Entry 21: Concluding comments on “the lunch” and why a naturalistic outlook for me works best

So…after 20 entries of trying to explain to my family and friends what I meant by my comments last year about my Dad passing away (see Entries 1 and 2), I am down to this last entry on ‘the lunch’ and why supernatural outlooks just don’t work for me any more. 

In terms of how I view my life:

1.  I have a wife that loves me dearly and we enjoy each other’s company(for the most part, except when we don’t 😉 )

2.  My wife and I have a new little one now who eats, sleeps, and poops on weird schedules.

3.  My wife and I have jobs we both enjoy doing.

4.  We both have friends and family to visit with and love. 

So far, the 1-4 life deal above has been pretty good to me, to us. 

I really have no complaints.

Is life perfect for me?  Are there times where 1-4 aren’t functioning quite right?  Absolutely not, and a resounding yes, respectively. 

I have days where I ask myself why I even considered exiting the bedroom.  There are problems in my life, just like there are in just about every other of the 6 billion people on the planet’s lives.  Some problems are much worse than others (see  Tiger Woods), while others are not so bad. 

And while I have family and friends who like to alleviate problems in their lives with supernatural thinking, and injecting a supernatural being ‘into the mix’, so to speak, to find comfort, I have gone a different way. 

I know these same family and friends will not understand that there is comfort to be found in this ‘different way’, but I humbly ask that you respect that I have come to different conclusions about ‘your way’, and think looking at life in a naturalistic fashion is ‘my way’. 

When I read and reread the Christian Bible, and books like Rick Warren’s (see Entry 13), they all seem to me incredibly limiting in explaining the scope of human experience.  Their theses and logic are so dichotomous, rigid, and teleological.  Life just isn’t like that in how I’ve come to know it. 

In the same way you, my family members, desire me to come over to your way of thinking about the world, I sincerely would love it if you could come over to mine.  However, I will do my best to never, ever try to push my way of thinking on to you, or try to sway you toward my way of thinking.  I will, however, just throw this little caveat out there.  If you are inclined to want to begin to let go of supernatural thinking, then I invite you to call or write me anytime. 

I’ve spent the last 16 years doing it (lettting go of God, essentially), and I’d be more than over-ecstatic to share with you my experiences.  Maybe it wouldn’t be as scary knowing that another in your family and friend circle took the leap so to speak?   And trust me, on this, it is a very scary thing letting go of supernatural thinking, letting go of God.  I make no excuses for that reality.   

However, the ‘letting go of God’ can be, and is for me, incredibly rewarding once you get to a place of ‘stasis’ (the ‘God doesn’t have a bullet with my name on it’ equilibrium point*), and can make sense of your journey through this life.   

Thanks for reading all these incredibly long entries that were originally part of an even longer letter to my family and friends.  And thanks for bearing with me to finally get this in writing.  

To you, my family members who questioned me that day last year about where my Dad was after passing away on this earth, I don’t begrudge you or harbor any ill will.  Truly I don’t.  Rather I say “I love you dearly, but I have to speak up sometimes for I what I believe in too.” 

Please know again that these entries (1 to 21) were a labor of love…just not supernatural labor 🙂   

For next time, I’ll be addressing some topics a  family member of mine on the other side of the aisle (yes, there are other atheists in the family, gasp!) have suggested I cover.

Until next time, thanks for stopping by!

TRC

the.recovering.christian@wordpress.com