Hi Grey & bashmaki,
First off, Grey, I'm glad that you went ahead and asked your question. And no I'm not offended that you ask. I wish others would ask rather than make assumptions. I don't know if you have read "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz, but the third agreement states:
"Don’t Make Assumptions"
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness, and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
So to answer your question, yes, I was raised in the Mormon faith, or as it is formally known "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints." My family on both my mother’s and father’s side have been members of this religion since the mid 1850s. They were early pioneers who crossed the plains in wagon trains and helped to settle the West. I want to say at the outset that I have friends who remain active in the Mormon faith who have never perceived things as I once did. However, it is my opinion that the majority of "active Mormons" still perceive things the way I use to. Basically, I use to believe that the Mormon Church was the only "true and living church upon the face of the whole earth," and that it was my duty to convert all other people to my religion so they could be as happy as I was. I no longer believe this way. I am finding that it works better for me at this stage of my life to no longer be active in the Mormon faith. For many people, this is a path that continues to work very well for them, and I honor their journey.
Life is so interesting. We all have so many wonderful, funny, sad, etc. life experiences. A problem comes when we begin identifying ourselves with these life experiences rather than as the "observer" of them. A while back I was pondering my own life experiences. I wrote the following:
"A More Beneficial Question to Ask"
Rather than worrying about or getting into fruitless discussions over questions about what is the “best,” the “one and only,” the “truest” way to do or accomplish something, I think it would be more beneficial to all concerned to ask: “What have I come to realize about myself in relationship with _____ through experiencing ______?
To give a few examples of what these _____s may be I offer a few examples.
●What have I come to realize about myself in relationship with “animals” through experiencing “vegetarianism?”
●What have I come to realize about myself in relationship with “people of different religious faiths” through experiencing “Mormonism?”
●What have I come to realize about myself in relationship with “my children” through experiencing “parenthood?”
●What have I come to realize about myself in relationship with “people of different nationalities” through experiencing “being a fifth-generation American of Northern European descent?”
(Keith Jensen, Sunday, June 10, 2007)
bashmaki, thanks for sharing a little about your ongoing experience with Mormonism. The Thomas Merton book you refer to is: "The Seven Storey Mountain."
Signing out for now. --Keith
