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We often hear of talk about the Holy Ghost and feeling good about extending a calling or being extended a calling, etc. Some people apply the idiom to everyday things as in “I felt good about this new job….” Part of my faith transition has been taking those good feelings with a grain of salt and pondering the idea of confirmation bias. You might say that I have a good feeling confirmation bias exists and is responsible for many other good feelings. But I have also thought about times when I felt things weren’t going to go right or the way I would like or expect. I was once fired, I saw it coming, it was inevitable, and there was nothing I could do about it. I had a bad feeling about it. In a subsequent interview for another position, I recognized during the interview that I had answered a question differently than what the interviewer wanted to hear, and immediately knew I was out of the running – because I had a bad feeling about it. There are other examples I could use, but I think you can get the gist of it.
I will also say that I have never experienced a “stupor of thought” about anything – but I believe that if those sections of D&C were revelations they were revelations intended for Oliver Cowdery and are not necessarily applicable to me. Other sections in D&C are likewise of a more personal nature and not generally applicable IMO.
So what do you think? Are these “bad feelings” also from the Holy Ghost or are they also part of confirmation bias? Why don’t people (other than Han Solo, may he rest in peace, Luke Skywalker, et al) generally speak of these bad feelings? Are what I experience as bad feelings really what is meant by stupor of thought?
I have a “bad feeling” after eating too many chilidogs at the ball park. The only stupor of though has been when I try to figure out women. I am sure the opposite is true for women figuring me out. But seriously.
Some of what you describe I would say is intuition and the whole act of communication. Experts say that the words alone are a small part of the overall communication. The rest is voice inflection, body language, etc.
I can’t say I have ever had a stupor of thought. I have had bad feelings, but those were at the same time I was suffering from depression. I have had what I consider a spiritual experience, but I can’t say I have ever had a prayer answered with anything of an answer. I have prayed for things and they worked out. I have also prayed for things for multiple decades and they still have not worked out. In fact that is what chipped away at my faith and eventually what moved me towards my faith crisis.
I have become more comfortable (or at least less distressed) about not getting prayers answered in the way that JS said we should and more just casually asking God, thinking about it, and going with what comes to my mind. If I try to get more complex than that, I get my brain all twisted up.
We could frame it as the voice of intuition being neutral, where the labels of good and evil are being supplied by us. In the case of being fired it could be a “good” feeling in that you weren’t blindsided and had time to brace for the impact. In the case of the job interview it could have been a “good” feeling that let you know not to spend the next few weeks in a state of anxiety waiting for a response.
The intuition is just intuition, whether it’s a good feeling or a bad feeling is driven by how well it lined up with our desired outcome. Just guesses.
I have them a lot, and I attribute it to the judgment that comes with age. I don’t always act on them though, because I know I will upset people if I act on the feelings…..strange….but it he consequences aren’t dire and I need to teach someone something then I will go ahead in spite of the bad feelings. Sometimes its a feeling of heaviness as I ponder all the work involved in an initiative that I know is doomed to failure due to certain fundamentals not in place .
Sometimes its just an intellectual thought that tells me whatever is proposed will not work.
Once it was the feeling you would associate with JS clutching at the roots in the ground when attacked by Satan — this was when I was on the verge of marrying someone who was wrong for me. I crumpled up at the side of my bed and felt sick when I prayed about marrying her. It was clear that it was wrong.
Stupor of thought? One person told me it’s the inability to focus your mind on the problem or the solutions that come to you in prayer. That happens to me sometimes but it’s not clear that it’s an indication that the thing I’m asking about is wrong. I think it’s sometimes just the fact I can live my life without focus or have a hard time concentrating…or am tired.
I think if you are “in tune” spiritually…then these bad feelings or thoughts should be something to pay attention to, and what they could be telling you or having you consider about the situation. It’s all about figuring it out. But having spiritual experiences is being open to these things, however you want to write a story to express it.
Even the
Jedi ChurchI hate the way we take individual commentary (e.g., burning in the bosom and stupor of thought regarding Oliver Cowdery) and apply it to everyone – but I have had moments where I have experienced what I think a stupor of thought would be. Interestingly, they have come nearly always when I have been giving blessings, planned on saying something and then forgetting completely what I was going to say right as I started to say it. Other than that, I attribute most bad feelings to intuition or body language awareness.
This is something I feel like I’ve struggled with, especially when it comes to the church. The only thing… it’s the opposite problem. There are many times I have had a very good feeling, which I felt was the spirit pushing me in the right decision, and later the decision turns out to be wrong. Most of the time, things tend to work out for the best, but it’s definitely made me question whether it was the spirit I was feeling, or something else. I’ve also had very specific priesthood blessings from the most faithful, strong, righteous men I have ever met, that have not come true. There are also plenty of people, such as those belonging to the Islamic faith, who are strong, devout believers in their faith, but whose doctrinal beliefs run contrary to LDS theology. What makes their spiritual convictions less accurate than mine? There have also been some sad examples of people, such as Jonestown or the FLDS church, where people have become so disillusioned by “good feelings”, that they end up doing some really terrible things. While trying to sort things out with my own faith, I have felt very lost, as there are a lot of discrepancies I’ve found in Church History and the Book of Mormon, that I can’t wrap my mind around without an undeniable spiritual conviction… and yet I don’t feel like I can trust what I once called the “promptings of the Spirit”.
dande48 wrote:What makes their spiritual convictions less accurate than mine?
In my opinion, the only difference is if the actions are godly or not, not necessarily based on the religion is framed within, but on the virtue of the spiritual conviction itself. If it is truth, it is of God. Mormons don’t hold a monopoly on spiritual gifts or inspiration. Right?
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