#jclds runnerpost

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“‘Sing the song of redeeming love,’ I love that phrase” - Elder Kearon

I do too. Been a while since I’ve read Alma 5.

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And not putting this in the tags of the previous post, but D&C 9:9 was about when seeking direct revelation, and even more specifically to the work of translating the Book of Mormon. So like, trying to apply it to seeking yes-no answers in personal prayer, but especially to losing your train of thought, is over-applying it.

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Earnest question: if your epiphanies are a major reason for being religious, how do you feel about epiphany-y feelings from other religions? Like such mental states are really well documented in Buddhism, Islam, uhhh shrooms, etc.

(I am atheist who has had emotional Meaningness and Spirit and Divinity strikes and gone well that was fun I guess, not sure why people are so eager to attribute it to stuff that seems to have no relation)

Huh. You know, I also got DM’ed about this post. Rarely do I receive asks, especially about serious thoughts, so thanks for reaching out.

Short answer is that while it’s one of the major reasons I’m religious and specifically Christian (and more-specifically a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or “Mormon”), it’s not the *only* one. And I’ve learned to hedge my understanding of epiphanies. It is, largely, just another sensation, and not indicative of anything special about what the epiphany “said.” And, on the religious side, I’ve grown up hearing that while my church is the “right one” it doesn’t hold a monopoly over truth. I.E. epiphanies that support other religions are just a form of God revealing truth to people in different portions and means, according to their life experience.

A bit longer answer:

I try to think a little clinically about everything. Makes me feel nice and enlightened. A lot of my personal worldview consists of “it depends” and “what do I know (self-dismissive)” which allows me to roll with the punches when I encounter different/better viewpoints than mine. But that doesn’t mean I’m *actually* enlightened, or capable of really digesting conflicts with my own viewpoints. It also means I lack conviction, which probably dovetails with my general laziness.

Epiphanies have been an outside-and-steady source of conviction for me, helping me to at least hold to a few ideals strongly enough to make a small effort for them. I don’t view them as a guarantee of truth, but instead as a...better approximation of truth than my personal opinion…so yeah maybe I do mostly view them that way.

In the DM I received, I mentioned how I’ve been asked this question by peers before, for at least 8 years as far as I remember. In high school, I heard the most-disquieting version: what if people pray and receive a direct answer from God, and that answer is that my church is incorrect? That comes into direct confrontation with my beliefs.

Again, I apply the idea that “epiphanies are a portion of truth, according to what the person needs/can receive at that moment” but it’s not entirely enough to address that.

I don’t think I’ve found an answer for that. Dismissing it would be arrogant, but ignoring it isn’t a lot better. But that’s kind of what I’ve done, is ignore it.

I’d like to end this on a pithy statement, but I couldn’t think of one. Have this placeholder to mark the end of my response.

Addendum: also, I believe nearly half or more of all religious experiences are hallucinatory, but in the interest of consistency I have accepted that the ratio of hallucination-to-real events is the same across all religious (and cultural/etc.) demographics, including my church. So it doesn’t really answer the question, and hence why it’s an addendum.

[somerunner]

Pres. Oaks talk any%

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To all my atheist/etc. mutuals and followers (of which there are quite a few)

This weekend I’m going to be doing a lot of religious posting. Block these tags if you don’t want to see any of it:

#jclds runnerpost

#genconf runnerpost

Also, occasionally, I use the below tag as a catch-all for posts related to religion (but it’s usually just Christianity). I may use it a few times this weekend but I’ll always use the first two, where I’ll only sometimes use the below one. Anyway:

#religious runnerpost

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The repeated reference toward the “song of redeeming love” and then talking about the ending hymn being “Let Us All Press On” (about determination)

The vocabulary’s not coming to me, but I like what he’s done there. It’s not “parallel”…

Songs are good

[somerunner]

Ok! Slept through the morning session, procrastinated joining family for the afternoon session, and finally tuning in to the evening session.

Nice that we’re starting with “How Firm a Foundation,” I like that hymn a lot.

Might try posting about some of the talks in a single thread under here, this time around. Just for brief notes. More thoughts will be in longer separate messages.

I won’t re-add these tags until the end of the thread, so when someone tag trawls it won’t be clogged with a bajillion basically-duplicate posts.

[somerunner]

Lots of talk about space telescopes in this devotional. Which is nice.

There’s a bit of metaphor about ever-improving understanding as you look deeper into (religious) study, and there’s also a bit of literal appreciation for God’s creations.