Why I Believe

Jennica gives an honest account of her crisis of faith. She walks the reader through her experience of doubt, an experience that ultimately strengthened her beliefs. This article leads off our series on doubt, you can find the next one here. -Editor.

A couple of years ago a number of my family members announced that they were atheists. This came as quite a surprise to me because up until this point they had been active church members and seemingly firm believers in God.

At first I went through a state of denial, telling myself that this was just a healthy exercise in testing their faith, or coming to understand what the New Church truths mean in a context that is separated from what they were taught. As time went by I heard more and more declarations that they indeed identified themselves as atheists, and found that they had indeed diverged significantly from the beliefs I had previously thought we shared.

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If a Tree Falls, Pray.

When faced with events beyond her control, Jennica evokes prayer. She exchanges panic, protectionism and dread for an open ended conversation with God. That's not a bad trade. - Editor

It is cold—probably the coldest Bryn Athyn winter I can remember. Bryn Athyn winters usually hover around 35-45 degrees in the daytime so that whatever freeze happened overnight is a slushy, muddy mess by mid-morning. If it ever snows in Bryn Athyn we are lucky if it stays cold enough for us to play in it for one day. Once in a while we get a two or three day cold spell where it dips below freezing. This year (2010/11) December hit and we suddenly had below freezing temperatures round the clock with only a few short jumps above the freezing point. If we had a pond it would surely be ready for skating by now.

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There is No Such Thing as "Just Friends"

In this challenging essay, Jennica directly confronts the idea that there can be close, merely platonic friendship between men and women (outside of family relations). Jennica draws on the work of Dave Carder to make her case that infatuation needs to be seen for what it is in order to protect marriages from infidelity.

Just Friends

Jane and Ben spend a fair amount of time together. They hang out for coffee a couple times a month, speak on the phone every once in a while and message each other on Facebook. When asked if they are dating, they both insist they are “just friends.” This term is quite common in today's culture, so much that one might actually believe there is such a thing as a friendship between a man and a woman. In fact, I was a believer in such friendships until I reached a point in my life at which I began to look more closely at the friendships I have had with men, and also the friendships of people I know. It occurred to me that in every case what appeared to be a friendship was really infatuation. Thus developed my personal theory that there is no such thing as “just friends.”

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