Are you experienced? Have you ever been experienced?
- Thomas Tittmann
- 6 hours ago
- 6 min read
Updated: a few seconds ago
VISITORS: I've prepared these words, images and songs for this month's Men2Men gathering in Brentwood. We meet on the 2nd Saturday of every month from 8-9:30 AM on the sacred grounds of the Sisters of Saint Joseph 1725 Brentwood Road, Brentwood, NY 11717. We begin with a complete cafeteria breakfast. Contact me if interested.
Together, we will be exploring various ways we experience "G-d"..."as we understand God"...as the Third Step of Alcoholics Anonymous presents it.
Is there a "G-d"?
Yes...this could be included in those BIG QUESTIONS I describe later as being "above my pay grade"...But,as I've tried to simplify my mind, I've become comfortable with 2 "proofs" or "evidences":
the amazing intricacies of my body
the cosmic majesty of our universe
...these are enough for me...
What is an experience of "G-d"?
There are Many Ways to Experience God – Richard Rohr
April 9, 2022 / Brian Legate
A very little bit of God goes an awfully long way. When another’s experience of God isn’t exactly the way I would describe it, it doesn’t mean that they haven’t had an experience of God or that their experience is completely wrong. We have to remain with Francis’s prayer: “Who are you, God, and who am I?” Isn’t there at least ten percent of that person’s experience of God with which I can agree? Can’t I at least say, “I wish I could experience God in that way”?
What characterizes anyone who has had just a little bit of God is that they always want more of that experience! Could it not be that this Hindu, this Sufi, this charismatic, this Jew has, in fact, touched upon the same eternal Mystery that I am seeking? Can’t we at least give one another the benefit of the doubt? I can be somewhat patient with people who think they have the truth. The problem for me is when they think they have the whole truth.
The mystic probably represents the old shibboleth, “Those who really know don’t speak too quickly. Those who speak too quickly don’t really know.”
+Adapted from Following the Mystics through the Narrow Gate… Seeing God in All Things (Recording).
Expanding Our Images of God
Great Mystery and Great Intimacy - Center for Action and Contemplation
Friday, December 13, 2024
Richard Rohr explains how experiencing God can be both scary and alluring, and ultimately wonderful.
In his book The Idea of the Holy, scholar Rudolph Otto (1869–1937) says that when someone has an experience of the Holy, they find themselves caught up in two opposite things at the same time: the mysterium tremendum and the mysterium fascinans, or the scary mystery and the alluring mystery. [1] We both draw back and are pulled forward into a very new space.
In the mysterium tremendum, God is ultimately far, ultimately beyond—too much, too much, too much (see Isaiah 6:3). It inspires fear and drawing back. Many people never get beyond this first half of the journey. If that is the only half of holiness we experience, we experience God as dread, as the one who has all the power, and in whose presence, we are utterly powerless. Religion at this initial stage tends to become overwhelmed by a sense of sinfulness and separateness. The defining of sin and sin management becomes the very nature of religion, and clergy move in to do the job.
Simultaneously, with the experience of the Holy as beyond and too much is another sense of fascination, allurement, and seduction, a being pulled into something very good and inviting and wonderful or the mysterium fascinans. It’s a paradoxical experience. Otto says if we don’t have both, we don’t have the true or full experience of the Holy. I would agree, based on my experience.
Mysticism begins when the totally transcendent image of God starts to recede, and there’s a deepening sense of God as imminent, present, here, now, safe, and even within me. In Augustine’s words, “God is more intimate to me than I am to myself” [2] or “more me than I am myself.” St. Catherine of Genoa shouted in the streets, “My deepest me is God!” [3]
To spiritually know things on a deeper level, we must overcome this gap. Then, ironically, we’ll know that Someone Else is doing the knowing through us. God is no longer “out there.” At this point, it’s not like one has a new relationship with God; it’s like one has a whole new God! “God is my counselor, and at night my innermost being instructs me,” says the Psalmist (Psalm 16:7). God is operating with us, in us, and even as us.
The mystics are those who are let in on this secret mystery of God’s love affair with the soul, each knowing God loves my soul in particular; God loves me uniquely. We are invited into that same mystery. All true love gives us this sense of being special, chosen, and like nobody else. That is why we are so joyful in the presence of our lover, who mirrors us with a divine mirror.
Opening Questions...
Let's begin by considering these three questions (as well as others that arise from them) AND then added your reflections to the appropriate place on the handout.
How have you experienced G-d?
Has this changed over time? If so, how?
Has your experience of G-d changed your behavior? In what ways?
[At the meeting, we'll allow enough time for journaling and then sharing.]
My story...or, how "as" is saving my "ass"...
"Evidences for my faith..."
I'll start with an Amy Grant song (below) that expresses my developing experiences of
"g-d". They have emerged from what I like to call an increasing number of "evidences for my faith"...
...faith that there is some form (or formless) prime mover, higher power...intelligence..."G-d" as you understand "G-d"...
These "evidences" are showing up as messages on license plates or their frames...texts and emails...things that show up in my search results (often while looking for something else)...words and songs people share...experiences in spiritual traditions that are different from my original "tribe"and, most especially,...those that are emerging from within me...from that deep place...in my inner being...I'm especially grateful for this inner connection...inner relationship...
HOW I'm responding to these evidences is helping develop heretofore under-utilized TRUST muscles...
"Everywhere I go I see your face...hear your voice..."
"WHERE" is "G-d"?...
Rabbi Heschel, was a champion of social justice and marched with Dr. Martin Luther King. He also advocated for peace. With my present understanding of the nature of "G-d", I would revise his gender pronouns so they are more inclusive...more representative of the true nature of "G-d".
"As" is saving my ass
About a year ago seeing the“as” in this verse opened up a new phase in my relationship with all three participants: G-d, myself and my neighbors.
A chief way this new insight helped me is I became more aware of times I was practicing self-care and times I was not.
A major cause of my suffering was from the anxiety I was causing myself trying to get answers to big questions...questions that I came to label as "being above my pay grade."
I began to see that my “unanswered” questions, including those about why G-d allowed suffering, were causing me anxiety. SO, I was faced with a choice…continue suffering as I sought “answers”…or let go and trust the trust of other people I trust…(topic for another post)
I was invited to practice a new form of self-care...Replacement Therapy
When I become aware of these troublesome thoughts, I replace them with the “simpler”:
"what’s the next loving thing I can do…for myself and for my neighbor?"
This practice of paying attention to my thoughts - a major part of mindfulness techniques - is captured in this visual:
NOW, I'm practicing taking better care of myself by listening more to my body and its messages so I'll be better aware of when I need to rest…to let stuff go…
...and, conversely, when I need to get up and take care of something - especially, things I've been putting off.
Love Triangle...self...neighbor...G-d...REPEAT...
Step 11: Sought through PRAYER & MEDITATION to increase our conscious contact with "G-d"
[from the transcript] Again, we're back to the 11th step, prayer and meditation. I think it's a
brilliant, brilliant message. He said to me later. "I never understood the 11th
step." I said, "What do you mean you wrote it?" He said,
"No, I didn't write it. It came to me as an inspiration."
And that's because I think his own ideas of the spiritual pathway to
long-term sobriety changed and expand on that over the years. Bill was a good
meditator. He understood the role of spirit in a person's life. He was open-minded.
[from the webpage] As a beta tester for the Stepping Stones Online Archive of the National Historic Landmark home of the Wilsons in New York, Stinnett has had “the privilege of knowing the coffee shop Bill Wilson as opposed to the podium Bill.” Jay’s research into Wilson’s personal correspondence provides him with a fresh perspective on Bill Wilson’s spiritual journey.
Music for our journeys of experience...
First time they played it...
And from that same show...
