I just finished listening to your memoir. I really enjoyed listening to your story. Your words are inspiring and give me a lot to think about. I could relate to your feeling of suffocation in your final days as an MC. I had similar feelings 10 years ago when I had to make a difficult decision to leave a group. I was born when my
parents were Mormon (I'm the 8th child out of 9), but they left the church when I was a young child. I have been a Unitarian Universalist since 2006 and my wife is Catholic and we are raising our two sons Catholic. Since I was a child I've gone back and forth about what I believe - oscillating between atheist, agnostic to believing. At this point I do believe there is something beyond ourselves - some greater force in the universe - but I don't think organized religion or going through Jesus or anything is necessary for salvation, so to speak. I think the biggest reason I believe in something is because of the story of Edgar Cayce. I highly recommend checking out "Edgar Cayce: An American Prophet" by Sidney Kirkpatrick if you don't know his story. However, I feel like if we make advances in science like quantum mechanics and we are able to explain more things than we are now, than maybe the need to believe in something greater than ourselves will diminish. A movie that makes a strong case for atheism that I would highly recommend is "The Man from Earth." I love the verse John 10:10 that you speak about again and again in your memoir. Also, you ponder the meaning of "and you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free." You really were set free when you left the MC community. We all have our shackles that tie us down and keep us from reaching our potential, but only when each of us finds the truth for ourselves, and it is a different truth for each of us, can we truly be free. Thank you again for writing such a beautiful memoir.
...From Roy Ruhling, Massachusetts. Roy is a 29 year old father of 2 boys. A Unitarian Universalist since 2006, Roy believes the questions and the search for an authentic life are more important than any answer you may have at any given time on your journey.