Is true faith under Christianity just a puppetry of psychological satisfaction?

timothy53

I don't know if my question is phrased properly but I hope you guys understand. If not please ask for further clarification. I am Coptic orthodox. Born into it. I am only recently discovering my faith as a 20-year-old but I would say I don't have the strongest faith. Recently I have been working on myself recently by preventing myself to fall into sin, working hard, working out, etc. Recently during liturgies, I feel very connected with the words and hymns that are said. I have been practicing more hymns etc. All of which makes me feel good about myself. But I can't seem to say I have strong faith. Although simultaneously I can say I feel great! Not great in the sense of seeing results. I feel good waking up working hard knowing I am doing the "right" thing. The "right" thing. This is what stuck out to me. We defined right. Society defined what was right and wrong. Therefore, based off those societal norms, we work upon bettering ourselves. Those societal norms are not followed under the Coptic Church. So why follow the Coptic Church? I feel like the satisfaction people claim to receive from going to church, feeling the holy spirit, singing and chanting hymns in church are all signs of psychological satisfaction. I see it like this. When you sit home all day, eat garbage food, watch tv and just ROT, you feel bad and disgusting. With that, getting up, working hard in school/work, bettering yourself, eliminating all lustful thoughts and addictions are all sources of psychological satisfaction. The ACTION of working hard and the action of continuously trying is what gives us satisfaction. And of course, when one overcomes addictions and overcomes problems they feel an immense happiness. Basically is this all fake?

mabsoota

dear timothy 53,

the evil one has many ways of fighting us.

what you are experiencing sounds like a type of listlessness, a general dissatisfaction.

the church fathers who wrote in greek called it 'akedia', sometimes anglicised as 'acedie' (as if we would understand what that meant!)

many people who have time to think (not busy growing vegetables, searching for water for the family or running from war) are told that everything is relative, there is no one 'true' way to think, anyone who believes in one moral law for the whole world is ignorant etc. etc.

the solution is to run towards God - actively - not just turning up at the same church every week as usual - but getting there earlier, reading the daily Bible readings beforehand, confessing more often, praying from the agpeya (prayer book) at least twice a day.

if you speak more thanone language, try reading / praying in your second language (your brain will be more angaged).

if not, be sure to pray out loud (quietly out of respect of the neighbours) and add a few words of your own after every prayer.

after praying, ask God to show you the way and to demonstrate His love, which is overwhelming.

speak to someone who joined the orthodox church as an adult - ask what is it that that person sees that maybe you have forgotten.

the other way to fight it is to do something practical and useful (one of these suggestions, not all at once!)

actually grow vegetables (if you are in the northern hemisphere or in a subtropical area, now is a good time for planting), raise money for people who are struggling to find clean water, take up knitting or sewing, or walk the dog for a neighbour etc. etc.

then you will be too busy to get caught in your thoughts.

fight on both fronts, and may God give you peace and grace.

short answer - yes, it is very real, and i thank God every day for the orthodox church, having come to it later in life (in my 30's)