J Atherton

Thanks for the reply. I’m finding many of my peers who are of Kimbell-benson-Hinkley years are having similar existential crisis. Not in a way where they find any of the righteous principles incorrect in practice, but a need to redefine what religion means. Faith can be defined by all the ways I believe they are in the scriptures. Hope in things not seen, prayer, a higher power who interacts with each of as a force for good, etc.

I absolutely want feedback. I’m not here to argue or convince anyone of anything, nor do I want to. I’m here for open and honest experiences or people who can identify with these feelings.

First posting ever. I shared this email with my sister. Also a university professor. Thank you for the warm welcome. Hey sis, Here are my deductions and boiled down notes from the last few days - a bit of a crisis of religious identity. I thought I would share with you my notes from the last couple of days. In going through this I realized that maybe this is something you can relate to. Honestly even more than that I feel like for whatever reason I understand something about you specifically that I hadn’t before. Like I’m realizing something you have realized and figured out way before I did. Love you! -jay You can righteously teach your children this principle. Church: It is a construct to share true principles. The failures are because of this- human beings act human when dealing with something as profound as a true principle There are examples of reformed Egyptian everywhere. Because there are examples of the attempted forgery everywhere. There IS truth that the attempted characters are found other places. Of course they are because they were copied in the first place. The church is the product of a sustained cultural phenomenon that could have gone in favor of any number of successors. Variations that contain true principles. Be a truth seeker of principles, service, and good. My search is just to find my faith and I think Mormonism can be a good vehicle for people to live faith. To live principles. I don’t know about the doctrine or absolute truths. Safe guards of absolute truth and authority and current conclusions: -can’t have faith and fear -Have to pay for privileges -Prophets can’t tell lies or they will be taken away. -Grace is sufficient. It is necessary. It is not after all I can do. It is already given if Christ is to be believed in context -Time does exist. Even with layered existence and multiple realities there is a before god as god and an after. As described to me in the church. -Praying for the described feeling over and over will eventually yield that result. That is learned behavior? This is not a negative tool if practiced responsibly. -Don’t monetize these teachings because we have.