Close Topic Options

Spiritual Moments

This past week gave me an idea for a post about moments we experience in life that can only be explained by a spiritual presence. I love hearing about other people's experiences and moments that go with them the rest of their lives.

One that I had this past week happened at the memorial service we had at work with our girls for the fifth grader who passed away. A lady from a hospice came out to facilitate the service, and the girl's mother came as well. Our city donated a tree for us to plant, which was planted, with a plaque in honor of the girl, so we were gathered around it for the service. The counselor from hospice read a story about called "The Water Bug."

It talked about a family of water bugs that lived in a lake. One day, one of the waterbugs climbed up a big vine, and never came back. The leader of the group makes everybody promise that if another one of them goes up the vine, they have to come back down and let everybody else know what's above the water. Well, the leader turns out to be the next one who goes up to the surface.

Once he's up there, he sprouts wings and turns into a dragon fly. After flying around for awhile, he tries to go back under the water but can't. He thinks to himself something along the lines of "I cannot return to those below me, so I will have to wait until they come up here to be with me."

As soon as she finished reading the story, we all looked up at the tree, and lo and behold: There was a dragonfly that had perched on one of the branches.

It brought most of us to tears, but it was such a moment fromr God that brought us peace for the moment.

Moments Spiritual

First, bravo on the title of this thread, allowing others to share "Spiritual experiences" from other beliefs and faiths and even outside of the normal channels. Growing up pentecostal, I have had many experiences that I remember, but the greatest moment was at a little meeting of several teens of varying religious backgrounds.

After a series of bad things happening to be when I was a young teen, I went to a meeting of "Spiritually enlightened" teens. The group was formed for the purpose of understanding other people your age and what they believed.

I was in deep depression from the death of a friend suddenly, fights and separation from good friends still alive. I couldn't see a way out. The teen that spoke was a pentecostal and he did a combination speech with a buddhist young man. The "Sermon" was about bringing yourself up from the ashes of pain and suffering. They equated the spirit and soul to that of the phoenix rising. Through God and/or meditation you could return from despair. They spoke of calling out to God who loves you unconditionally and wants to be the arms you run to for support. I was so intent, and when we all prayed together in groups, each in their own way, I started crying.

I actually felt like God had put his arms around me and was telling me things would be O.K. While my beliefs on spiritual experiences have changed much, as a young teen, it was a defining moment in my heart and mind that allowed me to straighten up and carry on. I have equated myself with a phoenix since that day and have never forgotten the feelings of love and caring I took with me that night.

Spiritual Moments Beliefs Religious General

Last year, we were trying to adopt 2 young children who we had fostered on and off. Sometimes they were home for a few months, then they were sent back into foster care, and each time they were increasing in their behavioral problems due to the abuse and lifestyle that they were living with their birth family.

They both have special needs, learning difficulties, speech problems and the list goes on.

Social services decided that they were going to split the children up and have them adopted at other ends of the country from each other.

When the case came to court initially, we were contacted by the Judge, who personally asked us as Christians to stand up for what we believed, and if we believed that social services were giving the kids a raw deal, to stand up and fight for the kids, and apply for them ourselves (Which is practically unheard of)

To cut a long story short, we had to fight social services in court for the custody of the children, and the case just kept going in and out of court for over a year.

I was feeling really tired at the end of all this, and to be truthful had practically lost all hope of ever winning the case. I was 'talking' on the computer to an LDS friend of mine who lives in Utah, and she was asking me how it was going, and I commented to her how I felt full of despair, and I felt as though we were just the 'small man on the streets-taking on the giants'... next click, she came back with.. "Don't ever give up.. Remember David and Goliath-- the giants don't always win"
I just broke down crying, it was a real spiritual moment for me, and I felt as though I was being spiritually supported, which in turn gave me the strength to carry on fighting for what we felt was best for those 2 little children.

I always felt that if they had nothing else in the world, they had each other, and nobody was going to take that away from them.

We succeeded in adopting the children, and I have never forgotten those few words from my friend, at the time that I really needed to hear them.

Moments Spiritual

This is your brain on God: Spiritual experiences activate brain reward circuits

Religious and spiritual experiences activate the brain reward circuits in much the same way as love, sex, gambling, drugs and music, report researchers. Ref. Source 8n.

Moments Spiritual

Name: Ashton
Country:

Title: Spiritual moments

Comments: I can relate to what is written here. I too have many stories that I associate with more of "miracle moments"- when I felt all was lost- my life was saved.
Sometimes we live each day and experience so many little spiritual moments or miracle moments- that we take them all for granted and not realize that we have just experienced the presence of God acting for us/through us.