My point is not to quibble over beliefs but to encourage others to set aside history (she grew up RC, I great up XYZ), but to get back to the Book for the determination about what is right and proper.
And this is really the thing, right? How to encourage someone to seek the truth on their own in the book without the overlay of someone trying to spoon feed it to them... or at least to be open to listening to someone less dogmatic discuss it... and all without being overbearing or preachy or stepping on toes or otherwise doing something to turn that person off. I think, actually, that that is a good bit of what is behind the "live your life as a light" or beacon, so that you will be an example to others and they will want to know: "Hey, where does all that joy come from." AAR, it sounds like you and me are basically on the same page theologically. I have had so many revelations... finally understanding tenets of the faith that i never could grasp before... just as a result of going to this non-denominational church and being willing to listen and to study the bible on my own, that i really, really wish the same thing for my W! She has so much guilt (even more, now, since the A-- she's still not going to communion regularly) from her upbringing and things she's done in the past, that the message that she is ALREADY FORGIVEN, if she accepts that Christ and accepts that forgiveness would just be so freeing for her... the person she would/could be would be just amazing. I see glimpses of that person sometimes, the capacity for love and joy, but it is dampered by her guilt. OTOH, she is very, very, very Catholic. Don't know if she would ever go to another church regularly, (and almost certainly not this one-- she watched a couple podcasts of services with her bff, who also went there when still in these parts, and said the way he spoke was "annoying"...to the best of my understanding due to the rhetorical style he uses which is one that tries to engage and draw out responses from the congregation to keep them engaged, interested, listening, and, ummm... awake) but, if she could, i really think she could blossom. But, even if not, if we could reach some sort of place where we were fully comfortable praying out loud with/for each other in each others' presence, and able to discuss theological stuff openly and frequently (we do some, now) that it would be a major boon for our MR.
Well said. And I think that we need to be the biggest, brightest beacon for those closest to us. If she sees true joy down in your heart then she will become curious about it too.
M(53), W(54),D(19) M-23, T-25 Bomb Drop - Dec.23, 2017 Ring and Piecing since March 2018
