Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My faith is strongest in my darkest hours.

"The flower that blooms in adversity is the most beautiful and rare of all." Can't remember when I first encountered this, but it has followed me throughout the years.

For me, I grapple with the lesson. What am I to learn from this, Lord? Faith itself is good medicine. "Be still and know that I am God" is a difficult meditation, one I've struggled with over the years because despite appearances, I am a very typical Type-A, multitasking, self-reliant monster to myself. Stepping back from situations in which I have little to no control and trusting in my deeply-seated faith has been my most important effort over the last few years.

Why did my husband become so angry and mean to me? Even after the divorce, how can he turn his back on the children he ardently wanted?
I put in so much effort to become highly-qualified in my field. How is it that employment has been so incredibly illusive?

Faith. It's what you're left with when nothing makes sense.

Anonymous wrote:I have had dark moments and sometimes have felt very distant from God. But I have found that it has been helpful to pray and practice my religion's rituals. The daily practice eventually makes me feel better and somehow the sense of connection restablishes itself. OP, if you have a spiritual practice, use it.

Anonymous wrote:Everything in my life has been in a downward spiral for the past two years. Finances shrinking, my special needs child regressing, difficult patch in our marriage as DH goes through his own personal crisis, sibling getting cancer, just everything going bad.

I've always been good and walked the straight and narrow road. Always honest, always trying hard to be kind even when I don't want to be, always trying not to wish ill on those who hurt me, always acting ethically.

This is not actually a thread about my personal situation though. Curious to hear from people who held on to their faith when life was proving them wrong about having faith in the first place. Like every signal you get is that there is no hope, no justice, nothing watching over you.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everything in my life has been in a downward spiral for the past two years. Finances shrinking, my special needs child regressing, difficult patch in our marriage as DH goes through his own personal crisis, sibling getting cancer, just everything going bad.

I've always been good and walked the straight and narrow road. Always honest, always trying hard to be kind even when I don't want to be, always trying not to wish ill on those who hurt me, always acting ethically.

This is not actually a thread about my personal situation though. Curious to hear from people who held on to their faith when life was proving them wrong about having faith in the first place. Like every signal you get is that there is no hope, no justice, nothing watching over you.

OP, just remember: the opposite of faith is not doubt. Faith and doubt actually go hand in hand.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everything in my life has been in a downward spiral for the past two years. Finances shrinking, my special needs child regressing, difficult patch in our marriage as DH goes through his own personal crisis, sibling getting cancer, just everything going bad.

I've always been good and walked the straight and narrow road. Always honest, always trying hard to be kind even when I don't want to be, always trying not to wish ill on those who hurt me, always acting ethically.

This is not actually a thread about my personal situation though. Curious to hear from people who held on to their faith when life was proving them wrong about having faith in the first place. Like every signal you get is that there is no hope, no justice, nothing watching over you.

OP, just remember: the opposite of faith is not doubt. Faith and doubt actually go hand in hand.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everything in my life has been in a downward spiral for the past two years. Finances shrinking, my special needs child regressing, difficult patch in our marriage as DH goes through his own personal crisis, sibling getting cancer, just everything going bad.

I've always been good and walked the straight and narrow road. Always honest, always trying hard to be kind even when I don't want to be, always trying not to wish ill on those who hurt me, always acting ethically.

This is not actually a thread about my personal situation though. Curious to hear from people who held on to their faith when life was proving them wrong about having faith in the first place. Like every signal you get is that there is no hope, no justice, nothing watching over you.

OP, just remember: the opposite of faith is not doubt. Faith and doubt actually go hand in hand.

This is a common saying among religious people. I think it's because so many people so frequently doubt their beliefs. This is understandable, because so much about religion is so hard to believe.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everything in my life has been in a downward spiral for the past two years. Finances shrinking, my special needs child regressing, difficult patch in our marriage as DH goes through his own personal crisis, sibling getting cancer, just everything going bad.

I've always been good and walked the straight and narrow road. Always honest, always trying hard to be kind even when I don't want to be, always trying not to wish ill on those who hurt me, always acting ethically.

This is not actually a thread about my personal situation though. Curious to hear from people who held on to their faith when life was proving them wrong about having faith in the first place. Like every signal you get is that there is no hope, no justice, nothing watching over you.

OP, just remember: the opposite of faith is not doubt. Faith and doubt actually go hand in hand.

This is a common saying among religious people. I think it's because so many people so frequently doubt their beliefs. This is understandable, because so much about religion is so hard to believe.

PP again. I should have also posted the second part of this "common saying." The opposite of faith is not doubt. The opposite of faith is certainty, as in the "certainty" of atheists who insist that they are right when they say there is no God.

Muslima wrote:Rumi wrote:

"All night long, a man called 'God'
Until his lips were bleeding.
Then his Adversary said, 'Hey!
How come you’ve been calling all night
And never once heard God say, 'Here, I am?'
You call out so earnestly and, in reply, what?
I’ll tell you what, nothing!'

"The man suddenly felt empty and abandoned.
Depressed, he threw himself on the ground
And there, he fell asleep.
In his dream, he met an angel, who asked,
'Why are you regretting calling out to God?'

"The man said, 'I called and called
But God never replied, 'Here, I am.''

"The Angel explained, 'God has said,
'Your calling my name is My reply.
Your longing for Me is My message to you.
All your attempts to reach Me
Are in reality My attempts to reach you.
Your fear and love are a noose to catch Me.
In the silence surrounding every call of 'God'
Waits a thousand replies of 'Here I am.'

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Everything in my life has been in a downward spiral for the past two years. Finances shrinking, my special needs child regressing, difficult patch in our marriage as DH goes through his own personal crisis, sibling getting cancer, just everything going bad.

I've always been good and walked the straight and narrow road. Always honest, always trying hard to be kind even when I don't want to be, always trying not to wish ill on those who hurt me, always acting ethically.

This is not actually a thread about my personal situation though. Curious to hear from people who held on to their faith when life was proving them wrong about having faith in the first place. Like every signal you get is that there is no hope, no justice, nothing watching over you.

OP, just remember: the opposite of faith is not doubt. Faith and doubt actually go hand in hand.

This is a common saying among religious people. I think it's because so many people so frequently doubt their beliefs. This is understandable, because so much about religion is so hard to believe.

PP again. I should have also posted the second part of this "common saying." The opposite of faith is not doubt. The opposite of faith is certainty, as in the "certainty" of atheists who insist that they are right when they say there is no God.

Atheists don't say there is no God. They say they don't believe in God

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My faith is strongest in my darkest hours.

"The flower that blooms in adversity is the most beautiful and rare of all." Can't remember when I first encountered this, but it has followed me throughout the years.

For me, I grapple with the lesson. What am I to learn from this, Lord? Faith itself is good medicine. "Be still and know that I am God" is a difficult meditation, one I've struggled with over the years because despite appearances, I am a very typical Type-A, multitasking, self-reliant monster to myself. Stepping back from situations in which I have little to no control and trusting in my deeply-seated faith has been my most important effort over the last few years.

Why did my husband become so angry and mean to me? Even after the divorce, how can he turn his back on the children he ardently wanted?
I put in so much effort to become highly-qualified in my field. How is it that employment has been so incredibly illusive?

Faith. It's what you're left with when nothing makes sense.

Which, frankly, sounds pretty useless. Better to say, "it doesn't make sense" and try your best to do something for yourself that DOES make sense, instead of sitting back to see what "god" throws at you next.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My faith is strongest in my darkest hours.

"The flower that blooms in adversity is the most beautiful and rare of all." Can't remember when I first encountered this, but it has followed me throughout the years.

For me, I grapple with the lesson. What am I to learn from this, Lord? Faith itself is good medicine. "Be still and know that I am God" is a difficult meditation, one I've struggled with over the years because despite appearances, I am a very typical Type-A, multitasking, self-reliant monster to myself. Stepping back from situations in which I have little to no control and trusting in my deeply-seated faith has been my most important effort over the last few years.

Why did my husband become so angry and mean to me? Even after the divorce, how can he turn his back on the children he ardently wanted?
I put in so much effort to become highly-qualified in my field. How is it that employment has been so incredibly illusive?

Faith. It's what you're left with when nothing makes sense.

Which, frankly, sounds pretty useless. Better to say, "it doesn't make sense" and try your best to do something for yourself that DOES make sense, instead of sitting back to see what "god" throws at you next.

Maybe I did a poor job of explaining. I don't usually discuss my personal beliefs, so I'll try again.

It doesn't mean that I'm off the hook and don't need to find a way or put in the work. Faith adds value to my efforts. It's not the same as confidence or optimism. I feel comforted by my faith as I make my way through troubles. I practice gratitude to honor my faith, in good and bad times. My parent's died one after the other a month apart. Well, how do you even make sense of that emotionally? It broke my heart. Because I practice my faith, I was able to stand before the congregation and thank god for giving me THESE parents to lose. They were marvelous loving people and I was lucky to have them for as long as I did. Faith allowed me to wake up in the morning and not immediately fall into despair. Faith helped me see my responsibilities to children as an opportunity to express gratitude through lovingly caring for them. And I'm a single mom. Everything fell apart for me, much as the OP states. There is no guarantee that the efforts you put in will bear fruit, so it's faith that keeps me going. Protracted unemployment? Sure, you put in the work of networking and resume building throughout a serious job search, but you also hold onto faith that things will turn out well. I really don't understand a life without faith.

I guess, now that you have me thinking about it, faith for me is not feeling alone or unloved, unsupported, even when I have every rational reason to feel so.

I have built a beautiful life despite the angry marriage, the burdens of single motherhood, the violent loss of my parents, and a nearly unbearable period of unemployment. I am a highly-resilient person. Faith is a part of that. It has been far from "useless."

Anonymous wrote:

Muslima wrote:Rumi wrote:

"All night long, a man called 'God'
Until his lips were bleeding.
Then his Adversary said, 'Hey!
How come you’ve been calling all night
And never once heard God say, 'Here, I am?'
You call out so earnestly and, in reply, what?
I’ll tell you what, nothing!'

"The man suddenly felt empty and abandoned.
Depressed, he threw himself on the ground
And there, he fell asleep.
In his dream, he met an angel, who asked,
'Why are you regretting calling out to God?'

"The man said, 'I called and called
But God never replied, 'Here, I am.''

"The Angel explained, 'God has said,
'Your calling my name is My reply.
Your longing for Me is My message to you.
All your attempts to reach Me
Are in reality My attempts to reach you.
Your fear and love are a noose to catch Me.
In the silence surrounding every call of 'God'
Waits a thousand replies of 'Here I am.'

SO God is off the hook in terms of a direct response! What about people who DO hear directly from God? How are they different from the ones who only call out to God?

And what's with the angel? Any reason to think it's a real angel instead of just a character in a dream? Why would god send an angel to explain why he doesn't directly respond

Muslima wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Muslima wrote:Rumi wrote:

"All night long, a man called 'God'
Until his lips were bleeding.
Then his Adversary said, 'Hey!
How come you’ve been calling all night
And never once heard God say, 'Here, I am?'
You call out so earnestly and, in reply, what?
I’ll tell you what, nothing!'

"The man suddenly felt empty and abandoned.
Depressed, he threw himself on the ground
And there, he fell asleep.
In his dream, he met an angel, who asked,
'Why are you regretting calling out to God?'

"The man said, 'I called and called
But God never replied, 'Here, I am.''

"The Angel explained, 'God has said,
'Your calling my name is My reply.
Your longing for Me is My message to you.
All your attempts to reach Me
Are in reality My attempts to reach you.
Your fear and love are a noose to catch Me.
In the silence surrounding every call of 'God'
Waits a thousand replies of 'Here I am.'

SO God is off the hook in terms of a direct response! What about people who DO hear directly from God? How are they different from the ones who only call out to God?

And what's with the angel? Any reason to think it's a real angel instead of just a character in a dream? Why would god send an angel to explain why he doesn't directly respond

Obviously the way you understand/interpret this depends on your own personal belief system. In Islam, we are told that God said : "I am as My servant thinks I am. I am with him when he makes mention of Me. If he makes mention of Me to himself, I make mention of him to Myself; and if he makes mention of Me in an assembly, I make mention of him in an assembly better than it. And if he draws near to Me an arm's length, I draw near to him a fathom's length. And if he comes to Me walking, I go to him at speed." If God talked to you specifically, and showed Himself to you in His own magnificence, then this life wouldn't be a test now, would it? You would have the evidence to believe in Him since you would Know He exists. Faith comes in Not knowing and still believing. To a Muslim, the whole design of this universe is made up for a TEST of human beings. And that test is whether we believe in our Creator or not after watching billions of signs of His existence in ourselves and as well as in the whole universe. If there was a clearcut incontrovertible proof that was acceptable to everybody, then this life wouldn't be a test which kind of defeats its purpose and the purpose of Faith.