Thursday, December 27, 2012

Positively Negative: Experiencing God By Being Skeptical


For me, as a Christian,  there is no area in my life where I feel more misunderstood than when it comes to my skeptical interpretation of claims of the divine experience.  I guess in some sense, I am a discerning cynic. But are we not asked to test the spirits? Are we  not supposed to be discerning?

There are just a lot of things that I hear that I can’t whole heartedly believe in when it comes to experiences of the Divine. I often listen and think, “Perhaps”. Yet, at the same time, I think there is a way of being, “positively negative” and perhaps still find God by choosing not to believe everything I hear.  And, I am especially skeptical of what I might experience and “hear” in my own heart.

Do I believe God can do anything? Yes.

But do I believe God does everything and anything in a way that I can experience it and be aware of it?  I don’t think so. But by being “positively negative”,  I am keeping the doors of my heart open for something that is truly divine even if that experience is to be found in the purity of silence.  

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