Friendships and Fatih Journeys

I had a encounter with a woman from my old ward today thanks to the snow. She asked how I was doing and how my family is. I asked after her family. Just polite chitchat. Then she looked at me and said how much she misses me and my quirky comments at church. She felt like perhaps she had contributed to me leaving the church. I assured her that this was my journey and she had been a friend for 15+ years and would continue to be a friend. 

As I got in my car to leave for work I realized I had just been given a glimpse into what my LDS friends must be feeling. Last year as I embarked on this journey I asked for space. My friends obliged. But as my journey progressed I left them behind and did not tell them what was going on. Then when my anger surfaced publicly they felt like I was attacking them, not the institution. This is proof that hindsight is 20/20.

So to my friends/family who are LDS and still read my blog, I am sorry for any hurt my anger towards the institution of the LDS church has caused you. Thank you all for continuing to stand by me and support my journey. I do realized my words are highly reactive at times and I do not always think before I speak/write. 

One of the many things I have learned in my new spiritual home is the sense of community. I have my church community and my neighborhood community. I am blessed to have so many in my world who care for me and my family. I ask for patience as I try to find the balance between these two. Every person in my life are there for a specific reason. I may not understand the reason but I do know there is one. 

This has brought to mind the Enduring Principles of Community of Christ. And one in particular which I have written about on more than one occasion...The Worth of All Persons. I am working harder to uphold this teaching:

• God views all people as having inestimable and equal worth.
  
• God wants all people to experience wholeness of body, mind, spirit, and relationships.
  
• We seek to uphold and restore the worth of all people individually and in community, challenging unjust systems that diminish human worth. 
  
• We join with Jesus Christ in bringing good news to the poor, sick, captive, and oppressed. 

I love my new spiritual home and my new family. I also love my previous path for the lessons I learned because it has all brought me to this place and time. It's all worth it. Every bit when it comes to being who I am now and my ability to be authentically me. It also is bringing me to a point where I am searching for balance between my past relationships and my new ones. 

Friendship is sometimes fleeting. Sometimes it lasts a lifetime with memories of cloud people and building clubhouses (or attempting to do so), fighting over boys as teenagers, skipping classes, celebrating weddings, and mourning our friends whose lives ended much too soon. Other times friendship is created in adulthood with play groups, PTA, church, and your children's friends. However those friendships occur and no matter how long they last, every single one is worth it.