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ADD and religion

ADD and religion2010-12-19T18:12:40+00:00

The Forums Forums Emotional Journey Is It Just Me? ADD and religion

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  • #98097

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    I have to agree with the ones who say to try and find a more lively church. It’s actually not unheard of to find a lively Catholic one, I actually attended one once, even though I’m not Catholic.

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    #98098

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    To me a lively church is still a church. It’s still an organization invented by man, with rules and regulations that are meant to terrify, not inspire. A lively church is a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

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    #98099

    sdwa
    Participant
    Post count: 363

    This is a topic close to home because I struggle with it. I’m Jewish, and I can tell you there’s plenty of guilt over there as well. ; ) Standards are high, and self-control is central. It’s hard to look – or to be asked to look – at personal failings when there are so few successes. As I’ve learned more about ADD, I’ve come to appreciate that some of the things I am criticized for, such as not appearing “friendly” or seeming to be “selfish,” “self-seeking,” or even “passive aggressive” (that hurts)…are related to having a hard time tuning in and filtering out other stuff, feeling overwhelmed or shut down, and also, frankly, having developed a painful drive to seek approval where there will never actually be any. On the bright side, realizing that external validation is unreliable and unlikely, I’m forced to rely on God for approval, not on other people. It stinks to confide in a religious leader and be told I’m a bad person and that I failed over and over. The structure of ritual (there are many daily rituals) would be great for me if I could actually implement them reliably, but they are difficult to learn, remember and keep track of. But the thing that really kills me is that I am easily over-stimulated in large groups, and find that when I’m in a room full of people, I feel bombarded by the noise, movement, facial expressions, etc – way too much information – and I can’t keep up with the service, I am always a step behind, and the necessity of interacting nicely with people when I feel completely freaked out makes it worse. Then I leave feeling exhausted and demoralized – not what a person wants out of a religious environment! It’s led to my feeling very discouraged about my prospects of connecting with a religious community. Which in Judaism is a major bummer, because so much of what we do is focused on family, community, and communal identity. It’s hard to be “altruistic” when I feel like hell. Emotional regulation is a significant problem in my life.

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    #98100

    Robbo
    Member
    Post count: 929

    Enlightenment = the ability to lighten up…

    Heavy, huh?

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    #98101

    munchkin
    Member
    Post count: 285

    I had never read this thread before – fascinating! I grew up in a multi-faith family, and we never went to church, but I’ve been extremely interested in religion all my life. Every religeon I’ve learned about has added something postitive to my viewpoint for sure.

    The thing I notice across all group religeons is an element of dogma (rules, traditions, rituals) that must be adhered to exactly according to that religeon’s practices – no matter what. I could go on about that, but from an ADD standpoint, I always got caught up in having to measure up. I would always run away at the point where I was disrespected for my inability to follow the dogma “correctly.” Once I was the odd person out, I no longer felt the benefit of being in a fellowship – it seemed more like a liability to my self esteem than a spiritual uplift.

    On the other hand, I get why you have dogma! It holds you to a standard and reveals weaknesses, helping you to see yourself in a new way and address the selfish, thoughtless things we do. What I have pulled out of it all is the value of mindfulness and intentions in what you do. Lightening up (Robbo) and being able to let go of attachments, failures, etc. is key to that. Attachments = Distractions! These are skills that are difficult if you have ADD because you do so many things on impulse without ever being able to apply any religeous, philosophical or other types of value systems to your actions.

    As I begin this life changing journey of being diagnosed wtih ADD, understanding it, treating it, etc. I am hopeful I will be able to lead a more spiritually fulfilling life – whatever religeon or philosophies I find myself drawn toward.

    The original poster on this site had trouble sitting through mass. If attending mass and being able to focus on the experience, and get the desired value and result from it is important to you, I think it’s a worthy pursuit. I think it is an activity that tests the effectiveness of our ADD strategies for sure!

    I’ve heard it said: God doesn’t give you anything you can’t handle. I have no idea where that comes from, but it’s a good pep talk :)

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    #98102

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    I recently watched the documentary I Am Shadyac, in which Shadyac (filmmaker known for movies such as Ace Ventura) explains his quest to find.. well perhaps I could call it ‘the truth of existence’.

    I only found this website yesterday, but I was pleasantly surprisedd to see Thom Hartmann in some of the videos as he’s also in this doc. And he basically confirms along with most other speakers things that I’ve come across mainly in (Zen) Buddhism. I recommend watching the documentary, along with checking out such people as Alan Watts and Jiddu Krishnamurti and so on (both have great stuff on youtube). And personally, I found the book Hardcore Zen to put a lot of things in perspective, in a very honest way. I’ve also found that a lot of my concentration issues come from

    constantly thinking there’s something more important to be doing than what I’m trying to do at any given moment. It really helps to feel and realize the present moment. Too bad I neglected reminding myself about it. I might’ve been in a better place now. But hey, the future is an illusion of the mind, so there’s always hope that things will be better. :)

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    #98103

    Robbo
    Member
    Post count: 929

    <<< I had never read this thread before – fascinating! I grew up in a multi-faith family, and we never went to church, but I’ve been extremely interested in religion all my life. Every religeon I’ve learned about has added something postitive to my viewpoint for sure. >>>

    Yeah!, I could say that, but ya already have.I’ve been searching all my life, the last five years the search has gotten much more extreme. I still don’t represent any particular denomination, but my relationship with our Creator is a daily reality, meditation to keep in contact with God and stay here in the present has been my ace in the hole for many more years than I could put a finger on. I would have to take off my shoes in order to count them.

    I had my first real spiritual experience in 1989, a few days after the massive earthquake that hit about 70 miles away centered in the Santa Cruz mountains. I still struggle remembering the name of that mountain town in was centered in. It will pop into by brain by the time I get done writing if my faith in my own subconscious mind works like I suspect it works. I simply quit trying to remember it. Sometimes giving up is the best way to not give up. [my subconscious mind never gives up] Anyway, it’s a very personal thing and I don’t see a good reason to share exactly what happened. It was a profound, physically blissful sensation of some kind of WIND blasting through my entire being.

    ReadyMindsetGo it would be cool if you could post some links to the pages you’re talking about. I’m in the process of turning myself into a lab rat once again. I’ve spent a ton of time on the net, the phone, and in bed sleeping, dreaming, and praying. It’s no accident that I got up right when a show I watched part of a few days ago on pbs. Esther Sternberg MD has a bunch of sites on the net about brain science. http://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=esther+sternberg&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8 I’m inviting you guys to come along with me and surf around on her links. That’s part of how I plan to go back into the lab rat business.

    I’m disabled, some doctors at teaching hospitals love to use people like me as if we were lab rats. As long as I’m willing to forgive them for breaking the hippocratic oath, and also not let them cross any lines that will cause the people who love me harm. There’s a chance I can get a decent diagnosis and treatment.

    Some doctors may take offense at what I just said, if you know what I’ve been through as the “subject” (they may even have given me a number so the residents involved felt less guilty). But taking offense from my opinion and the way I experienced the “study” I was involved in is just dumb. Yep, I just called you a dummy! if you’re a doctor and take offense. I tell it like it is. I used to write endlessly on an enormous web site back in the late 90’s. At one point an English teacher emailed me and volunteered to correct and email back much of my writing for free. Eventually she began to become too much like an editor, and her opinions started getting pushed a little too hard into what I had to say. I’ve grateful for what’s her name. She was a truly kind lady. Maybe, ya never know on the Internet, huh? it could have been a cocky little 9 year old boy, hehe. Huh? Or one of the many students at Stanford who recognized me and seriously loved my quirky sense of humor, I had tons of mail from people who were helped just from ready (struggling through) my documentation of endless mistakes, near death experiences. And tons of good scientific information and experience about pain management, nutrition, and the wildest freaky ass graphics they have found. I also got complaints from people with epilepsy who were triggered into seizures by clicking on one of the endless links all over my maze/web site. I smoked some weed at the time and I was completely clueless about ADHD. I just had too much time on my hands. I was an adrenaline junkie suddenly forced to SIT endlessly, and live with parents who were much MUCH less than supportive about my loss of nearly everything good in my life. Fortunately my 9 year old daughter still needed me in her life. She’s almost finished with her Internship at a very awesome University where she earned here BS in nutrition. She’s a dietician in the making. And! she finally got herself into the ocean and learned how to surf!, I’m still waiting for pictures of her graduation. But she sent me the pictures of her catching her first waves a buncha months ago. She’s a goofy foot just like me. Don’t get me started telling you all about my offspring. I used to call her Punkin-head when she was really little. I got to find out what it’s like to be a single parent for a couple years back in the early 90’s. At that point in my life my focus was on not passing on any of the dysfunction both her mothers, and my own parents’ family’s have had to endure. I did well, I did well because I did more than pray for help, I BEGGED!!! on my knees. And I took parenting classes, went to a lot of therapy for my own good, and participated in a lot of reaching out for help. With me God works through people. I like to say God is the Good in People. Kinda like Carl Jung’s collective unconscious theories. I’ve have yet to study any of it!. Instead I’ve been experiencing it. I have learned how to meditate by simply doing it!, yep I read a lot, talked n pontificated much about it, but mostly I DID IT, a good decision I might add.

    How to not ramble, this is the mystery of my existence when I’m writing… I have a great! book, one of my favorites by Albert Einstein. It’s called “Out Of My Latter Years”, Awesome, very long sentences that took me freaking forever to get through. But it was worth the work, he’s a brilliant dude. Some people suspect he had Aspergers. It’s likely he knew hebrew, a funky language indeed. Long sentences and not much grammar, so I’ve heard.

    So, here’s an idea, let’s start some kind of support group here! and call it “Faithfully managing ADHD symptoms with Neuroplasticity, hard work, Emotional sweat, and a God as we understand God” The God part could be optional of course. I’m interested in other peoples ideas about what to call this support group thing. For now there ain’t nuthing within a two or three hours drive I can go to as easily as here. I’ll get better at writing eventually too. It’s would be especially cool if there were some grammar police around here so I can say what I mean, and you guys may even understand what I write.

    So, in other words HEEEEEELLLLLPPPP ME PLEASE! this ADHD is destroying my ability to be a clown and make my little old lady neighbors pee a little when I make then laugh. Uuukayyy!!

    Thanks!

    Oh! I know… we can have a rule that each time we post on the “Support” thread we have to write a short Zen like sentence for others to ponder on and remain humble, teachable, and interesting. Sound cool?

    Well crap! at least think about it, you can always just quit!, or lurk, or just show up to clown around. That’s what I do!, This can better than a support group. (I’ve participated in an endless number of many different kinds of support groups, about more topics than I could ever list)

    The top goal on my list has become, Be! some kind of mental health worker who helps, maybe coaches people with problems related to living in this CRAZY ass world. Please see the work of art by Rick called “Define Crazy” if you want to read something really awesome and encouraging. Ear’s a link for ya. http://totallyadd.com/forum/search.php?q=Define+Crazy billd’s idea for searching an individual web site for specific info is an excellent way to find that article. You just use google, like this…http://totallyadd.com/forum/topic.php?id=697&page=3 That one worked out fun, but here’s Ricks thing ubowt Crazy, http://totallyadd.com/forum/topic.php?id=1328 please don’t read my posts on that page, you could get a headache. That is if you don’t already have one.

    I’ve got to get my apartment semi organized, we have one of our semi anal, I mean annual inspections tomorrow, and again at the end of the month. So I need to get busy.

    forgive any serious typo’s, or brain farts in this post okay, it’s too dang big to edit/proofread now that I’ve waited till the last minute to clean up my lil apartment. It’s sanitary, but severely cluttered and embarrassing as hell.

    K that’s it. Here’s my first Zen like sentence. In high school my best friend and I used to smoke a dube n read Zen, so I don’t actually remember much…

    Love, peace, n compassion… Karmic fertilizer, wisdom, sweat, and the art of being child-like, permission is not required in this place-time-continueum.

    I did read through my post one time, it’s a habit I can’t quit. I wrote some here, some in the old mac text editor, and went back n forth a couple times, also opened a new one the third time I copy n pasted from the post place on this site to the text editor, and somehow lost the part I wrote about remembering the name to the pace that earthquake was in… Crap, I gotta go find it now. Couldn’t find it. The name popped into my head and I did write it… LOMA PRIETTA,,, I now have more faith in my subconscious mind. I have prayed for faith, there is scientific proof that if people with faith, know people with faith are praying for them, they experience what doctors can explain in no other way that Miracles.

    That! my friends is exactly why I’m still alive. Once I told a doctor, who was in tears; amazed at my miraculous suvival. “it doesn’t even matter if there’s a God, what matters is my faith in that God” It was true then, and I’ve survive much more terrifying struggles with pressure sores, bone infections, Insanity!!! and careless extremely over workdedand stressed out hospital folks and EVIL I mean seriously accidentally on purpose tell me I had cancer! visitingnurses who showed me just how cold hearted, infected with Malice and hatred human beings can be. Don’t get me started about the VisitingNursesAssociation. They’re like the freaking MOB.Incompetent and severelycorrupt, I connected some of the words on purpose so the webbotnetworks don’t help them sue me. It’s okay if they do though because I don’t have much to steal. My freedom is inside me, where it can never be taken.

    “Honor cannot be taken, or given… it grows within ya” –Rob Roy– I freakin love that movie.

    I’ll share about an experiment done with a bunch of monkeys that is solid proof we should always QUESTION AUTHORITY, the one about the banana on a string in the middle of a room. And the cruelty of spraying these monkeys with ICE COLD water. In the name of science…. for the good of mankind. Yeah, sickening.. you’re dang right!

    In the 19th century medical schools used to pay grave robbers for corpses, Now they just use disabled people. Especially one’s with mental struggles.

    Hmmm, I forgot to mix decaf with my coffee this morning… I guess that’s sorta obvious, huh?

    Love yerself in spite of it all.

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    #98104

    Wgreen
    Participant
    Post count: 445

    It seems to me that the really interesting discussion about ADD and religion—whether it’s Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, whatever—is the issue of “free will.” I’m no theologian, but from what I can tell, most faiths are predicated at least in part on the notion of free will—the ability to choose right over wrong, humility over self-importance, and/or the ability to discipline the mind to achieve higher levels of “consciousness.” For example, just a few pages into Genesis, we encounter the tale of a pivotal choice made by two people: God told Adam and Eve not to eat the fruit of a certain tree. But Adam and Eve had other ideas. People of faith can argue whether the episode in the “Garden” is myth or history, but there is nonetheless a primordial assertion that choices are metaphysically consequential— an assertion that is reiterated throughout Scripture and routinely trumpeted from pulpits.

    Now, according to the “experts”—and our collective experience—ADD affects our ability to exercise our wills. Whether it’s “willing” to focus on a particular subject, or “willing” to control our tempers, or “willing” to get and stay organized, or “willing” to behave in other ways, our ability to choose one behavior over another is compromised. We simply find it impossible—or nearly impossible—to do many of the things we set our minds to do. Instead, we seem to be at the mercy of various impulsions. Or so we say. If that’s NOT true, then we’re just making lame excuses for inexcusable behavior. But if indeed it is true, if neurology CAN trump willpower, then much theology would appear to be turned on its head. How can anybody be held morally responsible for actions he/she cannot control? What if, for example, Adam and Eve acted impulsively —not rebelliously—when they took that dolorous bite? It certainly would explain why many people refuse to acknowledge ADD. The implications of a neurologically impaired “free will” are… enormous.

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    #98105

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    Wg…..is this about us starting out, in the very beginning via …..the whole eating a bad apple, and talking snake story?????

    Toofat

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    #98106

    Wgreen
    Participant
    Post count: 445

    It’s about the importance of free choice in various religious traditions. The Garden of Eden/ Fall of Man story seemed to be a particularly good example.

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    #98107

    Patte Rosebank
    Participant
    Post count: 1517

    Another problem with religion is that it’s so dependent on performing rituals. If you’re a Catholic, it’s a mortal sin to miss Mass. I’d have thought it would be a far greater sin to go to every Mass just because you have to. After a while, you perform those rituals purely out of habit, with no real thought or appreciation for what they’re supposed to signify. Sure, you’re very religious, but you’re seriously lacking in spirituality.

    This became abundantly clear to me at my Grandmother’s funeral. The priest (who had never met her, since she’d moved out of that neighbourhood, and, indeed, the city, over 10 years ago) was running on auto-pilot, through both the Mass and the eulogy—which it was painfully obvious he was ad-libbing with platitudes…having completely forgotten that my aunt had told him she’d written a eulogy which she intended to deliver.

    Before the Mass, the priest had asked me, my mom, my aunt, and my cousin, if one of us would do the reading. As I’ve had broadcast training, and I’m Queen of the Cold Read, I volunteered. I glanced over the text before the service, and when I actually did the reading, I did it in a way that brought the words vividly to life, as though I believed what I was saying, wholeheartedly.

    Afterwards, my dad said that I’d not only held everyone spellbound, but I’d also captivated the priest. In fact, Dad said the priest looked as if he were hearing the words of the 23rd Psalm for the very first time. And when an atheist can shake a priest out of his complacency, it’s really something! I hope it also made the priest really think about whether it was enough to just go through the motions.

    Truly, I feel far more at one with the world and the universe and the very essence of being, when I’m out in the country, at a lake, on a clear, starry night; than I ever could in any church, even a mighty cathedral. When the water is smooth as glass, and all the stars are reflected in it, and you can’t tell where the sky ends and the water begins, THAT is the holiest of places! And all you have to do is gaze at it in wonder.

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    #98108

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    It feels like everyone here is an unguided missile and there should be some non-ADD/ADHD people to get everyone together and let them focus on solving some all kinds of problems… together we’d be like a nuclear bomb that could destroy all kinds of problems! :D

    Hmm, ok, rambling… I’m actually all for non-violence… speaking from experience of course… sigh… violence just causes problems. :P

    Anyway… awesome discussion… I recently went to a student discussion which focused on free will vs. theories of predetermined action. I didn’t really think about ADD (one of my pitfalls, when things go well in life, I ‘forget’ I have it) But I really can’t get into it right now coz it’s time for bed. :) Here’s some links though, as requested:

    Alan Watts – A conversation with myself pt1:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8aufuwMiKmE

    In this Alan talks about how human beings literally have 1-tracked minds, in an infinitely-many-tracked universe. And when I think about how I think, it makes a lot more sense than saying (as I read and hear CONSTANTLY in ADD/ADHD discussion) that I have millions of thoughts in my brain. I don’t, I have 1 thought in the present moment, but instead of being able to maintain this one thought for such a length of time that I can use it in the manner appropriate to what thought it is, I lose it as I get distracted.

    So if non-ADD thoughts would be like this:

    AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABBBBBBBBBBCCCCCCCCCC (amount of letters equaling length of time)

    Then the ADDers’ thoughts would be like this:

    ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPEPWEUKJNA<MFNJKSHGUAHLAGIPOAJFAP@OPUI#E()!@&T()@7508327-318!!!fRe89172`1

    And all you wanted was to say aaaaaa…. :P

    Alan Watts – Does life need to be meaningful? pt1:

    http://youtu.be/xhuH0rvD8tM

    Alan Watts – What is time? pt1:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15QW2lTAZmA

    Alan Watts – Symbols & meanings pt1:

    http://youtu.be/cPdq0X10aoI

    I Am Shadyac official website (includes trailer):

    http://iamthedoc.com/

    Brad Warner (author of Hardcore Zen) personal youtube account:

    http://www.youtube.com/user/doubtboy

    Brad Warner – What is Zen?:

    http://youtu.be/Yh7gs4lTOSQ

    Brad Warner – What is time?:

    http://youtu.be/SYRNr8Y-hpA

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    #98109

    Robbo
    Member
    Post count: 929

    Wow,

    great writing you guys. I appreciate it a lot. Answers to the big questions are really priceless. Soon I’ll finish reading it again. Understanding is difficult. And you guys write extremely well. I wish I had more time to read what people have to say here.

    I got to my appointment on time today!, and I have an ADHD support group to go to now!. Things are getting better and soon I’ll be writing posts people will consider reading all of!

    “the glasses won’t teach you to read” I read that somewhere on this site. I’m looking foreword to the glasses, but moving foreword on learning to read. Help is plentiful. I believe there is enough of what I need to be happy in the world. I’m getting tired of not knowing my place in this world.

    Faith has always helped me with my problems, I don’t know crap about religion, don’t care much either. I’m sure that a combination of faith, will power, medication, meditation, and yes indeed, reading and struggling to understand the Bible will help me. The last time I was in love, it was with a Buddhist lady. She thinks I homogenize the sources of my faith, that was before I started to study the Bible. Maybe that was true before. I’m getting closer to what the truth really is for me. From my perspective.

    I have to believe there is more going on than just this one unfair horrible life. It’s not my life that’s horrible, it’s the bottom billion that don’t have clean water, that never get cared about, who suffer and die alone and hungry. I can’t accept that some human beings are born, suffer, and then die, end of story. There is a soul, every one of them has one, some part of my has always known that, I can’t be sane or happy in a world where there is no justice. Or no human souls.

    Even if there is no God, and we just stop existing when we die. I would rather believe that all those billions of human beings. Soulful, caring, and valuable people, have something better to look foreword to after this.

    It’s easy to find my own peace and joy, surfing, traveling, I live only a few hours away from Yosemite. I love so much of this planet. Simple pleasures are everywhere. Somehow something must have created this. It’s just silly to think all this beauty just sorta “happened”

    Evolution is a real Knee Slapper to me. But I respect peoples Freedom to believe in it. I still care about their well being too.

    It’s gonna be great when I’m less crazy hehe.

    I CAN wait. got

    no choice.

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    #98110

    Robbo
    Member
    Post count: 929

    Cool links, I’m gonna be surfing around the net on all the other subjects besides ADHD, Those Allen Watts ones are funny. The Zen stuff mellows me out, it doesn’t matter why…

    I’m gonna take a vacation from analyzing, figuring this can u werms out. I gotta spend more energy keeping track of all the different surprises the health care I get keeps throwing at me. Hope, no hope, back n forth. Bounce off walls… repeat. I never expected to find out there actually is an ADHD support group today. I hope it’s real. The ADD coach I called last week called me back, she’s on the east coast, lol. Another person I talked to about a ADD support group said “people haven’t been showing up so I gave it up” I said “and if they did show up they were 45 minutes late huh?” she laughed, said yep, sorry. Two months ago the psychiatrist said “maybe 4 or 5 months” I though she might be joking. Today the new social worker say Maybe 5 or 6, Big maybe.

    I’m just gonna sit back and laugh at my life a little, then get back on the bull. This ain’t my first rodeo.

    youtube is a real time theif! huh? Kinda like this place.

    That “what is time” link cracked me up!

    .

    .

    It’s time for me ta take a break from here now

    and it’s time to take a break from me here

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    #98111

    Anonymous
    Inactive
    Post count: 14413

    I read through some of the responses. I would like to share my view.

    I grew up Apostolic Pentecostal.. Back in the day, we would go to church at least five times a week: Tuesday night choir rehearsal, Wednesday night Bible study, Friday night service, Sunday School, Sunday Morning and Sunday Evening service. Service was at least 2 1/2 hours long a pop! Man I did I have problems as young person! I always felt like I wanted to get up, squirmed a lot. Even when trying to listen to the sermon, I often went to the twilight zone!.

    Looking back on it all, me having ADHD made some of it intolerable. If you go by statistics that 5%-8% percent of the US population has ADHD, roughly 95% of the people I went to church with were not ADHD. Yet they had the same problems I did!! lol They squirmed in their seats from pure boredom, enduring sermons from long winded speakers. They got up and left just to get a break like everyone else. Yes, they too went to sleep right in service and fell captive to the sandman’s tune each and every Sunday Night!. And you tell me, what 8 your old kid could stay still sitting on a hard wood bench listening to monotone nerdy looking dude?

    What I’m trying to say is that religion is is created by man, but Christianity and being Holy was given and instructed God. Man, in his attempts of trying to please God and be Holy, made some mistakes. Not premeditated, not malicious but with good will as their intent Having kids endure hours upon hours of deep bible discussions, going back to church on Sunday night exhausted, having the some old liturgy Sunday after Sunday with no passion and creativity, were all things recognized by most churches that were not good and needed to change. And because the church remained true to its original mission of spreading peace and good will towards men, most churches and denominations have changed.

    In Today’s Christian church, no matter what denomination, you will find lots of singing, praise dancers and illustrated sermons, children s church and Teen Church, Dress Down Sunday and Themed Based Sunday’s like Veterans Day, Urban Wear Day, World Day showcasing the dress attire from many different countries. They have Sunday School for different ages with different topics and different types of settings, giving people a variety to choose from. There are many ministry and groups to participate in from Single Ministry to Book clubs and so on.

    Just like we ADHDer’s were not aware of some of the things we were doing and why were were doing them, most of us finally said enough and searched for help. When we were educated an enlighten, we made the necessary changes. Even though we made mistakes in the past, most of us don’t feel regret, because those experiences from the past has made us what we are today.

    I hate to see people have such narrow minded views when it comes to church. No church is perfect, but that doesn’t mean they are not good. Sure there were things that needed to change, and they have. But that doesn’t mean that churches didn’t provide help even in those un enlightened days. Yes there are some bad churches, but there’s plenty of good one too!

    I’m thankful that I was in church with ADHD, because it was in church I was allowed to express myself freely and not be viewed as weird ( well not all the time lol). In church they teach you the importance of praying and meditating to keep your mend clear. Meditating is highly recommended by Mental Health professional for people like us. And it was in church that I learned however I was made, with disorders and without, God said it was good. So i grew up knowing I was someone and something. Mind you, I was recently diagnosed with ADHD and grew not knowing it! Yet I still feel I belonged!

    I realize not everyone church experience was like mine,but I just want to let it be known that having ADHD, doesn’t give me or anyone else the right to then look into the world and begin to point fingers. People without ADHD have done some of the same things that ADDers have done and vice verse. So if we are told not to use ADHD as a crutch and a excuse, then the same should apply for everything else. Experiences in family, church, home, school, clubs, business organization are life experiences! Period!

    Cause truth be told, the problem is not ADHD, OCD, MTV or church, or any of these things that people root cause as the issue. The real problem is within the heart of each man! And sense none of us are God, we cant truly know another persons heart. From the heart do nasty things like hate, lust, envy, pride flow. And also from it flows love, kindness, strength, peace and joy.

    So I choose to accept what I am and what Ive done both good and bad, not blame family, church, society, school, government or even God for anything that has happened in my life. ADHD or not. We all have one thing in common… we are human!

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