Two of the blogs I read regularly are On Leaving Fundamentalist Christianity by Lorena and NW Ohio Skeptics by Bruce. Both writers have written a wide number of excellent posts which detail their de-conversion from the conservative branch of Christianity and, in Bruce's case, his journey to agnosticism.
While this blog's focus is on philosophical Taoism, from time to time, I too have shared some information about my journey away from both Christianity and all religion. However, I don't think I've shared with you what I believe served as the catalyst for the beginning of doubt. That's my intent in this post and the two that follow.
Just to provide a bit of a teaser, the circumstance that pushed me to start the long journey away from Christianity and toward Taoism is very, very ironic. In fact, while it served as the impetus for me to begin the process to turn away, my guess is that most of the other people involved found that it deepened THEIR faith! But before I can tell that part of the story, I need to provide a little bit of background.
Growing up, my most favored place in the world was my maternal grandparent's home on Lake Hamilton, just west of Hot Springs, Arkansas. Lake Hamilton, a man-made lake, was created in 1932 by damming a portion of the Ouachita River. At the time, the lake predominantly was located a few miles west of Hot Springs. (Over the years, the town grew out to meet and surpass the lake.)
My grandfather was the town's Osteopath. Even though times were tough, owing to the fact of grandpa's medical practice, the family did not suffer through the Great Depression as badly as many others. When he heard about the plans to create the lake, he bought a lot of river bottom land in the vicinity. It proved to be a very shrewd move as he turned an original investment of around $20,000 into over $1 million!
Through the years, he sold off various plots of this land, but what was to become known as Sparling Point became the compound for the Sparling clan. The three bedroom home was very modest and certainly didn't advertise his status as a doctor and civic leader. While I loved that little house, what I really fell in love with were the 1.5 acres of forest that surrounded the house!
As a child, I got to spend between 1 - 3 weeks per year in my most favored place. During my junior year of high school, I began the process of looking at various colleges so I could decide where I would enroll upon graduation. While most serious students look at a university's standing, academic programs and things of this nature, the main thing I looked at was geography.
As you've probably surmised, my number one requisite was that the college be in the vicinity of the much beloved Sparling compound! My thinking was that, if it were close enough, I could spend a few days per month or week in my most favored place.
As luck would have it, there were no four-year colleges in Hot Springs. Widening my search parameters just a tad, I found two schools -- Henderson State University and Ouachita Baptist University -- located in Arkadelphia, only 35 miles southeast. Without knowing ANYTHING about either, I quickly decided my college education would take place at one of those two colleges.
In my next post, I'll discuss which one I decided to attend and why.
While this blog's focus is on philosophical Taoism, from time to time, I too have shared some information about my journey away from both Christianity and all religion. However, I don't think I've shared with you what I believe served as the catalyst for the beginning of doubt. That's my intent in this post and the two that follow.
Just to provide a bit of a teaser, the circumstance that pushed me to start the long journey away from Christianity and toward Taoism is very, very ironic. In fact, while it served as the impetus for me to begin the process to turn away, my guess is that most of the other people involved found that it deepened THEIR faith! But before I can tell that part of the story, I need to provide a little bit of background.
Growing up, my most favored place in the world was my maternal grandparent's home on Lake Hamilton, just west of Hot Springs, Arkansas. Lake Hamilton, a man-made lake, was created in 1932 by damming a portion of the Ouachita River. At the time, the lake predominantly was located a few miles west of Hot Springs. (Over the years, the town grew out to meet and surpass the lake.)
My grandfather was the town's Osteopath. Even though times were tough, owing to the fact of grandpa's medical practice, the family did not suffer through the Great Depression as badly as many others. When he heard about the plans to create the lake, he bought a lot of river bottom land in the vicinity. It proved to be a very shrewd move as he turned an original investment of around $20,000 into over $1 million!
Through the years, he sold off various plots of this land, but what was to become known as Sparling Point became the compound for the Sparling clan. The three bedroom home was very modest and certainly didn't advertise his status as a doctor and civic leader. While I loved that little house, what I really fell in love with were the 1.5 acres of forest that surrounded the house!
As a child, I got to spend between 1 - 3 weeks per year in my most favored place. During my junior year of high school, I began the process of looking at various colleges so I could decide where I would enroll upon graduation. While most serious students look at a university's standing, academic programs and things of this nature, the main thing I looked at was geography.
As you've probably surmised, my number one requisite was that the college be in the vicinity of the much beloved Sparling compound! My thinking was that, if it were close enough, I could spend a few days per month or week in my most favored place.
As luck would have it, there were no four-year colleges in Hot Springs. Widening my search parameters just a tad, I found two schools -- Henderson State University and Ouachita Baptist University -- located in Arkadelphia, only 35 miles southeast. Without knowing ANYTHING about either, I quickly decided my college education would take place at one of those two colleges.
In my next post, I'll discuss which one I decided to attend and why.
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