Response to comment [from a Christian]: "[zoo22 quote: I've made a change, that some TOL friends might notice, and others might not have been aware enough in the first place to recognize...Right now, I just don't know about God.] "I'm as sorry to hear this news as if someone I loved had died."

I am shocked to learn this (Jn 8:19).

Response to comment [from a Christian]: "...I finally became so frustrated and exhausted that I gave up and surrendered to my own ignorance."

Keep surrendering (Ge 32:24).

"Have you ever read through the Tao Te Ching? I find philosophical taoism to be an intellectual/spiritual breath of fresh air in this regard."

See:

What is Taois

m / Daoism? What are the core beliefs of Taoism? How is Taoism different from other religions?

"The Tao Te Ching has nothing to do with religion."

I think your hand needs cleaning.

"Wipe. Wipe." ~ Monk

Response to comment [from an agnostic]: "....[T]he beliefs you put in the OP sound very much like my own."

Agnostic (lit. without knowledge).

Response to comment [from an agnostic]: "Jump in a creek."

We hadn't noticed that you don't know God (Jn 8:19). Thank you for the clarification from "other" to "agnostic".

"Housekeeping...housekeeping." ~ Peter Griffin

Response to comment [from an atheist]: "Welcome to free-thinking zoo, enjoy."

"When you choose sin the baggage that comes with it is error." ~ Adrian Rogers

[I-Ching, Transferring thoughts to coins, then throwing them on a table] "I've had a copy of the Tao Te Ching for many, many years. I throw the coins sometimes because it'll always give good advice... It's like an extremely sophisticated fortune-cookie."

Good luck with that (Ac 17:22).

Response to comment [from an agnostic]: "I'm sure I said jump in a creek, serpentdove. For lieu of a creek, just get lost. Seriously."

Jesus loves you (Jn 3:16). Jesus is willing to save you (2 Pe 3:9). Repent (Eze 18:30-32; Ac 17:30). Believe (Mk 9:23).

Response to comment [from other]: "There's a reason that so many folks who hit rock bottom find faith in God."

Dennis Prager recently discussed his coping technique of compartmentalization. He describes it as stuffing problems into one compartment and not allowing them to fill into other compartments. He used the example of the Titanic. It sank because one compartment filled into the next, which filled into the next, and so on, until the ship sank. Remember the terrible movie?

Prager uses this technique in his own life. He says that he can stay afloat because he does not allow one problem to enter into the whole of his life. Psychologists would call this repression. He's still a shipwreck (1 Tim. 1:19). He just doesn't know it.

One who would become a Christian, may have to let the whole ship sink. He comes to the end of himself. Then he can be blessed (Mt 5:3).

My sea change