Just take a look

I don't know the exact ratio but for each person who considers themself highly religious it is not difficult to find a person who considers themselves as simply spiritual or on the spectrum of agnostic. I've read, heard on TV or radio, and listened to those who consider religion old fashioned, ignorant, and often full of blind followers. But I have to ask those who share this sentiment what they gain from this perspective. What if instead (and in case they haven't) they just took a look at what religious people have to say, what they believe and why. It could easily be for the purpose of understanding and community but I also insist that there is more to be gained. If we seek for truth, God can open our heart and mind to a broader perspective on this life and our purpose here on it. My dear brother is not religious and we had a conversation a few years ago about faith. He simply asked how I could know what I claimed to know. This is a fair question and in no way disrespectful. It is also sensative and difficult to answer. Kind of like explaining to someone what it would feel like to be trapped in a dark, muggy maze and then to have been gently led out into full sunlight. In the case of having spiritual experiences that lead someone to have a burning faith in Jesus Christ, the use of words are just not enough. To say that it felt good is useless when we use a word like good generically 15 times a day as people ask how we are doing. I told him about the first time I studied the Book of Mormon and I felt a combination of peace and logic sequence as I read about an ancient people. I felt like it made sense logically while also delivering a spiritual peace that led to my affirmation that it is a true book of scripture and not just a story made up by manipulaters. It wasn't that he didn't respect my feelings but my description just wasn't good enough and it never could be. That is because God intended for us to feel his influence in our heart and mind for ourself but that can't happen if individually we never even take a look.

I believe it is okay to doubt the faith of others and probably natural too. I do not believe however that is a decent excuse for never just taking a look to see what there is to the faith others claim. I hope you've been blessed with loving parents and good examples who taught and guided you when needed, even corrected or counseled you when you may have been headed down the wrong road. I know that I have. Now imagine how your life could benefit from the loving hand of your Heavenly Father in your life, who can help mold you and your life into something greater than you can on your own. That is how I feel his hand in my life, when I don't get in the way of myself. And I believe He can fill yours with even more meaning, purpose, and direction if you'll just take a look and let Him in.