My head "knows" it, but my soul is still pretty indifferent

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westcoast

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I read lots of stuff about our faith and prayers in books, so the facts and information get into my brain, but I still don’t feel it really relates to my personally, and I know it should. I do feel sorrow for my sins, but I just feel like everything I read should hit me on a much deeper level, but I’m only accepting it on such a shallow, surface level. Or I read it, and want it to really sink in, plant down roots in my soul, but it seems like it all just skims across my brain, and that’s it.
 
Give it time, pray for the gift of a deep faith. ‘Lord, I believe, help my unbelief’ sorta thing.

Mind you, faith is like love - an act of the will rather than the emotions. You love someone when you choose to do the right thing by them, you love and have faith in God when you choose to do His will and obey His commandments.
 
westcoast said:
I read lots of stuff about our faith and prayers in books, so the facts and information get into my brain, but I still don’t feel it really relates to my personally, and I know it should. I do feel sorrow for my sins, but I just feel like everything I read should hit me on a much deeper level, but I’m only accepting it on such a shallow, surface level. Or I read it, and want it to really sink in, plant down roots in my soul, but it seems like it all just skims across my brain, and that’s it.
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If you understand it in your head, that is outstanding! It enables you to maintain your faith even when it feels dull, like Mother Theresa, or when devils try to trick you into abandoning the faith because of some specious sense of the wrong “feeling.”

You have conviction.
 
westcoast said:
I read lots of stuff about our faith and prayers in books, so the facts and information get into my brain, but I still don’t feel it really relates to my personally, and I know it should. I do feel sorrow for my sins, but I just feel like everything I read should hit me on a much deeper level, but I’m only accepting it on such a shallow, surface level. Or I read it, and want it to really sink in, plant down roots in my soul, but it seems like it all just skims across my brain, and that’s it.
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It’s like St. Augustine-- his mental conversion far preceded his spiritual conversion. I think it’s always this way, and it always is for me. First we conform our minds to the truth, and then the conformity of our minds to the truth drives us to live rationally-- to conform our lives to the truth.

Remember that feeling is always secondary. It matters not whether your feel sorry but whether you are sorry.

Part of the life of faith is learning to live purely on faith-- that is, purely because you will to love God, and not because your senses and feelings give you incentive to love God. That’s what God direct the saints through in the dark night of the soul-- a privation of spiritual consolation so that the person may rely on God perfectly in faith, and not out of ulterior motives.

I think the answer is to pray more fervently and to persevere. I too wonder whether I am sufficiently contrite for my sins, or whether I love God. The answer is to, day after day, entreat God to give you sorrow for sin and love of Him, and to do what will, objectively, make you holier-- to go to Mass, receive the sacraments, pray, live in a holy way, and do good.

Modern liberal Protestant theologians-- quite literally, I mean it: those in the tradition of Friedrich Schlieremacher-- defined faith as a feeling. Obviously this subjectivizes religion. But we know that faith, hope, love, are not feelings. They are theological virtues infused by God. As such, they are known by 1. faith in the sacraments (the sacraments are the visible signs of invisible grace), and 2. the effects (being holy).

So, just be careful not to subjectivize your religion too much. It is good to feel good about religion, but it is not necessary. For some people it is impossible. Measure things objectively as much as you can.

-Rob
 
westcoast said:
I read lots of stuff about our faith and prayers in books, so the facts and information get into my brain, but I still don’t feel it really relates to my personally, and I know it should. I do feel sorrow for my sins, but I just feel like everything I read should hit me on a much deeper level, but I’m only accepting it on such a shallow, surface level. Or I read it, and want it to really sink in, plant down roots in my soul, but it seems like it all just skims across my brain, and that’s it.
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This is because God changes us through grace, not through the knowledge we obtain in our spiritual education.

Prayer is the key. I would recommend that you start learning about contemplative prayer from the saints like St. John of the Cross, St. Teresa of Avila, or from other contemplative saints that we have. Everyone has their own favorite. There is also good books written today by various people, who can help explain what these saints taught.

My personal favorites are Fr Thomas Keating and Fr Dubey. They are excellent witters, who explain contemplative prayer according to our modern intellects. Sometimes reading the saints like St. Teresa of Avila, can be difficult to understand completely, because she wrote in a 1500’s mindset, and was one of the first to explain contemplative prayer.

God Bless
Jim
 
Somebody said that one of the longest distances in the world is from the head to the heart. Don’t get discouraged. We are all in a constant state of conversion and being refined in God’s fire of mercy and love!
 
We have an intellect and an imagination… however prayer does not require skillful use of either…it is of the heart…

My suggestion is to put yourself in the presence of Mary and ask Her to guide you… She will lead you to Her Son.
Code: 
   JMJ,

       Ricardo
 
I think alot of us feel like this at times. There are often times I go through periods of spiritual dryness.

What helps me alot is trying to attend Eucharistic Adoration as often as possible and just spending time with Him there and talking and listening to Him helps tremendously.
 
:gopray: I was the same way when I first got into RCIA. I knew what was truth and believed it with my head but with all the years I spent growing up in the Baptist church it was hard for me to feel it in my heart. The only thing I knew to do is to pray and ask God to increase my faith. I think some of it can be our own creation but I truly believe as I came closer and closer to coming into the Church, the devil was trying as hard as he could to keep me from moving forward. Now, I’m 6 days away from Confirmation and I have never felt this good in my life!!! I will pray for you…God bless :gopray:
 
A good way to avoid apathy is action.

Read Matt 25:40 or so,* I really ought to look it up, but I am being apathetic myself today- and your homework is in there.

Its a fine list of things you can do today, to do for Jesus. Your soul will be refreshed.

Even one of those things should jump start you again.
 
Per the OP:

That’s how it began for me–my mind was won before my heart was won. You have to begin to live and love according to the dictates of truth, and then you will progress in the spiritual life and your faith will increase in depth. The depth is found in love, an act of the will, not in intellectual exercise. Now that you know the truth, you must will to love God and neighbor according to it. When you are inflamed by the Holy Spirit with love, your soul will journey deeper into God.

Spiritual reading and study and knowledge of the truth are all very important, but we are an Incarnational people, not Gnostics, so we must actually live the truth in love, not just know it. Once you begin to do this through the Sacraments and works of mercy and charity, you’ll start to move deeper.
 
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