Friday, November 2, 2007

Religious Experiences

One reason for believing in God is the many religious experiences people have throughout their lives. I've actually had a few.

Over 20 years ago I attended the Unity Church here in Houston. It was one of those non-denominational Christian churches that isn't into the fire/brimstone hellfire sermons that I had been exposed to as a child in the Baptist Church. No, it was the touchy-feely, nice, Jesus was a wonderful person, sort of church and I really enjoyed for a short period of time. The reason I left is the subject for another post, but I did grow tired of the same old thing week after week and decided it wasn't for me.

Anyway, one day during the morning mediation, as a visiting lady minister was guiding our thoughts, I had a religious experience. A deep tingly feeling started at the top of my head and traveled quickly to the rest of my body. I ended up with tears flowing down my face wondering if I had felt God at that moment.

Here's the best part. I wanted to test it to make sure. I went to that same church for several weeks in a row, listening to a different minister but hoping for the same results. Never happened. For a second I actually entertained the thought that the lady minister was the cause of my feeling but I was sure God wouldn't work in such a focused way. I abandoned this line of thinking very quickly and stopped going to church altogether.

The good news is that I've been able to have that feeling several times over the past 20 years. One great way is through SEX! That's right: plain, old-fashioned, dirty sex. Another is driving over 100 mph with the top down in my Carrera on a cold December day. I got that feeling again seeing my grandson play violin for the first time in front of his family. Brought big ole tears to my eyes. It was great!

So the next time you have that God feeling just think, "Did I have that feeling last night as I was getting boinked?" I bet you did!

5 comments:

Joe said...

Sex, yep. Riding 100 mph, yep, that too. My son graduating high school, yep, that too. Like you, I've had a few episodes of that tingly feeling and its just not god or gods. Its called "living" and its what we all do.

Sean Wright said...

I don't know there's tingly feelings and there's tingling feelings ;)

Poodles said...

Sometimes the pain killers I take do that to me. God in a bottle.

Anonymous said...

I can get it meditating sometimes, but I actually got it about two months ago in L.A. I was walking near downtown and passed this homeless guy asleep on the sidewalk, next to his shopping trolley at 2pm on a hot afternoon. I just felt overcome with a feeling on intense humanity and sadness for humanity and the Earth in general and it even brought a few tears. I'm sure it wasn't god, just a manifestation of a very complex brain we humans have which allows us to experience deep moments of spiritual love for each other, life and the planet. As joe said, it's just called living, i like that outlook.

Tommykey said...

I did a post about Jonathan Edwards, a Puritan in mid 18th century Colonial America whose personal reflections on his religious belief had sexual overtones. My favorite quote from him was "I was constantly in ejaculatory prayer, wherever I was."