Sharing Spiritual Experiences
Posted: Fri Sep 23, 2022 1:12 pm
I am not a huge fan of the sharing of personal spiritual experiences with others. Can't say I have never done it because I have. But when I think about the times I did it and regretted it, and what I perceive to be the downsides of doing it, I have to say that, on the whole, it is probably better to keep this stuff to yourself.
I say this not because I think there is anything wrong with spiritual experiences. Such experiences are, in my opinion, sacred. They make us feel deeply connected and satisfied; they can expand us and ennoble us. But their significance is highly subjective and personal. What we experience of a situation will usually not be what others experience of it from their own point of view. Subjected to the contradictory experience of others, our experiences, which are significant to us, are thrown into question by others who feel their own viewpoint is the right one in an exclusive sense.
For these reasons, I think it really isn't smart for people to bandy about their personal spiritual experiences.
Recently I came to see an uncanny experience from my past in a new light. I was talking on the phone with my mother, and I was on the verge of sharing that experience, when both of us sensed that it probably wasn't a good idea to do so. I stopped, and nothing more needed to be said on the subject. If fact, not saying something seemed somehow more powerful and meaningful than saying it.
I like to apply this personal conclusion in the cases of what appear to be bogus miracle stories told by LDS GAs in meetings. We have a tendency to mythologize our own experiences, but such mythologization does not stand up to the cold light of factual scrutiny very well. Some will say, "duh, that's because myths are lies and facts are true; it's a good thing that the falseness of such stories is revealed for what it is."
I only partly agree. I agree that those who go out and trade in these stories probably deserve to have their balloon popped by others. Why? Because sharing these personal myths may be interpreted as self-aggrandizement, and not infrequently I am pretty sure that it is a form of self-aggrandizement. On the other hand, for people in the right setting and shared frame of mind, it may not be bad to share these personal myths--but I think those occasions are actually pretty rare. Usually, it is better to savor the experience as one interpreted it and keep it to one's self.
One of the problems with the LDS Church, in my view, is the tendency there is to try to make the spiritual mechanically predictable. All of the stuff about inviting the spirit and obedience binding God to keep promises, etc. It is tempting to seek the comfort of a more predictable world, but all such attempts at making a reality that goes way beyond our comprehension predictable is doomed to failure. Those who insist that reality conform to their expectations invite madness and a tortured soul. It is also, I believe, a cause of cynicism and what is called "apostasy."
Apostasy is thus manufactured by a Church and culture that inculcate false expectations in its membership, partly in the way LDS GAs try to present themselves as spiritual success stories experiencing miraculous lives, and all because of their obedience to the Church. Now post-Mormon podcasters, such as the excellent RFM, and people here on the old DM, brilliant minds and stylistic adepts, come along and pop the bubble with ease. That's because it was never mechanical, never predictable, never a simple formula for success, and the LDS GAs are not, after all, great sages and spiritual giants. More importantly, the mystery of personal experience is not a cheap formula.
The minute these GA stories (or tedious monthly testimonies) go out in the wild, stories about perfect calm in situations of deathly peril, etc., they are subjected to wider scrutiny, and they just don't live up to the hype. It is not so much that Nelson did not ever experience something he thought was significant, but over time his recollection morphed, untamed by corroborating fact, and eventually this wild critter bit its caretaker on the butt.
But that's what was always going to happen. Someday, the stories would catch up to their tellers. Someday, the itching ears of those who indulge themselves in this treacly nonsense would hear the discordant notes. The wise thing to do is, with few exceptions, leave the special experience special to yourself and a very few people (when the time is right). Don't sell yourself or aggrandize yourself by going out to testify of all your miraculous experiences. Eventually, it will lead to a big let down for just about everyone involved.
I say this not because I think there is anything wrong with spiritual experiences. Such experiences are, in my opinion, sacred. They make us feel deeply connected and satisfied; they can expand us and ennoble us. But their significance is highly subjective and personal. What we experience of a situation will usually not be what others experience of it from their own point of view. Subjected to the contradictory experience of others, our experiences, which are significant to us, are thrown into question by others who feel their own viewpoint is the right one in an exclusive sense.
For these reasons, I think it really isn't smart for people to bandy about their personal spiritual experiences.
Recently I came to see an uncanny experience from my past in a new light. I was talking on the phone with my mother, and I was on the verge of sharing that experience, when both of us sensed that it probably wasn't a good idea to do so. I stopped, and nothing more needed to be said on the subject. If fact, not saying something seemed somehow more powerful and meaningful than saying it.
I like to apply this personal conclusion in the cases of what appear to be bogus miracle stories told by LDS GAs in meetings. We have a tendency to mythologize our own experiences, but such mythologization does not stand up to the cold light of factual scrutiny very well. Some will say, "duh, that's because myths are lies and facts are true; it's a good thing that the falseness of such stories is revealed for what it is."
I only partly agree. I agree that those who go out and trade in these stories probably deserve to have their balloon popped by others. Why? Because sharing these personal myths may be interpreted as self-aggrandizement, and not infrequently I am pretty sure that it is a form of self-aggrandizement. On the other hand, for people in the right setting and shared frame of mind, it may not be bad to share these personal myths--but I think those occasions are actually pretty rare. Usually, it is better to savor the experience as one interpreted it and keep it to one's self.
One of the problems with the LDS Church, in my view, is the tendency there is to try to make the spiritual mechanically predictable. All of the stuff about inviting the spirit and obedience binding God to keep promises, etc. It is tempting to seek the comfort of a more predictable world, but all such attempts at making a reality that goes way beyond our comprehension predictable is doomed to failure. Those who insist that reality conform to their expectations invite madness and a tortured soul. It is also, I believe, a cause of cynicism and what is called "apostasy."
Apostasy is thus manufactured by a Church and culture that inculcate false expectations in its membership, partly in the way LDS GAs try to present themselves as spiritual success stories experiencing miraculous lives, and all because of their obedience to the Church. Now post-Mormon podcasters, such as the excellent RFM, and people here on the old DM, brilliant minds and stylistic adepts, come along and pop the bubble with ease. That's because it was never mechanical, never predictable, never a simple formula for success, and the LDS GAs are not, after all, great sages and spiritual giants. More importantly, the mystery of personal experience is not a cheap formula.
The minute these GA stories (or tedious monthly testimonies) go out in the wild, stories about perfect calm in situations of deathly peril, etc., they are subjected to wider scrutiny, and they just don't live up to the hype. It is not so much that Nelson did not ever experience something he thought was significant, but over time his recollection morphed, untamed by corroborating fact, and eventually this wild critter bit its caretaker on the butt.
But that's what was always going to happen. Someday, the stories would catch up to their tellers. Someday, the itching ears of those who indulge themselves in this treacly nonsense would hear the discordant notes. The wise thing to do is, with few exceptions, leave the special experience special to yourself and a very few people (when the time is right). Don't sell yourself or aggrandize yourself by going out to testify of all your miraculous experiences. Eventually, it will lead to a big let down for just about everyone involved.