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Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’ [Matt 25:34-36, NIV]
I had doubts and needed love, and you put your arms around me and told me I belonged.A “crisis” is often the gateway to growth and adaptation — enlightenment. The “crisis” of birth brings a new soul into the world. The “crisis” of a faith transition is also the pains of a new birth of faith and wisdom. We don’t like to change. It’s uncomfortable. It’s painful. But even within the traditional teachings of the LDS Church, we have the story of our God that challenges us, tests us, and pushes us to change and grow. He placed us into this world where we would fail and suffer our own consequences. And He provided a Savior to raise us from the “grave.” You can work that story in many many different ways. We rise out of many kinds of graves during our journey. We often find ourselves buried in a tomb, in the darkness, only to later find the stone rolled away and we are freed. Enduring and perseverance can be noble at times and bring great rewards … but only if the goal is valuable. In the church we often have a notion that not being happy = you aren’t trying hard enough, or that you just haven’t struggled long enough.
It can mean other things too though, like:
-You are working on the wrong goal, one that does not bring YOU happiness. It might be a great goal for others, just not you.
classic example: not every woman is happy being a stay-at-home mom their whole life. Some are. Some are not.
-You have the right goal for you, but you are going about it the wrong way.
People can have intense spiritual experiences without drugs. Drugs are a crutch, a short cut perhaps. Like most short cuts, they have their consequences. I also dabbled in drugs as a young person (including LSD). I have had profound and intense spiritual experiences, but all while stone-cold sober. I can understand the similarity between an “acid trip” and a vision. I think they are similar in ways, but also very different. So my answer: Yes. You had a drug-induced spiritual experience. That’s how God works. It doesn’t invalidate it, just qualifies it slightly. I personally believe there’s a wide, gray and fuzzy line between our imaginations and our “revelations.” I mean that seriously. I think that broad type of experience is exactly how God works, how prophets receive revelations, how seers receive divine inspiration. It can triggered/assisted by drugs. It is of a better quality when achieved through more organic means such as prayer, fasting and meditation.
I can appreciate and find interesting value (true spiritual value) in the foundational stories without needing them to be literal. To me, the meaning we make from our stories is just that — what WE create. It’s a reflection of our soul into the world around us. That includes secular history and not just religious history. Our stories tell us a lot about ourselves, perhaps even more than they tell us about the world we live in at times.
eman wrote:how do you rebuild a structure of belief without being influenced by fear, greed, laziness, and other emotions?
You don’t run from them, you embrace them, and try to see those feelings as they are. You acknowledge they are a part of you, because you are human, and that is beautiful. We are not beings of pure logic and reason. We do not function that way. We are part reason, and really mostly emotional decision makers. We don’t stop to do careful, controlled, scientifically verifiable analysis of most decisions and ideas.
As a wise person once said “When I finally stopped caring about Satan, he suddenly stopped caring about me.” Or to put it another way, when you stop worrying so much about failing, or feeling emotions, then your emotions will stop creating so much disruption. You are good as you are, totally loved and accepted by God. And you can become better too, if and when you want. When you want it enough, you will do what you want.
So build a belief structure. Don’t wait for it to be perfect, or to know everything. You have been wrong before. You will be wrong again. That I can promise! I am wrong about many things too. It’s OK to try again, and again, but hopefully each time a little wiser. Embrace uncertainty and ambiguity. Embrace being wrong. Our life isn’t a test. It’s an adventure.
I have used these lines from Anthem as my signature line before on different forums: Ring the bells that still can ring
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in.
Part of setting boundaries is maintaining them during the testing period. They will be tested. That’s a good indication you needed to set better boundaries. Hold the line. They say strong fences make good neighbors. The same goes for families IMO. Everyone else already gave good advice on how to maintain the new boundaries in a polite and respectful way.
Old-Timer wrote:the LDS Church right now is the only true church for me – if I define “true” as in “true north” and “pointing in the right direction”.
Thus, the classic analogy of Liahona Mormons vs. Iron Rod Mormons that Richard Poll described in his talk “What the Church Means to People Like Me.”
http://www.zionsbest.com/people.html The Liahona pointed in the direction of ultimate truth — the promised land. Lehi’s family wandered all over, adjusting as needed, experiencing stories along the way, but following in the general direction toward their goal. This grants quite a bit of freedom to wander, and might also look rather haphazard and lacking in certainty. But that freedom is important to some of God’s children. It’s what they need. They need a Liahona to guide them and not an Iron Rod.
Iron Rod folks take a different approach. They take comfort and enlightenment from the solid and certain path that goes straight towards the goal, without deviation. This works best for them. The downside is that it appears inflexible. It doesn’t adapt to the terrain.
They both get to the same goal of eternal life and exaltation, the promised land or the tree of life. They just serve God’s children in different ways, according to their needs.
Just to be clear, I used language like “perverts” and “wife beaters” to be dramatic and hyperbolic, to draw attention to my point. I strongly disagree with how Mormon culture currently views human sexuality. In particular, I think it highly problematic to believe that one would never have sexual thoughts (which are of course “impure” by their very nature).
