Have you ever had a "Religious Experience"?

Vinny-Chase

Just out of curiosity and given the number of people who post here.

Have many people here had what they would consider a religious experience?

briano.de.rhino

yep.thunderous voices, the works. realised few years later it was just hypnogogic imagery in a sleep/waking state.mad all the same.
i would encourage those who say they have had them to view their experiences using the scientific method for a clearer understanding instead of instantly labeling them mystic or religious.

JimiTime

Vinny-Chase wrote: »

Just out of curiosity and given the number of people who post here.

Have many people here had what they would consider a religious experience?

I think you may have to narrow it down a bit. Are you talking about supernatural visions and the like, or changing your life around after finding Christ etc? Either way, Its a No from me. I have had my Christian concience reawaken in me after some years out in the cold, but nothing supernatural.

Zombrex

Vinny-Chase wrote: »

Just out of curiosity and given the number of people who post here.

Have many people here had what they would consider a religious experience?

Are you looking for Christian responses, or responses from anyone? You might want to clarify that.

Vinny-Chase

Looking for responses from any one really.

There are two instances in my life where I would have what people would call "religious experiences." One of which is deeply personal and I'm not prepared to share. The other would be one which I would say is described as having the "Holy Spirit".

I can remember this as clear as day despite the fact that is about 20 years old. I remember I was 12 or 13 and the usual Sunday ensued. My mother "making" me go to mass. As a child of course I hated this. Boring! I don't remember much about the actual mass but leaving the church I can remember feeling this remarkable feeling of happiness. I felt like I was absolutely glowing. Like an aura just beaming out an orange glow. I remember thinking at the time how strange it was.

I would say a lot of "believers" would put this down as a religious experience. As being filled with the Holy Spirit. I don't know what was responsible for it. Whether it was a combination of hormones. Or resonating at molecular level with the universe. What ever it was I don't know. But I do know what I felt and know that I have never had an experience like it since.

Fanny Cradock

Twice, for myself.

antiskeptic

Vinny-Chase wrote: »

Just out of curiosity and given the number of people who post here.

Have many people here had what they would consider a religious experience?

I have - although somewhat curiously (given the nature of it) I didn't even query it at the time.

Scene: circa 1990 in a one-bed flat in Rathmines. Poverty-stricken antiskeptic (mechanical-engineering-student-cum-short-order chef) is sitting in the flats solitary armchair, muttering and cussing to hisself.

I'd used the last of my petrol to drive to the family home in the attempt to 'touch' my mam for 10 or 20 quid - enough to buy 10 Rothmans, give the landlord something off the rent and maybe go for a pint at the weekend. She'd had enough of me at this point and refused point blank - suggesting I consider giving up cigarettes as a way of making my paltry wages go further.

I'd never cursed at my mam in my life, but as I sat fuming in that chair back at the flat I was calling her every name under the sun and was thinking the blackest, nastiest (and most unfair) thoughts about her.

Until WHAAAM!!

In one sense, the feeling was the same as you'd expect if someone stood behind you and poured a bucket of molten lead over your head and shoulders: a heavy, heavy - but evenly distributed - weight pressing me down into the chair, rendering me absolutely immobile. But instead of the burning feeling you would associate with someone pouring a bucket of molten lead over you, I felt the most intense sense of love I have ever experienced.

Love for my mam that is. A heavy, pressing, irresistable love for my mam.

In the same way you hear of peoples lives flashing in front of their eyes during times of near death, video cliplets of all the love and sacrifice and suffering my mother had undergone on my behalf played out 'before my eyes'. With each wave of memory came feelings of love rising up from within me. Curiously, I was still in bitching mode and tried to argue (as it were) with love. But with each attempt to drag my mother down, a new bucket of lead-love was poured over me. Until I was completely drowned in it and silenced by it.

It seemed to last a few minutes and was the most intense experience (of any description) I'd ever had (or have had since). Including the highs from a wide-ish variety of drugs. I didn't give the experience a moments thought or examination at the time and completely forgot about it until well after I'd become a Christian some 10 years later.

I realise now, something of the extent and experience of what is called 'the love of God'. The love God has for my mother (in that case). Which is the same love he has for me. In connected ways, it makes me realise the depth of the holiness of God and why it is sinners cannot be in his presence. He's simply too ... intense. Too concentrated. Sinners would simply be burned up by being exposed to him.

branie

Do pilgrimages count?

Vinny-Chase

Really enjoyed reading that antiskeptic. Thanks for sharing

briano.de.rhino

i had something similar to the molten lead experience...i was grabbed by invisible hands through my body down to my skeleton and gently shook for about ten seconds, raised off the bed( or so i felt, i was in between sleep and wakefulness) accompanied by utter bliss, feeling of safeness.
I too didnt question it for years, but when i look back using the scientific method i see i was unconcious for one, and two: although the thunderous voice said 'this is god'...which is weird, ...nobody else in my house heard a thunderous voice, so this experience and voice was definitely personal and in my own head ...and 'god' merely introduced himself...didnt mention anything about reading or believing the bible....nothin about jesus etc. And the fact he came to me out of the blue on an arbitrary night and not during the many years of born again meetings etc. and teenage angst...

I guess my question is this: I wonder if anyone else has recieved direct instructions from yourman upstairs or are we all having similar supernormal experiences of love and filling in the blanks ourselves.thus, some of us become christians, when in fact all that has happened is a very strong but rare and pleasant sensory experience/
Honest question, not looking to start a debate or grind any gears.

JimiTime

briano.de.rhino wrote: »

i had something similar to the molten lead experience...i was grabbed by invisible hands through my body down to my skeleton and gently shook for about ten seconds, raised off the bed( or so i felt, i was in between sleep and wakefulness) accompanied by utter bliss, feeling of safeness.
I too didnt question it for years, but when i look back using the scientific method i see i was unconcious for one, and two: although the thunderous voice said 'this is god'...which is weird, ...nobody else in my house heard a thunderous voice, so this experience and voice was definitely personal and in my own head ...and 'god' merely introduced himself...didnt mention anything about reading or believing the bible....nothin about jesus etc. And the fact he came to me out of the blue on an arbitrary night and not during the many years of born again meetings etc. and teenage angst...

I guess my question is this: I wonder if anyone else has recieved direct instructions from yourman upstairs or are we all having similar supernormal experiences of love and filling in the blanks ourselves.thus, some of us become christians, when in fact all that has happened is a very strong but rare and pleasant sensory experience/
Honest question, not looking to start a debate or grind any gears.

My stance is nothing t do with looking at things with the scientific method etc, but i must say, I don't believe these experiences are 'from God' as such. I remember having what I could only call an epiphany some years back which made me refocus my life. I put this down to my, at that time dormant, Christian concience. It was emotional, and involved me, out of the blue, weeping etc. However, IMO, these experiences are inner experiences. I think people desire to feel that God is with them, and interpret things to back that desire up.

I don't write such experiences off, but I do file under 'Not sure about that'. I think the same in relation to the genuine people who say they speak in the 'language of the spirit', i.e. tongues. At this moment in time, I just don't buy it, but I don't write them off completely. I remain a sceptic about the claims.

TravelJunkie

JimiTime wrote: »

My stance is nothing t do with looking at things with the scientific method etc, but i must say, I don't believe these experiences are 'from God' as such. I remember having what I could only call an epiphany some years back which made me refocus my life. I put this down to my, at that time dormant, Christian concience. It was emotional, and involved me, out of the blue, weeping etc. However, IMO, these experiences are inner experiences. I think people desire to feel that God is with them, and interpret things to back that desire up.

I don't write such experiences off, but I do file under 'Not sure about that'. I think the same in relation to the genuine people who say they speak in the 'language of the spirit', i.e. tongues. At this moment in time, I just don't buy it, but I don't write them off completely. I remain a sceptic about the claims.

Maybe you should open yourself to the Holy Spirit and see what happens. (But in a safe Godly enviroment). God can also work through dreams. I believe that.

briano.de.rhino

here we go.....
what does 'open urself up to the holy spirit' actually mean? can u give me specifics? step by step if u will. it is an ambiguous statement. it puts the onus on the unbeliever as the one with the problem. its the unbelievers fault that god hasnt contacted him/her. it is statements like these that help form part of the guilt and neurotic behaviour that is all too easily cultivated in people.

as for safe godly environment.......

TravelJunkie

Briano I was specifically referring to Jimi and he's a christian. An unbeliever can't 'open himself to the holy spirit'.

First you have to believe in God, then accept Jesus into your life, asking him to forgive your sins, and make you into a new person (aka you start fresh - all is new - you have a clean slate - and God helps you keep it that way - well, mostly). Then you have to attend a church, get to know God and the bible. When you start to get to know God then you can start to get to know the Holy Spirit and open yourself up to experiences - as per my reference to Jimi.

JimiTime

TravelJunkie wrote: »

Maybe you should open yourself to the Holy Spirit and see what happens. (But in a safe Godly enviroment). God can also work through dreams. I believe that.

How do I open myself to the Holy Spirit? And what is it that you think I'm missing out on? The 'feelings' or the 'tongues'? The 'feelings' IMO, are bogus claims. Not lies, but rather a feel good factor. I have had what I think others have described as these 'feelings'.

I believe the Holy Spirit to be anything but ambiguous in its power. I think the allowance of these 'feelings' etc to be accepted as genuine Holy Spirit experiences has actually endangered Christians, and opened them up to be fooled and exploited by charlatans. I don't think its a healthy environment personally.

EDIT: Just read over the above and it may come accross as a bit bullish. Just imagine a friendly tone if ye can. Tone can be hard to prtray on a message board.

briano.de.rhino

I think so too, Jimitime.
The only thing that actually happens is the experience or feelings.
The human mind then goes on to try find patterns and meanings and comes up with the catch-all reason for the experience - GOD.

My question earlier still hasnt been replied to by anybody...has anybody received instructions during these supernormal experiences?

My guess is 'no'. And that people fill in the blanks,...."well, I had this experience, therefore it must be the spirit, therefore it is God sending me a message, therefore that message is that I must do A, B or C."
I would love to hear peoples answers to what exactly it was they experienced.

Fanny Cradock

briano.de.rhino wrote: »

I think so too, Jimitime.
The only thing that actually happens is the experience or feelings.
The human mind then goes on to try find patterns and meanings and comes up with the catch-all reason for the experience - GOD.

My question earlier still hasnt been replied to by anybody...has anybody received instructions during these supernormal experiences?

My guess is 'no'. And that people fill in the blanks,...."well, I had this experience, therefore it must be the spirit, therefore it is God sending me a message, therefore that message is that I must do A, B or C."
I would love to hear peoples answers to what exactly it was they experienced.

Why do expect that we should receive instructions?

JimiTime

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

As a fellow Christian vagabond Fanny:), What is your opinion of these experiences currently?

briano.de.rhino

I don't ,but people usually do claim hidden meanings behind the experiences and change things in their lives like becoming a Christian.
I am just interested to see if anybody gets coherent messages to say to do things or is it as I suspect we who put 2 and 2 together to make 5.

I think it can be dangerous to some people to read too much into these type of experiences.That is why I am so interested.

An example, a friend of mine claimed the holy spirit ran through his heart like a train one night watching a christian play in a church.
Now, did the holy spirit introduce itself and give him a message/instructions such as "Dave, this is the holy spirit, do everything it says to in the bible" or was it a case of 'Dave' goes to a play and has a supernormal hyper-sensory experience and judges by his surroundings(church filled with christians) that its a religious, specifically Christian experience.

I honestly want to know. I can learn more, from Christians especially, if people tell me about their experiences.

Fanny Cradock

JimiTime wrote: »

As a fellow Christian vagabond Fanny:), What is your opinion of these experiences currently?

I treat them with people's stories with cautious optimism. So while I'm well aware that we are all able to fool ourselves (or just be mistaken), I also acknowledge that if one accepts that there is a personal God it seems quite logical to assume that he communicates with us. And here I think it is important to mention that communication doesn't always mean a demand to action of the "go here" and "do that" sort. My experiences were not like briano would suggest. Rather than receiving an order to do something, and I realise this is quite cryptic, there revealed something about the nature of God to me.
Furthermore, if God is God - that is a transcendent being with abilities and knowledge infinitely great than each one of us - then I wouldn't expect communication to be anything other than very, very strange.

Vinny-Chase

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

Rather than receiving an order to do something, and I realise this is quite cryptic, there revealed something about the nature of God to me.

Same as myself.

JimiTime

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

I treat them with people's stories with cautious optimism.

What are you optimistic about?

So while I'm well aware that we are all able to fool ourselves (or just be mistaken), I also acknowledge that if one accepts that there is a personal God it seems quite logical to assume that he communicates with us.

A fair assessment. However, what I 'think' has happened, is that some people who reach this conclusion, try to interpret things to be 'God communicating'. Others may get the a deep emotional feeling of Joy when in the contagious environment of a happy worship service. Others may feel sorrow if they feel the conviction of sin on their concience.

I am reminded of the story of The Rich Man and Lazarus, when the rich man asks can he go back and tell his family etc, and is told, 'They have Moses and the prophets'. We have been given a communication, a very real one.

And here I think it is important to mention that communication doesn't always mean a demand to action of the "go here" and "do that" sort.

i agree, but my point is that they will not be vague. Can you think of a biblical incident where God communicated in an ambiguous manner?

My experiences were not like briano would suggest. Rather than receiving an order to do something, and I realise this is quite cryptic, there revealed something about the nature of God to me.

What do you believe this experience was?

Furthermore, if God is God - that is a transcendent being with abilities and knowledge infinitely great than each one of us - then I wouldn't expect communication to be anything other than very, very strange.

I don't deny that, but i would expect it to be anything but vague neither.

JimiTime

Vinny-Chase wrote: »

Same as myself.

Would you mind giving details? What was Vinny Chase before, and then after etc?

Vinny-Chase

JimiTime wrote: »

Would you mind giving details? What was Vinny Chase before, and then after etc?

I wouldn't like to give details JimiTime to be honest. It was a deeply personal thing which I still have trouble trying to comprehend. I am not a "born again" or anything like that. I didn't have a road to Damascus experience. But I had an experience which was extremely emotional. Not at the time as at the time my logical brain was trying to figure reasons for everything that was happening. But afterward every time I spoke about it (to the few people I did tell about it) it would bring me to tears which I have no problem admitting to.

Fanny Cradock

JimiTime wrote: »

What are you optimistic about?

There would be no point in trying to put a figure on it, but I am optimistic that at least some of these experiences are real. Maybe optimistic is too indefinite a word. Better said: I believe that at least some of these experiences are real.

JimiTime wrote: »

i agree, but my point is that they will not be vague. Can you think of a biblical incident where God communicated in an ambiguous manner?

I'm not sure that is the correct way of looking at it. I've not said that these experiences are vague - in my case they weren't. Possibly you are thinking communication should take a particular form and have a limited goal. This is why I previously mentioned the "go here/ do that" form. As I see it, communication can be concisely defined as information conveyed between two points (or parties). This encompass much more than an order or request.

JimiTime wrote: »

What do you believe this experience was?

Perhaps I can share them with you some day over a pint or two.

JimiTime

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

There would be no point in trying to put a figure on it, but I am optimistic that at least some of these experiences are real. Maybe optimistic is too indefinite a word. Better said: I believe that at least some of these experiences are real.

Gotcha. That may be the case, I'm unsure at this point in time.

Possibly you are thinking communication should take a particular form and have a limited goal.

Not at all. I wouldn't dare dictate what I think God should or shouldn't be doing. I do however, remain skeptical about claims of ambiguous experiences.

This is why I previously mentioned the "go here/ do that" form. As I see it, communication can be concisely defined as information conveyed between two points (or parties). This encompass much more than an order or request.

Absolutely. Its the ambiguity that I'm talking about.

Perhaps I can share them with you some day over a pint or two.

Sounds good. Though God willing, I'll have my hands full in about 3 weeks.:)

Fanny Cradock

JimiTime wrote: »

Sounds good. Though God willing, I'll have my hands full in about 3 weeks.:)

So soon :eek:

JimiTime

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

So soon :eek:

I know!

antiskeptic

Fanny Cradock wrote: »

And here I think it is important to mention that communication doesn't always mean a demand to action of the "go here" and "do that" sort.

I've only ever had two of what might be described as 'religious' experiences. The one described above from before I was a Christian. And this one - when I was about 1 (eternal) year old



I left work on the Northside and headed down to my mam's house in Wicklow - my sister was home from England for a visit and was staying with her. It was a scorcher of a day so I stuffed my motorpsychle gloves under an elasticated strap fitted to the pillion seat - so as to enjoy the flow of warm air over my hands.

Riding home from my mams later that night, I decided to leave the gloves off - it was warm enough still - and rode the 20 miles or so back home. Locking up, I went to dig out the gloves and

* GONE*.


"Bugger it!!" Not only were they darn expensive but they fit like the proverbial glove.

Without thinking about it for a second, I hauled the bike out and set off down the road back towards my mams - keeping an eye on the other side of the road to see if I could see my gloves. It was dark at this stage and the traffic coming the opposite way rendered parts of the road invisible - let alone the requirement to look where I was going occasionally. After a few miles, I was riding along country roads: no streetlighting to speak of and me barely able to see the other side of the road in the weak motorcycle headlight. A few miles further on and doubts began to creep in. But I'm the persevering type. And they were great gloves.

Approaching Kilcoole village and the illogic of what I was doing began to press in: "it's pitch black, I can't even see the verge on the other side, occasional cars are blinding me because I'm staring into lights - at this rate I could miss an elephant on the road". Then it dawned on me: "I haven't actually seen my gloves since strapping them onto the bike when leaving work earlier that day. It could well be, indeed it would more likely be, that the gloves fell off during the blast down to my mams - and not on the trip from her place to home which I'm now tracking back on. Feck it: this is completely pointless"

I slowed up, checked the mirrors and and prepared to wheel when a voice (which differed from my own voice in my head) said: "Don't stop - go on".

That was all.

I didn't think of it as God's voice at the time - it was just a kind of compelling instruction. Something you don't so much as think about as respond to. So I rode on and into the village of Kilcoole, in one side and soon out the other. I could see the end of the streelit section of mainstreet looming up ahead. And there - in the centre of the road, under one of the very last streetlamps were my gloves, about a metre apart from each other. My headlights lit up reflective labels stitched into them so that they shone like stars. I couldn't have missed them.

Many of the newly born note how it is that God appears to 'turn on the taps' when it comes to blessing infant believers. Such was this.

briano.de.rhino

What on Earth is God playing at? A pair of p**y bike gloves - he makes an entrance for.

antiskeptic

briano.de.rhino wrote: »

What on Earth is God playing at? A pair of p**y bike gloves - he makes an entrance for.

A spoken entrance for...

He interacts with me/my life ongoingly, it's just that I wouldn't describe that general interaction as a 'religious experience'

JimiTime

antiskeptic wrote: »

I've only ever had two of what might be described as 'religious' experiences. The one described above from before I was a Christian. And this one - when I was about 1 (eternal) year old



I left work on the Northside and headed down to my mam's house in Wicklow - my sister was home from England for a visit and was staying with her. It was a scorcher of a day so I stuffed my motorpsychle gloves under an elasticated strap fitted to the pillion seat - so as to enjoy the flow of warm air over my hands.

Riding home from my mams later that night, I decided to leave the gloves off - it was warm enough still - and rode the 20 miles or so back home. Locking up, I went to dig out the gloves and

* GONE*.


"Bugger it!!" Not only were they darn expensive but they fit like the proverbial glove.

Without thinking about it for a second, I hauled the bike out and set off down the road back towards my mams - keeping an eye on the other side of the road to see if I could see my gloves. It was dark at this stage and the traffic coming the opposite way rendered parts of the road invisible - let alone the requirement to look where I was going occasionally. After a few miles, I was riding along country roads: no streetlighting to speak of and me barely able to see the other side of the road in the weak motorcycle headlight. A few miles further on and doubts began to creep in. But I'm the persevering type. And they were great gloves.

Approaching Kilcoole village and the illogic of what I was doing began to press in: "it's pitch black, I can't even see the verge on the other side, occasional cars are blinding me because I'm staring into lights - at this rate I could miss an elephant on the road". Then it dawned on me: "I haven't actually seen my gloves since strapping them onto the bike when leaving work earlier that day. It could well be, indeed it would more likely be, that the gloves fell off during the blast down to my mams - and not on the trip from her place to home which I'm now tracking back on. Feck it: this is completely pointless"

I slowed up, checked the mirrors and and prepared to wheel when a voice (which differed from my own voice in my head) said: "Don't stop - go on".

That was all.

I didn't think of it as God's voice at the time - it was just a kind of compelling instruction. Something you don't so much as think about as respond to. So I rode on and into the village of Kilcoole, in one side and soon out the other. I could see the end of the streelit section of mainstreet looming up ahead. And there - in the centre of the road, under one of the very last streetlamps were my gloves, about a metre apart from each other. My headlights lit up reflective labels stitched into them so that they shone like stars. I couldn't have missed them.

Many of the newly born note how it is that God appears to 'turn on the taps' when it comes to blessing infant believers. Such was this.

Would you agree that stories such as the above have no worth outside of the self?

I have heard similar stories about people praying to the god/saint that helps you find things, think its Anthony?

wolfsbane

JimiTime wrote: »

How do I open myself to the Holy Spirit? And what is it that you think I'm missing out on? The 'feelings' or the 'tongues'? The 'feelings' IMO, are bogus claims. Not lies, but rather a feel good factor. I have had what I think others have described as these 'feelings'.

I believe the Holy Spirit to be anything but ambiguous in its power. I think the allowance of these 'feelings' etc to be accepted as genuine Holy Spirit experiences has actually endangered Christians, and opened them up to be fooled and exploited by charlatans. I don't think its a healthy environment personally.

EDIT: Just read over the above and it may come accross as a bit bullish. Just imagine a friendly tone if ye can. Tone can be hard to prtray on a message board.

Jimi, you express my concerns exactly. The 'opening' opens one to psychological experiences, not those of the Spirit. The Scripture teaches us to test all things, and any testing I've seen applied to the 'Baptism of the Spirit' or modern 'tongue-speaking' and prophecy shows it to be fleshly rather than spiritual.

The whole Pentecostal/charismatic movement is riddled with heretics and charlatans in positions of leadership. The many genuine Christians in the movement are exploited by these leaders and are generally unwilling to reject them, lest they fight against the Spirit.

If one wants any proof, just watch the GOD-TV and similar channels. Or read: http://www.amazon.co.uk/International-Dictionary-Pentecostal-Charismatic-Movements/dp/0310224810/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1280603805&sr=1-1
I've the old edition, but unless they've purged all the embarrassing articles, this one should be at least as valuable.

It is so valuable because it is produced by Pentecostal leaders and cannot be accused of bias against Pentecostalism. It is full of articles that should make any true believer shudder. For example, it lists the two great leaders of Pentecostalism in the 20th Century as William Branham and Oral Roberts. Just check these two out and you'll see what I mean by heretic and charlatan. The 'spiritual' experiences extolled by Pentecostalism are what these men claimed and promoted.
_________________________________________________________________
1 Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron,

antiskeptic

JimiTime wrote: »

Would you agree that stories such as the above have no worth outside of the self?

I'm not sure if they have no worth. But they certainly can't be held to be objective for want of a way to objectivise them

I have heard similar stories about people praying to the god/saint that helps you find things, think its Anthony?

I'm not quite sure of the relevance of this: the existance of false religions doesn't have any relevance to a true one. Similarity, the existance of false religious experience (or satanic-powered religious experience) doesn't alter the veracity of a true one.

UB Dude

I've had several, all of which impacted me in different ways and changed the direction of my life. I've also encountered folks that claim to speak to invisible folks and have 'amazing visions and experiences' but they are nearly always deeply unstable people. I've come to the conclusion that visions and the like, while fun, must be received with caution - given how quick we are to deceive ourselves. After all, they could be a sign of neurosis or a precursor to a full blown meltdown!

While it can be edifying to hear of the experiences of others, PM's of divine origin are most often meant for the guidance and inspiration of the receiving personality and offer little of practical significance to others. The standard that I apply to these experiences is; 'has it enabled the receiver to live a better, more fulfilling life' - if it has 'cool', if not then I'd be suspicious of its origins and be concerned for the long term prognosis for the individual that suffers such things.

I consider things like Plato's Simile of the Cave a 'spiritual message', an instructive story/parable that inspires the mind - the fact that we often misinterpret such messages in no way undermines their validity. I once read that it would be better for us to reject a divine message than to exalt a purely human invention to the status of 'Gods will'.

Spiritual messages need not always be spectacular, the synchronous bringing together of mundane elements can be mightily effective in relating truths of matchless import to one's overall happiness and well-being; as a friend that once said, 'My Father speaks to me in worlds' - I thought that was pretty slick.