Entry 39 – My Mid-Life ‘Christ-is’ and Died Again Christians
I turned 40 this year. Ah yes, the inimitable age where many men go to find, and hopefully bury, their inner dream-crasher demons. To speed along my process, I gave myself what every budding 40-year-old male needs…the proverbial mid-life crisis, or as I am now referring to it…my mid life ‘Christ-is’.
‘Christ-is’ because I still find myself even 18 years out from a supposed personal relationship with the imaginary Jesus character, still trying to figure out my place in this secular world without Christ. I am neither comfortable with, nor comforted by my prospects for the next 40 years on the planet.
I ask outright, and sincerely…Why do I continue to struggle with this seemingly simple thing of just being a part of the regular world? When I had my imaginary Jesus friend, I believed that I was supposed to be ‘in the world’, but not ‘of the world’. Now, as someone who doesn’t have a supernatural view of the world any longer, I see these as not mutually exclusive.
I have been feeling quite dejected as of late trying to answer this question until this past week when I downloaded and listened to Dr Robert Price’s interview with Dr. Jaco Gericke on Point of Inquiry’s weekly podcast for July 25th, 2011. I had never heard the term, ‘Died Again Christian’, but Dr. Jaco Gericke explained it thoroughly, and by the end of the interview, had me convinced that his ‘Died Again’ was my ‘Recovering’, just better articulated.
Here is the link to the interview if you are interested in listening:
http://www.pointofinquiry.org/jaco_gericke_confessions_of_a_died-again_christian/
What a breath of fresh air it was to listen to Dr. Gericke speak about his slow, painful, inevitable, and ultimately irreversible letting go of faith in supernatural beings related to the Old and New Testaments. After listening to Dr. Gericke speak extemporaneously on numerous topics related to losing one’s faith in the supernatural, I finally had something, someone, to compare my life to and go, wow, this guy really gets the pain and personal anguish I’ve gone through leaving the Christian faith. I could sit down and have a conversation with this guy and he and I would most undoubtedly ‘get’ each other.
Will leave it at that for the time being. Thanks for checking by, and as always, I welcome any and all comments you would like to post about this entry.
Sincerely,
TRC
The Recovering Christian 
Hi there. It really means a lot to me to come across someone who can relate to what I went through and find consolation therein. Many thanks for your story. Jaco.
Hi there. It really means a lot to me to come across someone who can relate to what I went through and find consolation therein. Many thanks for your story and all of the best with your journey deeper into reality. Jaco.
Thank you, Jaco. Sorry it’s taken me so long to respond. I will be posting more entries in the new year. Hope you’ll stay tuned and share some of your own experiences either at the blog or at my email address, the.recovering.christian@gmail.com. Happy New Year! TRC
Wow! Very nice. Almost like a personal spiritual journey.
Thanks, Marianne, for the kind comments. Hopefully will have a few more blogposts up in the next few weeks. Thanks for stopping by! Happy St. Patrick’s Day! TRC
Wow, I found your post by searching for the term “mid-life Christ-is”, because that’s what I’ve been experiencing, but in reverse of your journey… also right after my 40th birthday. This post saddens me, as I see you feeling the opposite of what I feel as you are on your journey away from God. I hope He reels you back in. I will pray for you!
Thank you for the comments, anonymous. I’ve been doing much better since that post a few years ago. I’ve been down some pretty lonely, desolate ‘highways’ in my mind, so to speak, but, all in all, I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. The ‘dark knights of the soul’ are important to own and learn how to get through to the dawn. I hope you are doing well post 40. I am now 43, almost 44 years on the planet, and can honestly say that it gets better with each passing day, this recovering thing. I have been going through huge changes over the past 6 months that I have been meaning to write about on this website, but haven’t been able to find the time. Will have to save for another day. Suffice to say it involves coming to terms with my own personal impact on the planet, and how I want my remaining days to be full of love, and showing kindness in all my actions both towards others and myself. Again, many thanks for your comments. Sorry I’m so late in responding. I look forward to hearing more from you on how your journey toward God is working or not working. With gratitude, TRC