Speaking with God
So, here is part two of what will probably be one of the many main threads of this blog. I have been a Christian since I was born but have recently began to re-evaluate my faith to figure out WHY I am a Christian. The previous post as well as this and future ones deal with these questions.
A recent poster brought up a topic of hearing God speak. I personally have huge issues with this concept altho I sometimes wonder if it can possibly occur. Let me explain.
Last summer, my girlfriend and I are talking after a BBQ. She tells me that she feels that God is telling her to break up with me. She didn't want to talk to me about it sooner because "I probably could convince her to change her mind." Riiiight. Funny part of the story is that I thought I had heard God saying "Don't let her go." Who was right? Well, either a) I heard God wrong or b) It wasn't God.
This opens a funny paradox. If we don't know if it's God or not, ... well, yeah... how the hell are we supposed to know???? I could be dead wrong and say, "God told me to tell you to give me $20." You couldn't really argue with me because you couldn't disprove me. And arguing with me would mean arguing with God (notice again the subtle shift of responsibility to God...)
Personally, I don't believe God speaks outloud. Whenever I hear people say, "God said to me..." I get really edgy and nervous. Warning lights go everywhere just like if someone said, "I was abducted by aliens." Is this rational behavior for someone who is open to the existence of God? Ponder the following.
A close family member told me that she heard God speak to her one time in her life. She believes it was God since it didn't sound anything like the normal voices in her head. This was loud and clear... audibly. The "voice" told her to give this guy a chance. A guy she didn't really feel she wanted to date. They ended up falling in love and are now happily married. (awwwwww)
I trust this person a great deal and take her statements very seriously cause she isn't a "right-wing nutjob" but rather a very liberal minded Christian. It's not a far out claim either. I would have to say that I believe her.
But then I am left wondering why I haven't heard crap all from the big man. Sure, the mythology of Christianity says that God doesn't speak to us in the same way. He definitely hasn't burnt into any stone tablets or talked through any burning shrub lately.
No, I would lean on the idea that maybe God speaks to us through our ingrained consciousness. You know, that voice inside that always argues for you to do the "right" thing. Like when you see someone drop a box full of stuff and scrambles to pick it, the voice tells you that maybe you should help. Or when a street-person asks for change that we can easily afford, and the voice says to go above and beyond that and simply take them some place for food that only costs a twoonie.
This voice is guided by reason and common sense. Two things that were given to us by God (if the Christian line of thinking is true anyways...) Why would God give us these skills if he didn't want us to use them?
Back to my original story... It turned out that my girlfriend actually had reasons that she felt the relationship should end. I won't go into much detail, but she felt she was using me by staying in the relationship even though she knew we weren't going to work out. I was glad to hear that and finally understood her position. Yet, I was still angry about how she couldn't take responsibility for her decision and placed it on a higher power.
I'll leave this open to posts. Feel free to add your experiences of talking with God (or lack thereof).
A recent poster brought up a topic of hearing God speak. I personally have huge issues with this concept altho I sometimes wonder if it can possibly occur. Let me explain.
Last summer, my girlfriend and I are talking after a BBQ. She tells me that she feels that God is telling her to break up with me. She didn't want to talk to me about it sooner because "I probably could convince her to change her mind." Riiiight. Funny part of the story is that I thought I had heard God saying "Don't let her go." Who was right? Well, either a) I heard God wrong or b) It wasn't God.
This opens a funny paradox. If we don't know if it's God or not, ... well, yeah... how the hell are we supposed to know???? I could be dead wrong and say, "God told me to tell you to give me $20." You couldn't really argue with me because you couldn't disprove me. And arguing with me would mean arguing with God (notice again the subtle shift of responsibility to God...)
Personally, I don't believe God speaks outloud. Whenever I hear people say, "God said to me..." I get really edgy and nervous. Warning lights go everywhere just like if someone said, "I was abducted by aliens." Is this rational behavior for someone who is open to the existence of God? Ponder the following.
A close family member told me that she heard God speak to her one time in her life. She believes it was God since it didn't sound anything like the normal voices in her head. This was loud and clear... audibly. The "voice" told her to give this guy a chance. A guy she didn't really feel she wanted to date. They ended up falling in love and are now happily married. (awwwwww)
I trust this person a great deal and take her statements very seriously cause she isn't a "right-wing nutjob" but rather a very liberal minded Christian. It's not a far out claim either. I would have to say that I believe her.
But then I am left wondering why I haven't heard crap all from the big man. Sure, the mythology of Christianity says that God doesn't speak to us in the same way. He definitely hasn't burnt into any stone tablets or talked through any burning shrub lately.
No, I would lean on the idea that maybe God speaks to us through our ingrained consciousness. You know, that voice inside that always argues for you to do the "right" thing. Like when you see someone drop a box full of stuff and scrambles to pick it, the voice tells you that maybe you should help. Or when a street-person asks for change that we can easily afford, and the voice says to go above and beyond that and simply take them some place for food that only costs a twoonie.
This voice is guided by reason and common sense. Two things that were given to us by God (if the Christian line of thinking is true anyways...) Why would God give us these skills if he didn't want us to use them?
Back to my original story... It turned out that my girlfriend actually had reasons that she felt the relationship should end. I won't go into much detail, but she felt she was using me by staying in the relationship even though she knew we weren't going to work out. I was glad to hear that and finally understood her position. Yet, I was still angry about how she couldn't take responsibility for her decision and placed it on a higher power.
I'll leave this open to posts. Feel free to add your experiences of talking with God (or lack thereof).
posted by Mike at 10:29 PM
1 Comments:
as a child i was obsessed with birds. so one day at age 24, on a beach in san francisco, i stood silently trying to force myself to have a 'spiritual experience' like i had read many others having, where they stand on a beach and feel 'at one with the universe' or some crap like that. mind you, i was reading many new age books at the time. but no sense of God or one-ness occurred how i thought, so i decided to leave, whereupon 4 little shorebirds appeared out of nowhere and scurried around, chasing the waves of the Pacific Ocean. and somehow i felt that this was a sign that someday i would have a family of my own, like some kind of prophetic promise for the future. ever since then, and especially after encountering God as a 'person' rather than a 'force or idea', i've heard of other people having similar experiences with birds delivering messages at times of lonliness or need. so i think, for some, that's one way God can speak to us tangibly. there have also been times when i've heard a voice tell me something, not audibly, but distinctly and without my influence...just words that i do not consciously come up with. it happens when it's quiet, and you're not expecting to hear it....i think that's the key right there.
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