Friday, April 26, 2013

Becoming Spiritual Instead of Dying

As human beings there is always much more that can be accomplished that may be beyond our present belief system, whatever it may be at the time. So, finding a way to encompass somehow a bigger belief system than the one you presently have is a way to survive things you might not expect to survive.

If you remember the movie "Forrest Gump" and Lieutenant Dan who has his legs blown off in Viet Nam and is rescued by Forrest and is very angry at Forrest for rescuing him. Lieutenant Dan either wanted to have his legs or die. Not having legs and not dying was not acceptable to him because all his male relatives in his line had died in battle. Then he joins Forrest on his Shrimp boat and when they ride out the storm that almost kills them Lieutenant Dan Screams at God and finally makes peace with him. Then you see Lieutenant Dan later with a wife and prosthetic legs. He has made the quantum jump to being at peace with God and with his life.

So, finding a way to stay alive is often very important. Some might call this all psychological, others might call it becoming "spiritual", others might call it "Coming to God". However, it is done it is often important to one's survival. Often "you can't get there from here" any other way. Any other way often leads only to death or suicide or self destructiveness and loss of sanity or death.

In a child it might look very different. In my case it took the form of childhood epilepsy and I came to God after deciding between 10 and 12 that people who believed in God were crazy. But, I can honestly say that I would not be alive today without my terrifying coming to God experience between the ages of 10 and 15.

If I typify my experience down to a conversation between me and God and Life it goes something like this even though you must understand this went on for about 5 years:
God: "I've decided that we can't let you live, Freddie, unless you come to God as an adult!"
Freddie: "What. What do you mean? I'm only 10. What's wrong with you God?"
God: "Well. You are sort of gifted and so because of that we can't let you live unless it is within certain well defined parameters."
Freddie: "Oh. I'm not sure what that means because I'm only 10."
God: "Yes. I know. This might be sort of traumatic for you, but this is the way things are done. You are 10 now and all the guys in the old testament had to be adults by now too."
Freddie: "But that was thousands of years ago!"
God: "Doesn't matter. I still use the same criterea as I always did."
Freddie: "I'm scared God!"
God: "It really doesn't matter to me how scared or terrified you are. What matters is that you fit within certain parameters. If you don't find a way to fit those parameters you will die. That's just the way it is."
Freddie at 10: "I'm so scared I think I'm going to throw up!"
God: "Throw up then. I'm a stern taskmaster!"
Freddie throws up in Terror!

It went on like this for about 5 years until one night during a childhood epilepsy seizure I broke my nose against the edge of my door running for my parents and I woke up with a pool of blood around my head. And my father said, "You've got to get some religion under your belt, son, or you're going to die!"
I took my Dad seriously and went to church as often as I could so when I had another seizure 6 months later I screamed for God to join me in my body and he did and saved me. I never had another seizure again. My worldview expanded at that point and just kept expanding with God living in my body with me full time since then. Do, I regret inviting God to live with me inside my body? No. The alternative at that time was death. Would you rather be dead or live with God in your body with you?

I don't think most of us would prefer to be dead. And so I chose life too and my life has been amazing ever since I was 15. My looks completely changed within 2 months when God set up shop in my body with me and I never had another seizure again ever. So, for me, becoming spiritual was necessary to stay alive.

Some of you might say this was all psychological. But, for me, this is my experience living in my body. Without walking a mile in my shoes how could you know whether it is real or just psychological. Besides, I have learned to trust my life to God living in my body. If I didn't I would be dead hundreds of times since then. You don't trust your life to psychological states and live the life that I have. So, whatever you want to call it God has saved my life now every day for 50 years since I was 15 because I'm now 65.

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