Thinking Out Loud

I don’t know if you’re like me or not, but I was born into the one and only “true” religion of God. I spent my entire life studying and living the principles and teachings of my faith. I knew the doctrine, and I believed it to be true. Until I didn’t. The road to the unraveling of my faith is a rather long one—definitely another article for another day--but suffice it to say, I began studying other religions and realized that all of them contained beautiful truths. I felt as uplifted and inspired while reading their scriptures as I did reading mine. I understood why some referred to religion as a “faith culture” for I was now aware that had I been born and raised in a different religion, I’d have believed that religious tradition to be true. I came to see religions as merely vehicles leading us back to God. Surely God didn’t care whether his children drove jalopies or Jaguars so long as they were moving along the superhighway back to Him. Or could it be her? Or perhaps there wasn’t ju

I really enjoy my kids. I was going to write "I love my kids," but that's not as remarkable as realizing you actually enjoy being with and doing stuff with them. Yesterday, we spent the entire day together. We woke up, ate breakfast, and headed to the Backcountry store to get some climbing shoes. It just so happened to be Black Friday so we secured some killer deals. We then headed to the Front Climbing Club in SLC where we climbed for over 3 hours. It was so fun to watch my kids scale walls and work together as lead and belay. Then we picked up some groceries at Sam's Club, pizza from Little Caesar's, and watched a sappy teenage love story. We were all bawling at the ending and somehow that turned into a tickle fest. We closed with a discussion on the power and purpose of relationships. I should write about it one day. I'm grateful that I enjoy my children. I'm grateful I see them as equals and not as others to rule over. I am constantly amazed at th

Happy Thanksgiving! Having one day a year where you focus on what you are grateful for is good, but for me, living in gratitude daily, is better. Did I inherit gratitude or learn it? I have no desire to engage in that debate. I'm just grateful I'm grateful. I was reflecting this morning on my newfound beliefs, or perhaps my recently discarded beliefs, and I realized that if I had to choose one changed belief that that has most dramatically changed me, it would have to be my belief that people are good. Yep, I no longer believe in Satan or sin. And even though I don't believe the Bible to be any truer than any other book, I do love how the author had his God declare all his creations "Good."  No one is evil. Yes, some people commit horrible, nasty acts, but not because they are evil, but because they are not well. Hurting people hurt others. This realization is far more empowering than believing that some people are simply corrupted. We can help heal hurting

Today was full of fun reinforcements and revelations. I belong to a private Facebook group of former Mormons and there is always interesting information being shared. I enjoy reading the experiences of other members and I find comfort in knowing I'm not alone. This weekend several members of the community shared posts about an email they have received from the church asking them to complete a survey on why they left the church. Here is what one member shared: Did anyone else receive a survey by email today from the church? I guess I’m still on their mass email list. Normally I would have just deleted it, but it said if I filled it out I would get a $10 Amazon gift card, so I decided to hurry and complete it. 😂 😜 It had some general factual questions, but then it asked some deep hard questions. Basically, it is trying to figure out who and why people are leaving the church and what they can do to prevent it from happening even more.  They are trying to see if there are c

So I started writing a book and man if I'm already bored of it, what does that say about any one else wanting to read it? I feel like I don't really need to write a book, but just a bunch of blog posts. For me, it's so freaking hard to write a book peice meal. Just when I get into the groove, I get interrupted. If I'm going to ever write a book, I need to go to a deserted island where I can have 30 days of uninterrupted, totally focused writing time. It takes too much time for me to get into the flow to only write for 30 minutes per day. By the time I warm up, it's time to wrap up. That's not optimal for quality writing. But on a fun note, I started reading a most excellent book by Richard Dawkins called The Magic of Reality . Rather than allow religion and myth to promulgate untruths, Dawkins presents scientific truths to answer some of the most pressing human questions--questions concerning creation, evolution, life and death, and more. It's freakin