I’ve noticed a pattern. I connect with a lot of people who have shed religion and left it behind. It seems what happens is that a person discontinues their outward religious expressions – going to church, religious duties, activities and disciplines, etc, and they divest themselves of many of their former beliefs about God and related areas. Despite these kinds of changes, I have found that much of the underlying religious thinking continues with the person and just takes a different expression. This happens because these underlying mindsets have been so deeply ingrained in a person that they hold on and morph into whatever direction the person takes next. What makes matters worse is that people in this scenario don’t have the fundamental tools for breaking free and creating a new life. It’s a bad combination – you are fed a lot of religious thinking that sabotages your life, and you’ve never learned the essential tools for deep change and transformation.
This is ultimately why I started a practice of spiritual direction and coaching. I learned this is more involved than what could be worked out through a few message exchanges on Facebook or my blog. If you are interested in this kind of direction and coaching, you can email me at: nobody.jimpalmer@gmail.com. I typically ask people to make a financial donation for each spiritual direction or coaching call, which enables me to do my crisis work with cult survivors and victims of domestic violence. Every situation is different. I do 1-hour calls with people weekly, every other week, or once a month. It’s whatever works for you.
