Losing faith to find Love

December 6, 2019

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This is part two of my interview with Emily Crofts; nurturer, caregiver, mother, healer, and homemaker.

The first part of our interview published in November was about Emily's experience as a mother of five children (4 grown, one still in high school); her calling as a homemaker and healer; and her artistic talents and pursuits.

This episode is about Emily's experience of spiritual formation and transformation within the Mormon faith community.

Like many religious people (myself included), when Emily hit midlife she went through a trial and testing of the doctrines she had accepted as true during her growing and earlier adult years.

North American society at large is moving towards a post-religious orientation, but there are still pockets of religious communities, Christian and otherwise, where a life devoted to religious belief and practice defines your identity and belonging. It binds you not just to God but to family and community. It's everything.

When Emily started to question her own beliefs, within her close-knit Mormon community, she stood to lose way more than a personal worldview. She stood to lose a place in her community, the right to witness sacred family events. She would be considered an other, facing scrutiny, scorn and judgement.

She would be "out" in a community where everyone else was "in".

The stakes were high, and the potential for loss nearly debilitating; but her personal integrity wouldn't allow her to say one thing, living out the community expectations, while inwardly believing (or not believing) something else.

And so she left the church.

art by Emily Crofts

This interview is that story. It's a story of what we learn about ourselves, others, and Love, in the face of such loss.

It's a story of courage and hope, of finding faith by losing faith. And learning how to really love people (including ourselves) for who they are and not what they believe.

Listen to this interview

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