Mormon life

I was baptized a member of  the Mormon church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) at the age of eight. My mother had converted from the Greek Orthodox faith to Mormonism the previous year, and encouraged each of her children to be taught by the local missionaries, as she had. I joined the church because I knew my mother wanted me to, but also because I felt, even at that young age, an affinity for what I was taught.

My path beginning at that point has taken many turns over the years, leading me through different levels of activity in the church. Here’s the journey summed up in tidy soundbites:

Young, active, and naive, age 8-11

Young, less active, and resentful, age 12-14

Less young, even less active, and miserable, age 15-18

Snatched from the jaws of hell, grateful, yet flaky, age 18-20

Convert on fire, age 21-23

Pious supermom wanna-be, age 24-32

Bottomed-out, confused yet loyal changeling, age 33-34

Currently: Only hindsight will provide the right description.

My beliefs regarding Jesus Christ, his gospel, and his church are stronger than ever, but my whole concept of what living the gospel means is in a state of flux. Lately, I feel like my whole paradigm of living has been ripped to shreds and that I’m a newcomer to a strange yet beautiful place. But I remain a loyal member of the Mormon church, and rather than feeling frightened by this state of transformation, I feel encouraged, as if I’m drawing closer and closer to God and to the life I’m meant to live. It’s stunning.

Read more about my spiritual life in my personal blog entries as well as my posts at the Mormon blogs Segullah and By Common Consent.