I am excommunicated from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints for my acts of indiscretions. Which indiscretions were of such a nature that there really was no other choice for the disciplinary hearing to make. The bombastic crescendo of sin came to a whimpering end on the evening of my dismissal. Now, nine years later, I have the benefit of hind-sight as to what happened, why it happened and to try to be of service to others who are just starting or have traversed similar roads as mine. It has taken all this time to become comfortable in sharing some of my story with the world.
However, my road has taken some pretty strange and unpredictable turns as well as the “standard” repentance and redemption experiences one expects as they morph from haughty “I’ll do what I want, as I please” to the more humble “thy will be done and while we are on this subject, would you please forgive my bad acts?” But I believe I’ve traveled a pretty good distance on this road of repentance and rehabilitation where I feel I have some pretty good understanding of what it takes to survive and flourish in the light of the Lord’s healing touch. The lessons I learned are lessons I’ve heard before all throughout my primary, Sunday school and priesthood years but in hindsight, I never understood until this experience. I believe this is why whenever I tell anyone in the Church what I’ve learned, I get this “well, no duh” look staring back at me.
Why share? Well, how many blogs of excommunicated folks have you read that are not designed to malign the church? If anything, this journey has given me a strong loyalty to God and the church with the caveat that the members are quite imperfect and mistakes are made. That being said, I may communicate some things that I may be critical of, but it should not be construed as displeasure with, nor seeking to change anything about about the Gospel or the Church. Where my displeasure really lies is with some of the general membership of the church. Stay tuned for future posting on that subject. I should also add that I am less critical of the church leadership, especially the local leaders whom, at times, have impossible jobs to do. Heaven knows I’ve driven them nuts over the years.
So at the beginning of this blog I should point out that I am speaking for my own self and not for all excommunicated folks out there. That the ideas and doctrinal points are of my understanding and opinion and does not necessarily those of the church. And by no means am I any type of spokesman for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. What I am sharing is what I’ve learned and experienced while on my road of repentance and my efforts to come back into the fold. I hope this helps members of this wonderful church to try to understand us excommunicants as well as help those who are excommunicated to not give up on the church, on hope and most importantly, to not give up on Christ.
So without any further adieu, I present my blog to the world. May it be a help to others as I hope it will be a help to me.
However, my road has taken some pretty strange and unpredictable turns as well as the “standard” repentance and redemption experiences one expects as they morph from haughty “I’ll do what I want, as I please” to the more humble “thy will be done and while we are on this subject, would you please forgive my bad acts?” But I believe I’ve traveled a pretty good distance on this road of repentance and rehabilitation where I feel I have some pretty good understanding of what it takes to survive and flourish in the light of the Lord’s healing touch. The lessons I learned are lessons I’ve heard before all throughout my primary, Sunday school and priesthood years but in hindsight, I never understood until this experience. I believe this is why whenever I tell anyone in the Church what I’ve learned, I get this “well, no duh” look staring back at me.
Thank you for your blog, your honesty, and testimony! It brings hope!