When Doubt Becomes Divine
Finding Deeper Faith Through Life’s Questions
Is spiritual doubt a crisis of faith or a doorway to more profound belief? For many aging believers, religious uncertainty becomes more common – and surprisingly more enriching.
I have always been a questioner, which, I assure you, can be a mixed blessing. At least I seem to be fitting the demographic, for studies show that spiritual questioning often peaks in our later years.
I invite you to take a moment or two to reflect on your spiritual path.
Has it been straight, staying in the same tradition for worship since childhood?
Or have you gone in and out of chapel doors like turnstiles at a fair?
Perhaps you turned your back totally on the faith of your early years and wonder if it is too late to return.
Or maybe you are engaged in a life-giving fellowship of others with no connection to formal religion.
It’s all good.
The Divine (God, High Power, Mystery, Love) is not confined to one address with stained glass windows.
Nor is the Divine relegated to only one name. I hold in my hand a non-conclusive list of 157 names for God collected from the Bible, Rabbinic texts and tradtional and recent prayers
What is important is the questions we ask about things that can’t be seen— about the mystical, about life after death, about love, about good vs evil, about hope. The poet, Rainer Maria Rilke encourages us to “Love the questions.” and I have always taken this very seriously
The Gift of Questions
I remember sitting with an elderly patient during his final days when he suddenly asked, “What if everything I’ve believed isn’t quite how I thought?”
With no confidence in where this conversation would lead, we continued to chat about this man’s doubts about his faith, his fears about death, and his questions about the existence of God.
This mirrors the experiences of great spiritual seekers: Mother Teresa’s recently published letters revealed decades of spiritual darkness, yet she kept serving.
Thomas, the disciple, needed to touch Jesus’s wounds to believe.
Their religious doubts didn’t diminish their faithfulness; they amplified it.
As we age, we’ve lived enough to know that the most profound spiritual truths often come wrapped in questions rather than answers.
The Hidden Power of I Don’t Know
Speaking of questions, remember when we thought we knew everything?
Today, there’s something liberating about admitting uncertainty.
It’s like cleaning out an overcrowded closet – making space for mystery creates room for wonder.
When we stop trying to be spiritual know-it-alls, we might actually hear that still, small voice more clearly.
This takes us to an interesting paradox in our faith journey.
Sometimes, letting go of spiritual certainty leads to a deeper religious conviction.
I’ve found this to be true every time I surrendered what I “knew” from my early childhood training and listened to what was being revealed at another moment in time.
My certainty about everything— from heaven and hell to the ‘fatherhood’ of God — has grown smaller over the years while my spiritual life has somehow grown deeper.
Last Sunday, while staring at my bulletin during the sermon, I had an epiphany about faith and aging that surprised me.
Then it hit me – maybe that’s exactly how divine insight works. The light of deep wisdom breaks through when we are least expecting it—in ordinary moments when we think we are doing something else…like listening to a sermon.
When Faith Feels Like Swiss Cheese
Some worry that spiritual doubts weaken religious faith like holes in cheese. But consider this: Swiss cheese is stronger, more flexible, and more interesting than processed cheese.
Those spaces in our faith journey? They’re breathing room for spiritual growth.
There’s a world of difference between religious questioning that seeks truth— and doubt that simply wants to tear down.
And as I’ve discovered from my spiritual journey, these holes often become windows through which new light shines.
Embracing the Journey
This brings us to where many of us ‘baby boomers’ find ourselves today – moving from a faith that accepted (or rejected) the answers to all of life’s questions written by scholars hundreds of years ago to a faith that welcomes spiritual exploration and challenge.
In discussions with friends from both church and community, I have observed that our deepest connections come not from sharing certainties but from sharing questions about God and meaning.
Senior wisdom brings the insight to see that religious faith isn’t about having all the answers – it’s about trusting enough to keep asking questions.
The divine often speaks most clearly in our moments of uncertainty. Like Moses at the burning bush, we might need to remove our shoes of presumption to stand on holy ground.
Our spiritual doubts, rather than separating us from God, might actually be invitations to deeper communion. After all, isn’t this journey of faith more about growing than knowing?
What’s The Shape of Your Faith?
I wonder, how has spiritual uncertainty shaped your faith as you’ve aged? Are you asking more questions about faith…or fewer? (There are no right or wrongs!)
Your doubts don’t diminish your faith – they might just be the seeds of its deepening.
Are you growing wider or deeper? (No, I’m not asking about middle-age spread!)
The thing about spiritual growth is— it never stops. But it does reflect what we are feeding our soul.
This is one of the reasons I write this blog—to spark your appetite for curiosity, questions, and growth.
Do you like to ponder life questions, both deep and not-so-deep? Join TheReflectiveCollective, a Facebook group with daily prompts for spontaneous writing— appetizers to feed your soul.
Come back for more of TheReflectivePen!
