Spiritual exploration

Finding Meaning When Old Beliefs No Longer Fit

By Rob Witty

I grew up in a great family. Church was part of our weekly life, and we hosted Bible studies in our home. Faith was woven into family, friendship, and the way we understood the world.

My spiritual journey eventually took me to India, where I travelled and studied at different ashrams. I was exploring, asking questions, and looking for a deeper understanding of life.

When I returned to Canada, I became involved in the Jesus movement of the 1970s. That became a significant part of my life. I was later ordained and pastored a church from 1982 to 1994.

It was an amazing experience. Those years mattered, and changing my beliefs doesn’t erase their value.

But after many years of reflection, I no longer subscribe to much of what I learned and taught.

That is an honest thing to say. It also carries some weight when you have stood in front of people and taught something with conviction.

I believed what I was teaching. Today, I see many things differently.

Some beliefs have changed gradually. Others have become questions I can no longer answer the way I once did. My spiritual exploration feels as though it is accelerating, bringing new ideas and challenging explanations I previously accepted.

There is something humbling about recognising that sincerity and certainty don’t guarantee understanding.

I can have believed something wholeheartedly and still be willing to reconsider it.

That willingness has become an important part of finding meaning for me.

I’m also looking more closely at how religious teachings reached us. What was included? What was left out? Whose interpretations became accepted truth, and whose voices were pushed aside?

I’ve become more questioning of church messaging that discourages inquiry or presents one interpretation as the only possible truth. I want to understand where spiritual teaching ends and institutional interests begin.

Those questions deserve careful exploration. I don’t want to accept a new claim simply because it challenges an old one. I want to bring the same curiosity to what I’m discovering now.

Otherwise, I could exchange one set of unquestioned beliefs for another.

So where does meaning come from when familiar beliefs no longer fit?

For me, it comes through remaining open enough to learn. Through allowing a question to stay unanswered for a while. Through considering a different perspective without feeling obliged to adopt it.

It also comes through the life right in front of me: time with Brenda, conversations with friends, music, and evenings watching the Pacific. Spiritual questions belong in that everyday life, alongside the people and experiences that matter to me.

I’m still interested in the Divine Spark within us and our connection to Source. I’m exploring what that means, and I expect my understanding will continue to change.

I can honour my family, value my years in ministry, and speak honestly about where I am today.

I don’t have a finished explanation to offer.

I have a willingness to keep looking, keep questioning, and remain open to what I have yet to discover.

For now, that is a meaningful place to be.