be writing for their blog less than four months after my prayerful petition led to some heart-wrenchingly intense spiritual training. Call it a coincidence if you wish, but this seems about as direct an answer to a prayer as I’ve ever received. The ATF Facebook community has over 800 members. I have no idea how many people listen to the podcast, but needless to say, once their blog is launched, the amount of people who read my thoughts will jump several thousand percent. It’s overwhelming, and yet it is thrilling to think of inspiring even a fraction of those readers. I truly regard this as an opportunity to love and serve others, and that is what excites me the most.
My first appearance on the yet-to-be unveiled blog will probably be in late April. I’ll let you know as soon as it is up.
Very interesting! I am excited to read your posts even though I feel I only have enough ingelligence to understand a fourth of what you write. (I think before kids I might have understand half of it.)
ReplyDeleteBen!!! This is so awesome! I'm very excited to hear and see what this is and what you have to say and think about. You are brilliant!
ReplyDeleteI've really liked your last two posts about religion. I think you definitely have some things to think about.
I am so proud of you. This is a good place for you.
ReplyDelete