From: alisonjw@spider.co.uk (Alison J Wyld)
Newsgroups: soc.religion.christian
Subject: Re: Atheism -> Christianity
Date: 20 Dec 92 22:31:45 GMT
Organization: Spider Systems Limited, Edinburgh, UK.

Well I'e never been an atheist, but the way your friend is behaving
struck a cord.  Maybe this is irrelevant, but maybe its whats going on
with your friend.  Let me explain:

As I said, I've never been an aetheist.  I was brought up in a
Christian home, and moved pretty seamlessly from believing Christianity
was true because my parents said it was, to realising that it really
is true in a real, objective sense.  I intellectually consented to the
Gospel, and publically committed my life to Christ, by confession of
faith in the congregation in which I was brought up.  I was 18 at that
time.

Over the next 6 years, I moved away from home, studied, got married,
became involved in a Church and mixed with a lot of new folk,
Christian and non.  And one thing started to puzzle/frustrate me.  So
many of the Christians I knew seemed to _experience_ God in a way I
did not.  I believed what they believed.  I had (publically and
privately) committed my life to Christ, I was reasonably faithful in
prayer and Bible study, but somehow it all seemed dry and getting
dryer.  Dead even.  I began to doubt I was a Christian.  I began to
wonder if God had rejected me (I knew that was theologically
impossible, but it sure _felt_ like it).  I was miserable.

I blamed other things for my misery, but when I lay awake at 3am, I
knew deep down that the problem was spiritual.  Fortunately,
unbeknownst to me, my husband knew it to, and was praying for me.  I
believe his prayers made the difference.

One Sunday evening, one of our student members was publically
professing his faith (this is the CofS equivalent to Confirmation, and
the rite of entry into full membership of the church).  As he took his
vows, the same five I had take 6 years previously, I silently added my
"I do" to his, but at the end, when he was being hugged and kissed and
generally welcomed, I sat down and thought "well so what, where has
it all got me".  We sang "I believe in Jesus", and I found I just
couldn't sing, it was like standing at a window looking in at
something I wasn't included in.  I couldn't pray either.  At the end
of the service, I told my husband I needed to go home, NOW, and picked
up my stuff.  But as I made for the door, my minister sidled up to me
and asked what was wrong. I said "Nothing".  He didn't believe me and
asked when I wanted to come and talk to him about it.  I said I
didn't.  He said "7.30 tomorrow evening, my office".  I was miserable
enough to go.  Without going into detail, it was that conversation,
that enabled me, 2 days later, to get down on my knees before God
(other presbyterians may understand how miserable I must have been to
kneel) and pour the whole thing out.  And there, in my bedroom that
night, I finally knew in a way that I had not know before that I was
truly His.  Suddenly I realised what folk meant, when they said "I have
met Jesus", or "Once I was blind, but now I can see"  I had always
thought of these as metaphores.  Now they were true of me too.

I also fell head over heels in love with God (which is the point, I
knew I'd get there eventually).  For about 3 weeks, the only person I
could bear to be with was my husband.  Everyone and everything else
was a waste of time, a distraction, time I could be spending with my
Lord.  Maybe thats how your friend feels.  Maybe he's avoiding
everyone, not just you.  Maybe he just needs to be alone with his
Beloved for a while.  If that is the case, it will pass.  He will wake
up one day, and realise that God wants him out in the world, grappling
with the tough day to day realities of life.  Living out his new
faith.  When that happens, he will need you as his friend.  He will
also need you to say, by your words or by your behaviour, that you
respect his decision, and that you continue to value his friendship,
because right now he may even be feeling a little shy or scared of
you.

I pray that God will bless both of you, and that your friendship will
continue to be a joy to you both.

Alison