This is for encouragement, ideas, and support for people going through a faith transition no matter where you hope to end up. This is also the place to laugh, cry, and love together.
So my mom died about a month ago, and my dad's having a really hard time with it. He was worried about whether he would be a good enough person to be with my mom again.
I told him I just don't think all that Celestial, Terrestrial, Telestial stuff is literal...which got me to admit that I don't think D&C 75 is literal...which turned into prophets being fallible...which turned into him saying he thought JS was one of the less fallible ones...which got me to say that I don't think that about him anymore...which led to him asking why...which led to him asking if I read about it in church-produced material...
Which finally led to me asking "Do you really want to dig into this right now?"
He said no. But as they say curiosity killed the cat.
I don't need my dad having a JS-related faith crisis while he's in the early stage of grieving. But maybe all faith crises only come at bad times...
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“For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.”
achilles wrote: ↑Mon Aug 14, 2017 7:30 pm
So my mom died about a month ago, and my dad's having a really hard time with it. He was worried about whether he would be a good enough person to be with my mom again.
Bottom line: This is the problem at the heart of Mormonism--"are my works good enough to get me to heaven" is the fear where guilt and anxiety bloom and bear the fruit of failure, despair and depression. The idea of losing your salvation is one of the spiritual abuses that LDS folks have to endure. The Church's strength is set in the bedrock of fear, that's what tears the hope of Christ away from folks.
A full blown faith crisis on top of grief would not be ideal. But, as the church's teachings are causing your dad worry and self doubt, I hope he eventually finds his way into a belief system that can give him comfort and peace. It's good he has you in his life.
...walked eye-deep in hell
believing in old men’s lies...--Ezra Pound
Bottom line: This is the problem at the heart of Mormonism--"are my works good enough to get me to heaven" is the fear where guilt and anxiety bloom and bear the fruit of failure, despair and depression. The idea of losing your salvation is one of the spiritual abuses that LDS folks have to endure. The Church's strength is set in the bedrock of fear, that's what tears the hope of Christ away from folks.
Absolutely correct, and that is true of multiple other Christian churches also.
My father felt something like that when my mom passed away at a reasonably young age from cancer. It hurt me to see him having a salvation crisis on top of extreme grief, so to show I supported him, I said something along very general lines of "I know that the Lord will look into your heart and see the goodness and faith there, which will certainly be to your credit." Very general in terms of religious doctrine, but my Dad said that he felt comforted by the thought.
Take care, from Wndr.
Your dad is in the early stages of grieving still. Wondering if he will be good enough to see her again sounds like the denial stage, not wanting to let her go. That is the first of the five stages of grief(per Kubler Ross).
So maybe good that his curiosity was piqued, but I doubt he is able to process this right now. People do and say and think strange things when grieving, the brain is a bit unbalanced.
