- May 7, 2017
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A fellow once informed me that he knows there's a Jesus because he spoke with Him just this morning. Well: I was curious about Jesus' voice so I asked the guy if Jesus was a tenor, a bass, or a baritone? Does he speak fast or slow? Does he speak with an accent? Does Jesus rattle on or break up his talk with a generous amount of pauses, like Carl Sagan?
Another person I encountered online said they hear God's still small voice in their mind when at prayer. Well; I suggested that maybe they should seek counseling from a mental health professional if perchance they were experiencing onset schizophrenia. (But more often it's likely just people's imaginations running away with them.)
NOTE: Mother Teresa went as a missionary on the strength of a number of "interior imaginative locutions" she claims to have received from Christ himself beginning in Sept of 1946 and ending some time in 1947.
Locutions are neither apparitions nor visions: they're imaginations, i.e. daydreams, viz: they are neither visual nor are they audio. Teresa never actually heard anything with her own ears nor saw an apparition with her own eyes.
The locutions ceased once Teresa got a post in India and for the next five decades she experienced not so much as a glimmer of the Lord's presence; which eventually caused her quite a bit of anxiety, and doubts as to whether her coming to India was a mistake. (Along with that, she also began to question if there really is a God out there.)
Her anxiety became so stressful and confusing that in the final weeks of her life, Teresa, at the urging of Henry D'Souza, the Archbishop of Calcutta (a.k.a. Kolkata), agreed to an exorcism-- performed by Father Rosario Stroscio --if perchance demons were clouding her mind. Father Stroscio, 79, is reported to have said Mother Teresa appeared dazed, and behaving strangely at the time of the exorcism.
The ritual wasn't performed to rid Teresa of possession, rather, to ward off any demons that might be pestering her so she could have some peace of mind.
My point is: relying too much upon voices and/or scenes taking place in one's mind (e.g. locutions) can be risky because if and when they cease, the silence can lead one to worry whether God doesn't like you anymore.
_
A fellow once informed me that he knows there's a Jesus because he spoke with Him just this morning. Well: I was curious about Jesus' voice so I asked the guy if Jesus was a tenor, a bass, or a baritone? Does he speak fast or slow? Does he speak with an accent? Does Jesus rattle on or break up his talk with a generous amount of pauses, like Carl Sagan?
Another person I encountered online said they hear God's still small voice in their mind when at prayer. Well; I suggested that maybe they should seek counseling from a mental health professional if perchance they were experiencing onset schizophrenia. (But more often it's likely just people's imaginations running away with them.)
NOTE: Mother Teresa went as a missionary on the strength of a number of "interior imaginative locutions" she claims to have received from Christ himself beginning in Sept of 1946 and ending some time in 1947.
Locutions are neither apparitions nor visions: they're imaginations, i.e. daydreams, viz: they are neither visual nor are they audio. Teresa never actually heard anything with her own ears nor saw an apparition with her own eyes.
The locutions ceased once Teresa got a post in India and for the next five decades she experienced not so much as a glimmer of the Lord's presence; which eventually caused her quite a bit of anxiety, and doubts as to whether her coming to India was a mistake. (Along with that, she also began to question if there really is a God out there.)
Her anxiety became so stressful and confusing that in the final weeks of her life, Teresa, at the urging of Henry D'Souza, the Archbishop of Calcutta (a.k.a. Kolkata), agreed to an exorcism-- performed by Father Rosario Stroscio --if perchance demons were clouding her mind. Father Stroscio, 79, is reported to have said Mother Teresa appeared dazed, and behaving strangely at the time of the exorcism.
The ritual wasn't performed to rid Teresa of possession, rather, to ward off any demons that might be pestering her so she could have some peace of mind.
My point is: relying too much upon voices and/or scenes taking place in one's mind (e.g. locutions) can be risky because if and when they cease, the silence can lead one to worry whether God doesn't like you anymore.
_
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