- This topic is empty.
-
Posts
-
Terribly broad question, but I guess I need to ask it. I feel very stagnant. I can engage religious concerns intellectually and move toward accommodation of those concerns in that way, but I’m not really feeling spiritually active. This is, of course, my fault: I’m not doing anything about it. What are you all doing in your spiritual lives that seems to be working (or not working)?
Gabe, I have been pursuing a specific spiritual path since the beginning of 2008. It has been an amazing experience. I write every Saturday about my feelings and thoughts and experiences within this path on my own blog. The following posts are the foundational posts: http://thingsofmysoul.blogspot.com/2008/01/new-years-resolution.html http://thingsofmysoul.blogspot.com/2009/01/new-years-resolution-2009.html The key is that this is NOT a “checklist” in any way. It literally is a planned path for personal progress and growth.
I don’t believe this exact format is what everyone should do, but I have come to believe that the general concept is fundamental.
Gabe P wrote:Terribly broad question, but I guess I need to ask it. I feel very stagnant. I can engage religious concerns intellectually and move toward accommodation of those concerns in that way, but I’m not really feeling spiritually active. This is, of course, my fault: I’m not doing anything about it.
What are you all doing in your spiritual lives that seems to be working (or not working)?
I sought to gain understanding of my experience. Particularly, my spiritual experiences. Some of these were ‘pure intelligence’ or discernment and needed no explanation, but others such as the baptism of fire did *not* come with explanation.So I have searched through not only scriptures and Conference talks and the like, but when that did not satisfy me, I branched out into other religious or even ‘spiritual’ (watch out) traditions for more information. What an interesting journey it has been, and I honestly feel like God has guided me through it all. He even (via an unsuspecting Home Teacher’s blessing) gave direct permission to do some pretty interesting stuff having to do with “the energies of the earth”. Heh.
Joseph Smith’s example and cultural milieu really helped a lot, too.
HiJolly
Thanks for your examples. I found both enlightening and they stimulated a few new ideas. What am I doing spiritually? That’s a good question for me. In short I’m trying to become active in the Church again and become Temple worthy. Patti and I, my wife of 35 years, have never been inside of a Temple. We have been out wandering the face of the earth communing with Heavenly Father and visiting His creations for the past 3 years. We have not been to church in 10 years but we read the scriptures and try to keep the Sabbath as best as we could while in foreign lands and at sea. I’ve wanted to go to Church in some of these countries we’ve visited but it’s really hard. We anchor out and take a rubber dinghy to shore. Keeping nice clothing is impossible, they mildew fast. I bought a new set of church clothes when we left Mexico and by the time I dug them out in Samoa they were toast. It’s a wet ride to shore etc…lot’s of excuses. But while at anchor in Pago Pago I felt the Holy Spirit calling me to go be sealed to my wife and to start doing proxy baptisms. We have a lot of dead friends and relatives that need the chance to be ministered to in the spirit world. I can’t face them without doing something about it.
Now we are back in the Los Angeles area parent sitting Patti’s folks. Her Dad is 90 and step Mom is 87. We can no longer leave them alone. We had 2 good caregivers but none are willing to work Sunday morning. One has taken a construction job so we are down to one caregiver. We kept the caregivers because they needed the work, her folks can afford it and Patti has had 2 hand operations. Patti really can’t be doing a lot of hand work, she cries at night in her sleep due to pain. She is a trooper and does not complain in public.
So I guess my first step is to go to Church by myself and meet some people. I don’t mind saying I’m scared. We have Word of Wisdom problems (which are minor compared to the past), there seems to be an apostasy going on (which surprised me) and we live in a high dollar area on a low budget. I’ve bought church clothing for me but we still need Patti’s.
I’m not so worried about appearances and feeling out of place as I am about this apostasy. I really hope our Bishop is guided by the Spirit and believes in the ordinances. We have a few issues to work out before we could become Temple worthy and I’d like to get some worthy people to start on the proxy baptisms. I don’t want my friends and relatives to have to wait on me. I don’t know, it’s been so long I really don’t remember how it all works. I do have a testimony that Our Father in Heaven listens to prayers and sometimes He answers them on the spot, I enjoy conversing with Him for days on end at sea. The Church of Jesus Christ LDS must truly be the work of Christ or else why would the Holy Spirit call me back? I have to believe the ordinances performed in the Temple must be bound in heaven.
Rod
Have ya’ll read “A New Earth” yet by Eckhart Tolle? For me, there is much spiritual wisdom there…enough to last one a long, long time.
I love that question. Spiritually, I ebb and flow. Nothing particularly noteworthy at the moment other than focusing on really trying to see others (Arbinger Institute books, Anasazi Foundation). In the past, these things have really paid for me: Dreams. Pray for them, journal them, pay attention to their lessons for you.
- Fasting.
quickfasting.comlearn how. - Devotional reading. Bhagavad Gita, Sermon on Mount, Didache, Walden, Gospel of Thomas, Gospel of Mary Magdalene, near death experiences at
near-death.com- Devotional media. Touched by an Angel, Shadowlands, Our Vines have Tender Grapes
- Introspection. See
yogaworld.orgAlso worth learning about, though I haven’t really used them:
Lucid dreaming.
- Out-of-body experiences.
- Entheogens.
That should give you some interesting leads.
Tom
Rodh – some of us travel the world and care about others and some of us watch basketball 
John – I haven’t heard of that one. Any particular theme in there that has really helped you?
Tom – It’s interesting that you mention dreams. I remember dreams very frequently, and it’s pretty much always about nuclear war. Part of that is pretty easy to explain: I’m interested in the topic and read constantly about it. Part of that is more difficult to explain and implicates why I care about the topic so. I’m not sure what motivates me to be concerned with such catastrophe in a personal way. I know intellectually that someone needs to be concerned and I feel strongly that the world cannot forget about this issue, but it’s become much more personal. Perhaps it’s because the intense fear of such a calamity seems to turn my heart toward God.
Gabe P wrote:why I care about the topic so
Now you are getting spiritual! “Why am I this way?”
I am always on the lookout for supplemental spiritual materials, often from other faith traditions. The reason for that is hearing the divine messages in another cultural faith language. I am so used to my own faith tradition’s ways, that I sometimes can’t hear the message. I really enjoy Speaking of Faith interviews. I listen to those and other audio podcasts during my commute time and lunch breaks (about 1.5-2.0 hrs a day). Speaking of Faith, NPR show:
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/ A
BIGtool for me lately is meditation and non-verbal prayer. I have a hunger for quiet and rest (not sleep, but rest). Last weekend, I took a chair out into our back yard (we live in the woods) and just sat there in the dark for an hour or two and listened to the world. I prayed and meditated. By non-verbal prayer, I mean feeling my prayers instead of speaking them with my mouth or in my mind. Instead of saying words like “thank you Heavenly Father for …” I will picture something (or a person, like my wife or children) in my mind and feel thanks, feel it deeply, imagine that feeling radiating out of me like a brilliant music/light in all directions. I will sometimes just sit or lay somewhere and feel love for God in that same way (while trying to keep all the worries and racing thoughts of life out of my present mind). That type of prayer/meditation is better than any kind of drugs.
I second valoel’s non-verbal prayer exploration. It is a wonderful thing to focus on “feeling” your thoughts and desires and expressions of hope and spiritual requests. Gabe P wrote:John – I haven’t heard of that one. Any particular theme in there that has really helped you?
It’s a life-changer for me. It’s all about “living in the now” — but it’s very profound (to me). It has become like scripture.
P.S. Krista Tippett’s “Speaking of Faith” was also amazing to me. Both her podcast and her book. Valoel wrote:That type of prayer/meditation is better than any kind of drugs.
Indeed. It may have been Hofman, the father of LSD (not LDS), who said you can accomplish with fasting, prayer, and meditation everything you can accomplish with entheogens.
Valoel wrote:I am so used to my own faith tradition’s ways, that I sometimes can’t hear the message.
Exactly! That’s why I don’t
at this timeread the Book of Mormon much. Staying LDS will require me to return and re-appreciate. But all in good time.
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.