Is the "Spirit" reliable?

[Anonymous]

I wrote this, but realized it really belongs to its own thread, so this is a spin-off from the “…church is true” thread.

brynngal wrote:

… a few things that I know were the spirit guiding me, or some sort of spiritual element.

I like a lot of what you said, brynn, but I want to focus on this statement for a minute. I am one to look at a simple statement and think of the deeper process (I know, I’ve never claimed to be normal… ). For example, most TBMs often say “the spirit told me the church is true, Joseph was a prophet, etc.” Or, “God told me to marry this guy…”

So what does that really mean? When pressed, many say something like “it was an experience that opened my mind to things I’d never understood before…it was a warm, peaceful feeling that I cannot deny,” etc.

I think it is appropriate that we ask after that, am I interpreting the feeling correctly? If a Jihad dude feels such a strong conviction that he should strap bombs and run into a building to kill himself and many other innocent people, is he interpreting “the Spirit” correctly? Who are we to say that his spiritual experience was not as powerful or as real as ours telling us the BoM is true?

I can relate to this issue. I’ve had some very miraculous experiences in my own life that would be hard to believe by our current understanding of things physical. Oddly enough (to some), some were on my mission, some were during activities that TBMs would probably say were from Satan. But they were equally real and spiritual to me. And in a way, they contradicted each other. So what does that mean?

My answer is “I don’t know.” (sorry, no profound wisdom here… 😥 ). What I’ve done with it is concluded that if the experience leads me to be a better person, to me, my family, and to the planet, I consider it “real,” whatever “real” is. If it doesn’t make sense to me, or is hurting people, I chalk that up to a bad mix of ego, pride, and hormones!

So I guess what I’m saying is that since “God” gave me a brain, I think I should use it along with the “Spirit” to make decisions in life. If they conflict, maybe I should think twice…or sleep on it a night or two.

Your thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Quote:

My answer is “I don’t know.” (sorry, no profound wisdom here… ). What I’ve done with it is concluded that if the experience leads me to be a better person, to me, my family, and to the planet, I consider it “real,” whatever “real” is. If it doesn’t make sense to me, or is hurting people, I chalk that up to a bad mix of ego, pride, and hormones!

I totally believe that our ego can give us answers we want and that “feelings” can confirm them.

I really, truly think it can be summed up that if your experience/feeling/impression/etc inspires you to something kind and loving do it.

If a “still small voice” tells you to do something that would hurt yourself or another (violence, lying, infidelity, steal, etc) that it is coming from the ego and needs to be overcome.

[Anonymous]

There have been times in my life when the Spirit is undeniably present. Overpowering to the point of almost being too intense to endure. And then, there are other times I’m looking for direction and get weak impressions — maybe a random idea to talk to someone about something gospel related, or maybe a desire to do something good. In these latter times, whether it’s inspiration or not are just not clear me.

So, wheter the Spirit reliable, for me, depends on how intense and undeniable it is. If it’s overpowering, then it’s reliable as its undeniably from God. If I can’t say definitively it’s from God, it’s not reliable — and then, it may not even be the Spirit.

[Anonymous]

I have had a handful of experiences that I personally feel are “undeniable” – and thousands of “I think that was the Spirit” or “Was that the Spirit?” or “I’m not getting anything” experiences. I wouldn’t say that I don’t know, but I certainly would say that I don’t always know in the moment – since I also have had very strong impressions that seemed to fall apart at the time but came clearly into focus long afterward.

I also know people who, I believe, truly are more “in tune” with something outside themselves (like “the Spirit”) – and other people who think they are, but I can’t be as confident as they are given what I perceive about them.

So, is the “Spirit” reliable? Absolutely, and probably, and I’m not sure, and probably not, and abso-freaking-lutely not.

[Anonymous]

I don’t know how many times I’ve sat in a meeting or a class and had someone talk about the spirit being present and how strong it was and I didn’t feel anything and in fact did not feel the lesson or talk was all that great. The result is that I don’t expect to feel anything and am beginning to wonder if it’s a self full filling prophecy. You don’t feel anything, you don’t expect to feel anything and then you don’t feel anything. I’m happy for those that feel they have that sort of connection with the divine and if it helps them live a better life, then more power to them but I can’t help feeling a little mistrustful and skeptical of them. Especially if they’re calling me to serve in the nursery.

[Anonymous]

For most of my life, I’ve made decisions (big & small) based on spiritual guidance… It’s taken until just last year to realize that spiritual feelings are just that…feelings, not facts…& how I interpret them is up to the mind part of me. I felt the spirit about an ex (who cheated on me & his ex-wife) – & thought, so does that mean, I should leave my family & be with him? Absolutely not! But then why did I feel the spirit about him? Because I remembered good times we shared & felt a love for him from that. I think the spirit testifies of love & hope (not necessarily truth) that I focus on, but as you mentioned, God gave us a brain to use too.

You mentioned contradictions – I think we are walking contradictions! You know, “the spirit is willing but the flesh is weak.” Our minds/egos may be weak, but they are powerful – for good or bad. I can think through & reason & think of what’s best, despite feelings…or I can decide what I want (whether it’s best or not) & let my ego do the manipulating to interpret the spiritual feelings how I want. I do think we’re capable of spiritually sensing along with intepreting what’s best… & I think meditation helps in being open to what that is.

[Anonymous]

My personal rule is:

Morality trumps spirituality every time.

Whether or not my inner experiences (spirituality) are real, I am willing to stake my existence on the reality of my neighbor (morality).

[Anonymous]

I do not know for sure what the spirit feels like. I use to think I knew, but certain experiences led me to understand it was all mixed up with emotion. I believe emotion is a very powerful thing and it can mimic the spirit very easily. Heck for all I know they are the same thing. I do wonder however are people really feeling the spirit. I mean they only interpret those feelings as the spirit because they were taught that is what they are. What if from childhood you were taught those feeling were deceptive and you should ignore them. Would you still say it was the spirit speaking.

I struggle with people saying the spirit said this or that because it is so abstract. Especially in the Mormon church someone can use the spirit to confirm anything. Of course if it was the spirit talking you get instant credibility and everyone says you must follow that prompting. On the other hand if I introduce something based on empirical evidence everyone becomes a skeptic. It is all backwards to me.

My rule has become that the spirit really speaks to you through intelligence. God gave you a brain use it. Reason it out. Look at it from different angels and make a decision. You do not always need some emotional experience to confirm the truth of something.

[Anonymous]

IMHO, a lot of the time, the so called “Spirit” is just someone’s feelings. People confuse the two.

At other points, it might be intuition. Despite getting a bit pf sensational promotion from New Age quarters, a lot of intuition isn’t actually psychic, it’s actually the unconscious mind picking up on signals that the conscious mind doesn’t. Therefore it can seem “psychic”, but in fact the unconscious is picking up on body language etc. What’s known as a gut feeling.

Needless to say some people are better at picking up things than others. Some just can’t.

If the real Spirit is in operation, then things don’t go wrong, and if they do, it’s for a purpose. I myself witnessed false prophecy in a Pentecostal church, it didn’t happen, so that’s why it’s false… if it had been divine in origin, then it would have happened. Mind you, Joseph SMith is supposed to have made a string of failed prophecies so make of that what you will.

[Anonymous]

I think “The Spirit” is 100% reliable at what it really does — which is prompt action, create transformation and sets things in motion. As one poet put it (paraphrasing), following the Spirit of God we encounter individually in our inner landscapes is how God expresses his “wild divinity.” I just loved that phrase “wild divinity” because it isn’t an attribute we commonly talk about. But this poet, like a few others I can think of, saw this sense of wild and turbulent beauty in the physical world as well as in the social and spiritual worlds around us. The dance of the wind-swept, ocean surf embracing a rocky shoreline is wild like that. So are the relationships of people, and of people with their God. The Spirit of God creates that energetic relationship.

Will it help you find your car keys? Perhaps. Will it inform you of the factual and historical truth you can know in no other way? Perhaps. I talk a lot about expectations. I think that applies to our personal interplay with The Spirit.

[Author]

Posts