Feel I'm wandering again, need advice

[IdiNaPut]

In the past few months, I’ve felt pretty far from God, despite my best attempts to actually do something about it.

It just seems I’m so far from God, and my interest in any sort of religious practice has been pretty low. I just feel I’m wandering around, lost and not really getting anywhere. And yet all I want to do is find God, please Him. But what seems to actually happen is that I’m going from one set of religious beliefs to the next without really ‘feeling’ anything.

I don’t know what to do. Can anyone help me out?

 

[joeybaggz]

In the past few months, I’ve felt pretty far from God, despite my best attempts to actually do something about it.

It just seems I’m so far from God, and my interest in any sort of religious practice has been pretty low. I just feel I’m wandering around, lost and not really getting anywhere. And yet all I want to do is find God, please Him. But what seems to actually happen is that I’m going from one set of religious beliefs to the next without really ‘feeling’ anything.

I don’t know what to do. Can anyone help me out?

Boy, if I had a simple one or two sentence/or paragraph answer that solved your dilemma, I’d make a fortune. Sorry, I don’t and I don’t know of anyone here that does either. All I can say is the you have to do the work.

I will offer you this. It is said no one can think their way into heaven. I wonder if it is at all possible to simply feel your way there either. My conviction on being Catholic was based on sand when I was a child and young adult. It was only when I started to think, to explore with my mind, to discover what I thought and found to be the truth that I started to not only feel the presence of God, but to embrace it. That took a lot of work, prayer, reading, study, and in the end reflection and mental/logical embrace of what I experienced in my search. It takes time, and for much of my life I spent nominally a practicing Catholic, but until that faith matured through both logic and belief, I was pretty much in the state you seem to be.

Seek out a good priest or spiritual director and work with him to guide you on your path of discernment.

I will pray for you and for all in your situation. One thing, don’t think you are alone in your feelings. Just remember God is there, faith is a gift of the Holy Spirit, pray and ask for it. It was Christ who said, “seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you.”

Blessings, good luck, and shalom.

 

[Roseeurekacross]

One Our Father a day + think about an aspect of Jesus life that you really love.

 

[crenfro]

Hello.

I’m sorry you feel this way.

Please keep posting and know you are not alone.

Do you have any good spiritual books or CDs around? It might also help to do a search on this website using the topics that are troubling you.

Just some suggestions. Please take or leave them.

Placing you in the enclosed garden of the most sacred heart of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

:hug1:

In the past few months, I’ve felt pretty far from God, despite my best attempts to actually do something about it.

It just seems I’m so far from God, and my interest in any sort of religious practice has been pretty low. I just feel I’m wandering around, lost and not really getting anywhere. And yet all I want to do is find God, please Him. But what seems to actually happen is that I’m going from one set of religious beliefs to the next without really ‘feeling’ anything.

I don’t know what to do. Can anyone help me out?

 

[ClearWater]

In the past few months, I’ve felt pretty far from God, despite my best attempts to actually do something about it.

It just seems I’m so far from God, and my interest in any sort of religious practice has been pretty low. I just feel I’m wandering around, lost and not really getting anywhere. And yet all I want to do is find God, please Him. But what seems to actually happen is that I’m going from one set of religious beliefs to the next **without really ‘feeling’ anything.
**
I don’t know what to do. Can anyone help me out?

We may, or may not, feel anything when we are at Church. I think we have this idea that there should be like fireworks when we receive communion, say, and that may not happen. We need to have faith that whether we feel something special or not, it truly is God present, like also with the Blessed Sacrament.

Within the Catholic Church, we can try other parishes to find the best fit.

Sometimes, one can go through periods of spiritual “dryness”, and one may not feel like going to Church or much of anything. That can also happen, but the key is not to give up, to stick with it even when it’s difficult.

Good luck in your journey.

 

[Angela77]

In the past few months, I’ve felt pretty far from God, despite my best attempts to actually do something about it.

It just seems I’m so far from God, and my interest in any sort of religious practice has been pretty low. I just feel I’m wandering around, lost and not really getting anywhere. And yet all I want to do is find God, please Him. But what seems to actually happen is that I’m going from one set of religious beliefs to the next without really ‘feeling’ anything.

I don’t know what to do. Can anyone help me out?

What you are experiencing is not abnormal. In fact, St. Ignatius wrote all about this!

Here’s the tl;dr version:

In our spiritual lives, we experience times of spiritual “consolation” and times of spiritual “desolation.” Spiritual consolations are a great gift from God–they’re when you really “feel” Him. Desolation, on the other hand, can be very discouraging because God does feel so distant. The takeaway from St. Ignatius is that, in times of desolation, you should not alter your spiritual practices. For example, let’s say you’ve been praying daily and then you experience spiritual desolation. Maybe you really don’t want to pray anymore because you don’t really feel like it. St. Ignatius would say you must persevere here and continue to pray, even when you don’t want to. After all, faith is ultimately not about our emotions. Rather, it’s about our conviction. You can sincerely believe in God and love Him but not feel anything. There’s not necessarily anything wrong with your relationship with Him. Human emotions are fickle, but our convictions do not have to be. The decision to pray daily is an act of the will, and it’s something you can choose to do regardless of how you feel.

Again, spiritual consolations are a gift from God. Why not pray to God asking for some spiritual consolation? In the meantime, persevere in your spiritual life! Going to Confession can never hurt either…if I’m feeling like I’m in a time of desolation, going to Confession nearly always re-kickstarts my spiritual life. The sacraments tend to do that.

 

[Angela77]

Oh, also:

Mother Teresa went through years upon years of spiritual dry spells. You may find it interesting to read about her experiences.

 

[MaryT777]

Oh, also:

Mother Teresa went through years upon years of spiritual dry spells. You may find it interesting to read about her experiences.

Yes, Mother Teresa was a good example to me when I had a long spell of apathy and a spiritual dry spell as you say. She persevered and I think that is the key. Keep seeking and you shall find.

Mary.

 

[Dorothy]

We may, or may not, feel anything when we are at Church. I think we have this idea that there should be like fireworks when we receive communion, say, and that may not happen. We need to have faith that whether we feel something special or not, it truly is God present, like also with the Blessed Sacrament.

Within the Catholic Church, we can try other parishes to find the best fit.

Sometimes, one can go through periods of spiritual “dryness”, and one may not feel like going to Church or much of anything. That can also happen, but the key is not to give up, to stick with it even when it’s difficult.

Good luck in your journey.

Thank you for your post Clearwater!

To the OP and all who are interested:

The Doctors of the Church on prayer remind us that the Lord wants to draw us closer to Him, and on this journey we need to be aware that lack of feelings does not mean the Lord is not with you, but that we need to make acts of the will by serving Him without the feelings. That is how we grow to be more unselfish.

We need to examine ourselves to be sure that the lack of feelings is not due to omission of prayer on our part.

Be confident that He will give you what you need if you persist in prayer with acts of love towards Him.

Pray for a priest that can guide you,

Peace,

Dorothy,

 

[IdiNaPut]

Thank you all, you have been most helpful and kind towards me. I am most grateful.

 

[crosstrucker]

Three words. Rosary. Confession. Eucharist. Do all three as often as you can, but if it’s difficult to do all three, then definitely start with the Rosary. When doing the rosaries, really focus on the mysteries. Whenever I experience hardship, I make it a point to think of Jesus getting whipped or jesus carrying the cross or jesus being crucified. I am better able to offer my suffering up to Him, and I say aloud or in my mind: “Jesus, I endure this for you!” or “Jesus, I offer this suffering up for you!”

Whenever I lash out at others due to horrible moods, which happens often, I try to pray for forgiveness asap, I also try to apologize to the offended party as soon as I calm down, which may take hours.

I just remind myself that we are all in exile on this Earth. We are not meant to live in bliss here. The devil stacks the odds against us, especially in these times of depravity. All we can do is cling to God with all we’ve got and pray for strength and forgiveness.

Our lives may seem like it’s falling apart sometimes, but with faith, our inner minds will grow stronger from the inner turmoil. I have vacillated back and forth from atheism and Catholicism multiple times, and my faith has grown stronger each time I came back. I was able to come back solely due to certain family member’s prayers.

When in doubt, pray. Especially the rosary.