03-09-2017, 07:49 AM
nibbed, you are sincere if nothing else.
I can't change the title to "Struggling with Salvation" or "Struggling with the Gospel" because I don't believe in salvation or the Christian Gospel.
Your concept of what conversion is doesn't quite match mine. Two of the definitions of "conversion" are:
-- "change from one religion, political belief, viewpoint, etc., to another."
-- "a change of attitude, emotion, or viewpoint from one of indifference, disbelief, or antagonism to one of acceptance, faith, or enthusiastic support, especially such a change in a person's religion."
So my title really means "Struggling with Change", and that seems reasonable to me. So I'll be keeping "Conversion" (meaning "change") in the title.
If we get too philosophical, someone will swoop in with red letters telling us to stay on topic (the topic being the poem), so I'll make just one more point.
"If God be at all" expresses doubt. Unlike many devout Christians, I don't see doubt as antithetical to belief. We have to have our moments of doubt in order to have our moments of belief. In other words, until something revelatory happens which provides us with confirmation of our beliefs, doubt is unavoidable (this world doesn't seem to provide much confirmation). What's sad to me isn't the doubt we occasionally feel about what we believe, but the certainty that some people achieve that causes them to see doubt as an enemy.
I can't change the title to "Struggling with Salvation" or "Struggling with the Gospel" because I don't believe in salvation or the Christian Gospel.
Your concept of what conversion is doesn't quite match mine. Two of the definitions of "conversion" are:
-- "change from one religion, political belief, viewpoint, etc., to another."
-- "a change of attitude, emotion, or viewpoint from one of indifference, disbelief, or antagonism to one of acceptance, faith, or enthusiastic support, especially such a change in a person's religion."
So my title really means "Struggling with Change", and that seems reasonable to me. So I'll be keeping "Conversion" (meaning "change") in the title.
If we get too philosophical, someone will swoop in with red letters telling us to stay on topic (the topic being the poem), so I'll make just one more point.
"If God be at all" expresses doubt. Unlike many devout Christians, I don't see doubt as antithetical to belief. We have to have our moments of doubt in order to have our moments of belief. In other words, until something revelatory happens which provides us with confirmation of our beliefs, doubt is unavoidable (this world doesn't seem to provide much confirmation). What's sad to me isn't the doubt we occasionally feel about what we believe, but the certainty that some people achieve that causes them to see doubt as an enemy.