*Advice needed*

I really need help because I feel lost and don't know where to turn anymore. I have lost all belief in God and feel that I am now being made to suffer for it.

I got my own apartment about 6 months ago and I am 100% certain that I am being haunted by some sort of spirit. Lights come on by themselves, things move from one place to another. I am not bothered about the spirit being there because if it had any harmful intentions it would of harmed me by now. But I believe that this is ment as some sort of message. Please, if anybody has any advice on what to do it would be very much appreciated.

Thank you.

From what I've heard about evil spirits, its advised to tell them to go away. I don't know if I believe in them, but I heard that's what you're supposed to do - I have an open mind though. I don't think God will punish you for having doubts. When I see bad things happening, I just chalk it up to unfortunate bad luck. Can you move from there? Can you ask the previous tenants if they noticed these things?

If fairly common when we have bad breaks in life, to doubt and question the existence of God so don't feel bad for this. I don't think God's punishing people by making them sick. My father died at the age of 34(cancer) and left 5 kids...I was only 2. I don't think he was punishing him or us by taking him. I will send you some positive vibes and wish you peace of mind.

To begin with, which God have you stopped believing in? It seems like everyone means something different when they say God, but they assume that everyone else means the same thing. It feels so obvious to everyone that it isn't worth asking about. If you have decided that what you have been told about God describes a picture that doesn't make sense, then it only makes sense for you to not believe in that particular God. The problem is that now it sounds like part of you still believes in a God who would allow you to be punished for not believing. This doesn't really make sense either. Usually God is defined as being all-powerful and all-knowing. You can throw eggs at your neighbors house, or you can kick a security guard, or you can put laxatives in brownies and serve them at work. You can do these things as one person with a physical body to another person with a physical body. God is another matter. No matter what you may have heard, we can't hurt God any more than we can drain all the oceans with a spoon. It makes even less sense that God would feel compelled to retaliate. Unfortunately, what you know consciously is not enough to change things. That place in the back of your mind which still believes in a God who can be hurt and would strike back at you is the part which needs to be convinced. When there is punishment, this is where it actually comes from. It isn't something you choose to do to yourself, and I don't mean to suggest anything that would be called "blaming the victim". It is a process involving a lot of healing and few people choose to do it. Those that do, and really follow through with it, do so because they have to and not because they want to.

Hi Lynn. I don't think telling them to go away would get rid of them. I think a preist has to come to bless the apartment. I haven't looked into this subject much myself so i'm not sure. I really want to restore my faith because I think I would be alot happier. Do you think the first step to take may be actually going into a church to talk to a priest? And maybe that is when my faith will begin to be restored, i'm not sure what to do really. Thanks for answering my post and for the positive vibes (feel like I need alot of those at the moment) :-)

Hi Inedible. My family is catholic. I think that part of me does still believe in God but my life has gone up and down so I think my faith has been buried under all the bad things that have happened in my life. I think I just need to find a way to bring it back to the surface but I an searching for the right method.

P.S: putting laxatives in chocolate brownies would make alot more chocolate brownies!! :-D

Faith is another of those things that people can mean all kinds of different things when they say it. For me, faith is what make it possible to be okay with the things I can't know for sure. It isn't confidence in my beliefs, and that is what most people seem to tell me it is. Beliefs will naturally shift when you have different experiences, and beliefs will decide what kinds of experiences you can have. Most people start out as children with all kinds of strange things they believe, and these beliefs fall away naturally. Most people stop growing up in their early teens and just grow older, unfortunately. If your idea of faith is that it is the glue holding your beliefs together, I can see why it would be a problem to have your beliefs disrupted suddenly.

Hi AL1EN. I'm a recovered alcoholic and member of a 12 step progran. The program is spiritual rather than religous. We encourage that one believe in God as he understands Him. One of my favorite sayings is: God either is or isn't. I have a deep and abiding faith in God as I understand Him, which brings me much peace. I have only just started going tochurch a month ago. I'm a long way from the agnostic I used to be. Hang in there and you will find the answer that is right for you. You will be in my prayers.