Greater Love Has No One Than This

Wow, you guys.

I'm pretty overwhelmed right now. In the words of the great philosopher Arthur Shappey, "other people are great!"

After my last post, I got inundated by emails, tweets, Facebook messages, wall posts, texts, and even good old face-to-face conversations about my post. Congratulatory, sympathetic, proud, sad, from deconverts, from strong believers, from closeted unbelievers, from family, from close friends, from near-strangers, from people I haven't spoken to in years...

And every single one of them was full of love and support.

"It's as if you wrote down what's been scrolling across the inside of my brain for the last year. Proud to know you."

"I only wish I had the courage at your age to be this honest about my own creeping doubts."

"I don't know you half as well as I'd like, but that was incredibly moving. Glad you've found a dissonance-free mental landscape to roam."

 "You are incredibly brave, and fierce. I look forward to you changing the world in the future :-)"

"And although we have come to different conclusions, I understand and admire your rejection of hypocrisy. The thing I admire most in people is integrity... and you have it. Thank you for sharing."

"Thanks for what you wrote. It takes courage and strength to be honest and I wish more people would be more honest about how they really feel and what really bothers them."

"I'm sure you understand that it's hard for me to enjoy reading it, but I respect your honesty and searching so much."

"Your blog speaks for so many of us. We're just not so brave or good with words to go public with our 'untestimony'."

"It made me so proud to know you... I admire you extremely... to have completely changed a perspective so core-based, so fundamental, to your upbringing. Most people never do that... And the courage to risk that step is inspiring."

I had Christians and heathens alike defending me vociferously on Bible Study Geek Randy's Facebook page after he posted about me... twice.*

I had a response post by a friend of a friend about losing the guilt over being normal.

In short, my life is full of wonderful people. While I no longer have to feel constantly inadequate, it's hard in the face of all that love and loveliness to think that I could ever be so loving and lovely in return.

Randy wondered

if she has those little times of sadness when everything is quiet and she is thinking and she wonders if she has jettisoned a faith that matters.

Now more than ever, I can answer that question without a moment's hesitation. I have my moments of sadness and quiet, sure - but I don't doubt for a moment that this world is enough. There are so many things that make my life meaningful, exciting, and so very worth living. The amazing love (and lovely awesomeness) of the people in my life has just bowled me over, not for the first time, and reminded me how much good there is in the world: this world, right here.

There is nothing more; but I want nothing more.

(Source)

*He and I have had a pretty constructive and polite exchange of emails and see a bit more eye to eye since his first post, so please don't feel like you still have to give him a hard time on my behalf!