Dad still prays but insists that there is no God. I don't know if he just wants somebody to prove or preach to him and convince him there is a God or what. I always tell him he is free to believe what he wants but that I still believe there is a God and always will. I am not a religious person and don't feel like I am the right person to preach or convince anybody that there is a God. I just know from my own experience that God has played a big part in my life. That is all I can tell my Dad. But he just goes on about how the bible is just a big lie or fairy tale made up by man. I know he is probably upset about our mother's (his wife's) death and that his health is failing where he needs to be cared for 24-7 and that might be a big part of his attitude. But I don't know what more to say other than he has a right to believe what he wants. And I will continue to believe in God and tell him the reasons why.
I take my mother to church on Sunday, but it is more a social event, instead of a spiritual one. God to me seems to have left the building.
The more you help them the worse they treat you. Dad would not move in with us but would rather see me on the road for 4 hours a day to help him out. I think that you are doing the right thing by tell him he can believe in what he wants. You helped me by your posting that statement. Next time my Dad starts on me that is what I am going to say to him. THANKS!! The fact that your Dad keeps praying tells me that he really does believe in God. My Dad does not even pray. The way he treat my husband and me I believe he is a non-believer. Please don't let him affect your believes. We can all lose faith when we are caring for our parents. Thanks for posting.
I cannot say that Mom has lost faith in God, I think her depression and the ensuing dementia just took all that away from her. We still say grace at every meal and sometimes I see her with her head down longer as though she is adding more to the prayer. She no longer reads her Bible but I think it is because she either makes no sense of it or because her memory is so short perhaps it makes no sense.
She made a statement one day however that surprised me. She said she was afraid to die. As Christians we were taught that we would go to heaven after death so I was taken back by her statement. All I know is that maybe someday if I live to be as old as her, I may feel afraid to die as well, I just don't know.
What I do know now is that there are days that are so difficult and trying that I wish God would take me, just so I can escape!
My guess says between the loss of his wife, your mother, his life partner, as well as his own aging infirmaties - now facing "alone", that he's despondent, depressed. I have an old family friend who has quoted her mother's aging, later in a SNF, and resorting back to her Spanish language saying "Why is God doing this to me?" - as to how that all powerful, all loving, all knowing God can turn a wonderful life into a miserable aloneness of aging. It sounds to me like your father needs to get involved in senior center contact & events - and depending what State he is in (at least in my state, Calif., we have a telephonic senior center without walls, for seniors that are shut-ins. I've seen it bring depressed, blind, home-bound seniors back to exuberant happiness.
I grew up in a fundamentalist home and have lots of questions regarding whether God exists. My parents and most of my family attend church, but I do not. However, I do not believe church attendance has anything to do with one's personal belief in God, nor is church attendance necessary for one's salvation.
I doubt you or anyone would be able to convince your dad that God exists, but he must have believed in God sometime in his life. I just know the Bible says the debt of our sins was paid through the blood of the Lamb. Maybe when your dad starts in about believing there is no God, you could just say "I love you, Dad" and change the subject.
If yourself are dealing with questions about what will happen to your father after his death, I would contact someone from your church or temple and ask for some support for yourself. Peace and good wishes.
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