Remembering my spiritual experiences help me

Hi Gang,

Just thought I’d share my gems of wisdom with you regarding how my spiritual experiences have kept me in the church intellectually even though I just attend church on a very occasional basis. (a few times a year).

Hi!

I was in the “mormon stories facebook community” for a few weeks but there was a little of an anti-mormon sentiment in many postings that I felt were not helpful to me. I want to nurture my faith, not have to defend it every time I view postings there. And this is what I am glad about in this community because it seems there is a nurturing spirit here at StayLDS.com where you don’t have to defend against an anti-mormon sentiment.

I agree with you. Same with the NOM site. For some odd reason, though, I don’t so much mind those comments at the mormonapologetics site.

I became inactive as a result of bad social periods in my active church history. I was hurt and felt it best to stay away for a while. I felt isolated socially because of my pain but I managed to get through it yet I’m not active. I have thought of becoming active again but I really feel I have to approach church very cautiously. Maybe I am an overly sensitive individual who jumps to conclusions too quickly but for the most part I try to talk myself out of perceiving a negative attitude from someone who I think is thinking negatively of me or just try not to take it too personally (they may not even know me anyway).

Overly sensitive people have it hard, everywhere.

What has helped me to keep the faith in an intellectual sense (in spite of my inactivity) is remembering my spiritual experiences I have had while active. Some of you here at StayLDS.com are here maybe because you read church history books from unofficial church sources and that has shaken you from the faith or turned you sour toward the church for a while. That hasn’t been my case and I’m glad it hasn’t been my case. My reasons for my disaffection has been social and cultural in nature. Though I have been turned off by social or cultural reasons I still remember my spiritual experiences and it keeps me in a pro-lds attitude toward the church.

I am thankful for those spiritual experiences. Anyone else keep the faith for the same reasons – because of their spiritual experiences ? Please do share. Thank you.

BLC

I think if I hadn’t had those spiritual experiences, I would be in a huge dilemma right now, like many on this board are. I still do battle with myself on many fronts from time to time, with things like Jesus the man vs. Jesus the myth. Or Joseph the polyanderer or Joseph the Prophet. Or the eminent God vs. the transcendent God. Look what a little book learnin’ will do to you… 😯

Nevertheless, I have a vital understanding that much is going on around us that a materialist simply cannot accept. So I am not a materialist. I know the rules of modern historical research & writing, so I know that good historians admit that they don’t know what really happened (and take 800+ pages saying it), and bad historians just shoot from the hip & say what they want, “damn the evidence(or lack of it)!”.

Also the logical, reasoning mind loses over and over to the emotional or non-rational mind. It happens for all of us, no matter how hard we try to be rational. No matter how many tools (like logic) we try to employ to keep our thinking rational, ultimately, we fail. So it’s a really, really good idea to cleanse or purify the subconscious mind, so that the spiritual and/or emotional experiences we DO have are useful. For example, the Psalmist that writes of “he who has clean hands and a pure heart” attaining to holy places, is exactly right. Spiritual experiences happen to practically everyone. It’s the interpretation or understanding we take from them, that is often the problem. But not so much for those who are pure (the Church calls this “worthy”). And all this is experienced in the mind: mostly, non-rational.

So yeah, I do depend deeply on my spiritual experiences for my world-view. I accept that it is, essentially, a “magic” world-view. It’s done right by me, and I know it.

HiJolly

Happy Mystic

I still very much value my spiritual experiences. For my personal disposition, they aren’t the thing in my life that grounds me to the Church. But they do continue to keep me connected to the existence of a spiritual, transcendent reality out there (God, etc.).

To me internally, it seems wrong to deny my past spiritual experienes or to dismiss them as unimportant / made-up. That just isn’t honest to me (only speaking for me, no problem with others who decide different).

It’s all about context. I still feel good when I read the Book of Mormon. But now I have a different context. Instead of deciding that means the Church is true (or even that the book itself is true). It means there is valuable wisdom in the book for me. It feels good, so I go with it.

I guess I kind of get back to the same point, just taking a different route.

Nice post, DA!