Mar 29, 2011 -- 6:40AM, Pythia_crone wrote:

How and where do non-Christian UUs find spiritual solace and comfort in times of crises?

Most of the time I have no need for spiritual solace beyond human fellowship, the natural world, and artistic expression. I don't believe in God and have no use for prayer, and most of the time I don't feel the lack of either. I admit, however, that there are rare times when I wish I had a god or a bodhisattva or something to go to for peace and strength. About 6 months ago my fiancee was hit by a van while crossing the street. She spent a week in the hospital with several broken bones and other internal injuries. I lived in the hospital with her for that week. I remember watching her in pain and listening to her cry when the doctors were trying to find a combination of pain meds that worked. I was completely helpless, unable to do a thing to alleviate the pain of the woman I loved. I remember feeling an incredible anger towards the God I didn't even believe in because I thought if God is our father then how could he stand by and watch one of his children suffer and not do anything about it. I had so much anger in my heart. I was angry that maybe there was a God who refused to do anything about her suffering. I was angry that maybe there was no God at all. I went to the hospital chapel a few times by myself to try to find peace. I sought God if he was there. I sought inner strength if God was not there. I found neither. All I found was emptiness and suffering.

So yes, sometimes I do feel the need for a God, but that doesn't mean that any deity is actually there. All I got was silence. Sometimes nothing is enough, and we just have to suffer alone and somehow get through it. That's life I guess.