OT VIII "Confidential" Student Briefing

[Cat's Squirrel]

According to this poster on Reddit, the Holy Ghost is actually inside us rather than being in the room;

"The Holy Ghost or the Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God who resides in believers in Christ and helps and guides us into all truth, gives us power to overcome sin, gives us the fruits of the Spirit which are love, joy, peace, goodness, kindness, long-suffering, patience, conforms us slowly into the image of God. The Spirit brings to remembrance what we've read in the Bible and leads us in a very real way to know Christ and understand the Word of God or the Bible as we read it."

https://www.reddit.com/r/Christianity/comments/unpft1/what_is_the_holy_ghost

I'm not saying that this is or is not true, just relaying what was said.

 

[Zertel]

The Historical Whitewash

OK, so when you pray you pray to something that isn't that Presence? Doesn't make sense to me really, because if you can feel the presence of God (the Holy Ghost) in the room, that's what you want to be praying to or communicating with surely?

Boy, I'm glad I didn't go to Catholic school.

The sequence might be, "Dear God (whoever or whatever you are) please (help me, save me etc.) The manifestation in the example is the appearance and presence of the Holy Spirit.

It's in the realm of peak, transcendental or religious experience and is transitory and future prayers would be to God or your Higher Power as you understand it as suggested in Alcoholics Anonymous and perhaps other practices, not to the "Ghost". lol

Some people have peak experiences and others don't. If you ask a thousand people if they believe a Divine Presence permeates the Universe a percentage would answer affirmatively. A follow up question of have they personally experienced such a percentage would also answer affirmatively.

Atheists and debunkers might suggest that religious experiences in moments of extreme travail or stress might be the result of the human brain releasing chemicals to prevent overload and mental damage. Could be.

 

[Cat's Squirrel]

The sequence might be, "Dear God (whoever or whatever you are) please (help me, save me etc.) The manifestation in the example is the appearance and presence of the Holy Spirit.

It's in the realm of peak, transcendental or religious experience and is transitory and future prayers would be to God or your Higher Power as you understand it as suggested in Alcoholics Anonymous and perhaps other practices, not to the "Ghost". lol

Some people have peak experiences and others don't. If you ask a thousand people if they believe a Divine Presence permeates the Universe a percentage would answer affirmatively. A follow up question of have they personally experienced such a percentage would also answer affirmatively.

Atheists and debunkers might suggest that religious experiences in moments of extreme travail or stress might the result of the human brain releasing chemicals to prevent overload and mental damage. Could be.

Oh I agree, and I'm not one of them. But if there is a God and he created us, I can't believe that he would give us a functioning brain and then tell us we can't use it to question His reality - it wouldn't make sense.

I've been reading an excellent couple of books recently by Anthony Campbell, who is a retired English doctor who in his early career as a writer wrote a couple of highly acclaimed books about TM (transcendental meditation). In the books I've read, he discusses the role religion plays in societies and how it came to be, and finishes by saying that he himself has come to a more or less atheist position - that is, he lives quite happily without a God in his life and doesn't really feel any need for the concept.

 

[Cat's Squirrel]

Further thoughts (disclaimer - this is an early morning hot weather insomnia post);

To me, it's really not difficult, but Christians make it difficult when it needn't be. There either is a Higher Power - one you can contact or communicate with - or there isn't. If there isn't one (as many people believe, and in all sincerity) then fine; get on and live your life as best you can without it.

But if there is one, and you become aware of the fact (or even suspect it might be true), you have a decision to make. Are you going to incorporate your knowledge of that Higher Power into your life? Are you to try to communicate with it (prayer) or listen to its guidance through meditation?

Neither of those decisions imply anything about the precise nature of what that higher power is (whether it's the Father, the Son or the Holy Ghost) - which is why I think it's silly to get bogged down in detail - it's quite likely that you couldn't understand what it is anyway.

 

[pineapple]

Further thoughts (disclaimer - this is an early morning hot weather insomnia post);

To me, it's really not difficult, but Christians make it difficult when it needn't be. There either is a Higher Power - one you can contact or communicate with - or there isn't. If there isn't one (as many people believe, and in all sincerity) then fine; get on and live your life as best you can without it.

But if there is one, and you become aware of the fact (or even suspect it might be true), you have a decision to make. Are you going to incorporate your knowledge of that Higher Power into your life? Are you to try to communicate with it (prayer) or listen to its guidance through meditation?

Neither of those decisions imply anything about the precise nature of what that higher power is (whether it's the Father, the Son or the Holy Ghost) - which is why I think it's silly to get bogged down in detail - it's quite likely that you couldn't understand what it is anyway.

I don't think you should expect a voice from a burning bush or anything. (If it happens, proceed with caution.) John Lennon said, 'There's nothing you can do, but you can learn how to be you in time.' I'm almost 75 and I'm still working on it.