Religious experiences

[kenny66]

I saw there was a post about born again Christianity. Its good that people find comfort in faith, whatever that may be.

A distant relative tried to have me "cured" by a faith based religion in the US when I was about 20. My aunt took me to a Pentecostal church where they had very strong beliefs in the power of healing by prayer.

I was amazed how committed these people were to their beliefs and the strength they found from them.

It was a bit different because they used snakes in the rituals at the alter which didn't seem to worry the pastor and a lot of people handled them .I got bitten by one but I guess they had the poison taken out of them as I didn't get sick at all.

There were other people there who had various illnesses and and appeared to be helped by the whole process.

Likewise when I went to Lourdes there were lots of people with a whole range of illnesses lined up to enter the grotto. I was told some people get better after visiting there.

Every religion seems to hold some hope of renewal and redemption. My Buddhism promises enlightenment and cleansing if you live by certain rules which are moral based specifying followers to lead a frugal and almost monastic life measured by your behaviour and how well you treat other people and animals.

So I guess I am saying that whatever faith you have, religious or not, can be part of a supportive group of things that help MI people cope and hopefully thrive.

[kristin]

Dear @kenny66

Thanks so much for sharing your perspective, and something of your faith.

I have to say I just shook my head at some of what you have been through. I've never heard of snakes being used in a Christian church healing service - that one was new to me.

I believe we are being healed - it's not instantaneous - it's a journey, a process. Learning to honour our relationships with people, and the whole of "creation", is part of that.

Hope for a shared journey to wellness endures...

Kindest regards, 

Kristin

[kenny66]

Hi Kristin

Yes in the midwest and Texas the use of snakes at the church services is very common. The term sanke healers is the term the church uses.

[SimpleAsThis]

Everyone has a vice... Some choose The Lord as a way of self medicating?

The mind is wicked, every physical and natural ailment our bodies suffer is caused by our mental health - conscious and SUBCONCIOUS. Our subconscious pain and resentment builds up in our bodies a toxic poison of all shapes and sizes:

Example: For nearly a year a started suffering from chronic back pain - I thought my spine might snap and my muscles in my neck were so tight they were ready to snap. Debilitating is a nice describing word... The day I educated myself on the real reason behind my back pain is the day I healed myself, I am still amazed.
Middle Back & Upper Back/Neck Pain - middle back pain is caused by (and I'm paraphrasing the author vaguely sorry) all the built up bullshit you never get off your chest "stuck with all that stuff back there"... Upper back and neck pain is caused by burdening yourself with too much, or feeling let down/walked all over.... The intense muscle spasms in my neck and head were caused more so because I was exhausted and stressing to the point a had migraines.

Anyway, I figure out I had been hurt by two people so much, the only two times I've meant hate.... And the book said to heal myself I needed to forgive each person by writing a letter (You Don't Send It Ever) focusing on the lesson learned and the positive things you cherish, and when you write about forgiveness list every reason you can't think of.... Read it out loud a few times until you feel like you actually mean it and in a couple of hours I was pain free!!!!!!!!!!

So it's not belief in something or someone but rather what you believe, people just need to realise potential possibilities of mind over matter...

THE BOOK - "You can heal your life - Louise May" (I only read that chapter)

[SimpleAsThis]

“In the day-to-day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship. And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of God or spiritual-type thing is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive. If you worship money and things, if they are where you tap real meaning in life, then you will never feel you have enough. Worship your body and beauty and sexual allure and you will always feel ugly, and when time and age start showing, you will die a million deaths before they finally grieve you. Worship power, you will end up feeling weak and afraid, and you will need ever more power over others to numb you to your own fear. Worship your intellect, you will end up feeling like a fraud, always on the verge of being found out.” —David Foster Wallace, 2005, This Is Water

[kristin]

Wow @SimpleAsThis !

Thanks SO much for sharing this quote. I love it. It speaks of what I have observed in myself, and others. For I too have spent parts of my life worshipping things, money and beauty/allure. And the answer to longing for these things is an ever-growing abyss which cannot be filled. I believe we all have a hole in our lives which nothing whatsoever is capable of filling except God's presence - however we experience and name that.

I will have to find and read this book. I have been trying to write a poem about this experience /observation called Hungering. I think reading it might help me both understand more deeply and perhaps to even bring the poem to "birth".

Kindest regards, 

Kristin