What to do When Doubts Begin

So, you’ve found yourself having doubts about what you’ve perhaps believed your entire life. Is there really a God? Is the Bible reliable as the ultimate source of truth? Can we take the story of Noah’s Ark literally? What happens if we don’t? Did Jesus really rise from the dead? And, perhaps most poignantly, is there a real hell I will go to if I go down this road of doubt?

 I feel your pain. I’ve been down this road, and it’s not easy. I hope you find kindred spirits along the pathway of doubt, but be prepared to be alone. You may be in a church, at a university, or in a community where this skepticism is not encouraged. “Who can I really share these questions with, and explain the upheavals in my soul, to?” you wonder. You will likely find un-looked for friends, along with frustrating isolation, along this journey.

 I can’t recommend it to you, for I went down this road by an irresistible, internal force. I simply don’t know another way to live. I live by a preference for doubt, investigation, and a studied disdain for impenetrable dogma. Show me certainty, and show me to the nearest barf bag. Avoid this road if you can, unless you can do no other.

 Andy Dufresne, the lead character who escapes his prison cell in The Shawshank Redemption, says to his friend Red, who is on his way to Andy’s new digs in Mexico, “If you’ve come this far, maybe you’ll be willing to come a little farther.” I hope you find friendship and community along this road. I’m trying to foster a piece of it if I can. We who have left/are leaving faith communities need not to isolate ourselves, but to share our stories with others who are risking the journey. So come along, if you dare…