I retired 8 and 1/2 years ago. I did just get off some substances that I've been playing around with for about a year. It make me really sad knowing that I have an addictive personality and I think that it's to heal an empty childhood. I did have to pull the plug on a fledging relationship with a woman that turned out to be a weekly negative trickle with her. It really made me wonder how I'm always a sucker for people that mask negative energy. I think that's why I spend a good portion of my time on my own. I'm just tired of trying to navigate humans and their nuances. I mostly take a 'God just knows' approach now. I'm not sure what to believe anymore. Faith is so confusing and I just get so annoyed with the pageantry and rituals of our divine belief systems. Or it could be because of all the mold in my van that I didn't know I had. Which I'm in the process of mitigating now. Someone brought this up as a potential problem yesterday.
Sounds like this may just be your own mind telling you to keep the path. It may be more that these changes are all good, and to not allow the demons to drag you back.
I get the hesitation on ritual. I belong to a church that holds to the obligations (corporeal Sunday worship) without all of the pomp and circumstance. If you are interested, this isn't a bad description of reform theology. I call it "nerd church" because it's about learning the bible more than the "Jesus is my boyfriend" shit. I'm in a PCA church, and the running joke is that they are the only churches where there is a church library that people actually check books out of. (And yeah, my church does.)
https://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/what-is-reformed-theology
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