What exactly is a spiritual experience?

[Anonymous]

Quote:

Richard Bushman said there are people who want to believe, and they do. Maybe the most important thing is not whether it’s true, but what we want to believe and how we want to live our life.

I have said elsewhere that I have made a conscious decision to pursue that which brings me joy. That is the Church and the Gospel.

I also realize that I can construct a reasonable intellectual argument for or against anything. I mean that fully. If I decide to construct an argument that casts the Church negatively, I can do so; if I want to cast the Church positively, no matter the issue, I can do so. Therefore, I have made a conscious decision to look actively and passionately for a way to reconcile difficulties and remain faithful.

In college, as part of my research on Manifest Destiny, I read just about every anti-Mormon writing of the 19th Century. I took some classes at a local divinity school – not exactly a bastion of extreme conservatism or champion of Mormonism. After graduation, I lived in the Deep South for a few years. I am probably as well-versed in anti-Mormon rhetoric as most, so my statement in the last paragraph is not stated carelessly. I also, however, understand that I can learn MUCH about the Gospel of Jesus Christ even from classic anti-Mormon preachers and denominations. Some of the most profound spiritual insights I have received have come by hearing something I already believed phrased differently by someone who believes I am headed straight for Hell and would dance in the streets if Mormonism was eliminated completely – simply hearing it from a different perspective I had never considered previously.

That, in my mind, is the key – truly internalizing and trying to live the Articles of Faith and the core principles of the Gospel, especially developing the characteristics of godliness outlined as the pathway to perfection in the Sermon on the Mount. I have had more truly spiritual experiences this year, as I have intentionally and purposefully pursued that objective, than I had in the previous twenty years of my life – including in the various leadership callings I have had in the Church.

What is a spiritual experience? It is an experience that makes my spirit grow – that brings me closer to the Father and the Son by making me more like them.

[Anonymous]

Here is another topic that came up a few years ago (2008). The reason it appeals to me today is because we had a Stake Conference

this weekend. There were many good talks. It seemed like a number of the speakers were touched by what they were talking about.

A lot of Kleenex came out & tears were wiped away. I was not as moved (as a listener) as the speakers giving the talks. Maybe that is

the lesson for me. The talks are more for the speaker who researched & gave the talk than it is for me.

I have had spiritual experiences in my life that I hold close to my heart & don’t talk about very much. I can’t remember the last time

I got up in F&T meeting. It was a long time ago.

Old-Timer wrote:

…What is a spiritual experience? It is an experience that makes my spirit grow – that brings me closer to the Father and the Son

by making me more like them.

For me, a spiritual experience usually comes as a result of talking with another person, I know, trust & can relate to.

[Anonymous]

Brian Johnston wrote:

LYN wrote:

I hopeto get more input from others here yet. I am not sure how many members are in staylds. Maybe there are just a handful of us!

We’re pretty new, and just getting started.

Keep the hope and faith alive!

Seeing this quote from Brian makes me all nostalgic.

MM, I too have had spiritual experiences that I hold close to me. I think that there are two main questions: 1) are spiritual experiences from God and 2) what do they mean?

I think that we get to decide for ourselves how we answer those questions. Answering my own questions made me very uncomfortable early in my FC. It felt like making stuff up and I wanted something more authoritative. I wanted a Prophet or other church leader to tell me what’s what. I have since grown more comfortable trusting in my own internal compass – or at least that’s the story that I tell myself. How we answer these questions depends greatly on the story that we are weaving.

For me personally, I had a spiritual experience in the depths of my dark night of the soul that told me that I was completely known, accepted, and loved by my creator and that my stillborn daughter was too. This was pretty radical for me because it seemed to wash away any idea that I can earn approval from God.

That spiritual experience changed the trajectory of my story and my narrative. Do spiritual experiences change the story or build upon/confirm the current story? I would say that they can do both or either depending on what is needed. Spiritual experiences can function somewhat like the Room of Requirement from Harry Potter books in that they can come and take the form of what is most needed.

Having spiritual experiences is part of the magic and mystery of being human.

P.S. there does seem to be a percentage of the population that do not feel spiritual experiences and I understand that some individuals that have grown accustomed to feeling spiritual experiences can cease to feel them after a change in medication. I do not mean to imply that everyone feels spiritual experiences when they need them. My experiences are only my own.

[Anonymous]

Roy wrote:

MM, I too have had spiritual experiences that I hold close to me. I think that there are two main questions:

1) Are spiritual experiences from God?

2) What do they [the experiences] mean?

I think that we get to decide for ourselves how we answer those questions. Answering my own questions made me very uncomfortable early in my FC. It felt like making stuff up and I wanted something more authoritative. I wanted a Prophet or other church leader to tell me what’s what.

Emphasis added

I felt this way too. I grew up in a household as the oldest of 9 with both of my parents being only children. The best thing they did (well, it makes the top 10) was give me explicit authority among my siblings and supported me as a “3rd parent” [ Yes, I know I wasn’t “supposed” to demand that and they weren’t “supposed to do that” – but giving me that level of family authority and autonomy meant that I actually listened to them and they could do some course correcting].

I think the hardest aspect of the “mourning” process during my faith transition was dealing with the “cold and dreary” isolation of self-reliance. Not being confident anymore that God, or a prophet, or a church leader – that any one of those individuals had the answers that I needed was hard.

Roy wrote:

I have since grown more comfortable trusting in my own internal compass – or at least that’s the story that I tell myself. How we answer these questions depends greatly on the story that we are weaving.

Church culture of “listen to your husband” [with the implications of “he has the priesthood so he has access to higher revelation”] made it harder to become “my own expert”.

I think that my starting point was “Charity” over “Shame & Guilt”. Telling myself that the greatest kindness I could do for myself was move slowly and authentically instead of “Get it over with” and “paper over the feelings”. That mattered.

Roy wrote:

That spiritual experience changed the trajectory of my story and my narrative. Do spiritual experiences change the story or build upon/confirm the current story? I would say that they can do both or either depending on what is needed. Spiritual experiences can function somewhat like the Room of Requirement from Harry Potter books in that they can come and take the form of what is most needed.

Eventually, I got to the point where I was “like Adam” – I was waiting for “the light and knowledge God promised to send” – and I am still waiting because I am not confident in my ability to identify it – and that’s OK.

In the meantime, I classify “spiritual experiences” as “important/keystone/full of meaning experiences” – and I have them when I really, really connect to my children. I have them in special conversations with my husband when he makes more expansive choices then I expect, when we actually talk to connect, rather then talk to defend from each other.

Roy wrote:

Having spiritual experiences is part of the magic and mystery of being human.

I like to think that those experiences are happening when I am “mourning with those that mourn, and comforting those that stand in need of comfort” and they with me in a sustainable, connective way.

[Moderator note: This post was edited for formatting. No words were changed, only an end quote was added. If I misplaced the end quote please let me know or fix it yourself. DJ]

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