When I held my first child, my baby girl, in my arms for the first time. I immediately knew that whatever I had done up until this point really didn't matter. My new assignment was to be her caregiver, nurturer and protector.
What was the most profound spiritual moment of your life?
by cluless 29 Replies latest jw friends
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WTWizard
Realizing that the whole Bible is the worst guidebook on the planet. It does make some interesting story material, but it is not supposed to be a guidebook.
In fact, Jesus' teaching is not to be taken literally. Jesus taught in parables for the benefit of the peasants who could not think independently yet. In such context, his words can hold valuable information for us. However, it is all too easy to get confused into thinking of it as literal--even the apostle Paul made that mistake. And when we do that, we are likely to create problems where there should be none.
Once I realized that, I realized that all Christianity is on the wrong foundation. Jesus was the only true Christian, and wanted others to continue the work he started rather than repeating it. His sacrifice was a scam, invented by the early Catholic church to control others. In reality, Jesus died trying to save man from stagnation, not so we could achieve salvation. From that perspective, I realized that I had more responsibility for my own spirituality than I thought (because I had to think on my own, using very skimpy guidelines and common sense). I also realized that I could not be saved simply because Jesus died; nor could I be damned to hellfire.
True, for many this change is extremely difficult. In fact, it can be as difficult to learn to do one's own thinking and get past the church bias that the Catholic church imposed on Jesus' teachings, as it is for many to live as monks. (In fact, for those that rely on others to do their thinking, it can be even more difficult). However, those who practice independent thinking are more likely to be free from religious bondage and stagnation. And it was Jesus himself that said that the truth would set one free--once I saw the fallacy of Paulianism (that is, Christianity), I felt more liberated than I ever did as a witless.
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cluless
THANKYOU !!!
When I have more time I look forward to revisiting this post and its thought provoking replys.
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mary stewart
mine is when my prayers are never answered and that there's no god. hehe. does that count?
no matter how often i prayed, nothing happened. the only time one seemed to be answered, it must've been some kind of co-incidence.
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mcsemike
Mine was when I knew two things. First, if there is a God, he wasn't using the WT at all and wasn't using any other group either. Secondly, after leaving the JW's, I returned to my previous position of being an agnostic. I now feel the existence of god cannot be proven or disproven.
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done4good
When you've lived your entire life believing that you can cheat death and that you will live forever and then you realize that it's a lie, that's pretty fucking profound...
Can't say it better than UC did...
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Locutus of Borg
10 years out of the kult, visiting my 6 Uncles and Grandfather in the veterans cemetery a few years ago, all decorated wwII combat veterans, and realizing, for the first time, at 53 yrs of age . . . the sacrifices they made for ME and MY freedoms.
I felt ashamed, sad, and elated all at the same time.
Ashamed because I never sought their friendship, association, or wisdom when they were alive. Because of the Kult.
Sad because I was not in their circle of friends and did not know them when they were alive. Because of the Kult.
Elated because I am finally free and can begin to get to know my surviving relatives.
Since then I have become the default family chronicler/historian/Grave Tender. Two of those Uncles are actually named in historical books relating to the campaigns they fought in.
Me . . . . I was selling worthless deceptive/subversive literature door to door . . . while they were alive. Now they are gone.
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flipper
Leaving the witnesses
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thebiggestlie
the first time i sacrificed a goat to beelzabub....
in all seriousness however i can not definatively say. All my influential "spiritual" moments can not really be put into words. I think too often though people experience something as trivial as deja vu and feel they have come to some profound realization. all is one...the universe is an infinite loop... these sorts of sentiments may or not have some merit or they might be complete BS. its hard to determine. Yes if i were to account for the times that i experimented with psychadelics i may claim these were profound spiritual events.Does the chemical open the door to the mind or does it merely blur it....
tbl....off in lala-land
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bonnzo
i never had what i would call a spiritual moment....however, when i realized that i WOULD die in this system was a pretty fuckin' eye opening moment for me.....'xcuse the language.