QUOTE (Lt_Ripley @ May 3 2008, 05:28 PM)

everyone has a 'spiritual ' experience in their life , but some don't realize it . always looking for something outside themselves to define it. no 2 experiences are the same nor should they be.
plenty can have a spiritual experience , 'hear' God and later years hear and feel nothing. like mother teresa. Rarely is spirituality a constant , but waxes and wanes - that's how it grows. you can't feel the same at 40 that you did when you were 20 otherwise you wouldn't have grown at all.
sometimes , in the course of that growth , you have to hang on to 'thinking' God exists.
it's like Love. You meet - it's high strung , hard and fast , full impact................. it settles down ... becomes comfortable........ then one day you find yourself laying next to someone you don't know ............. wait ......... suddenly or slowly you recognize them again ........... love comes back but more mature , quieter. ......... ebbs and flows.
( of course again none of this is proof of an existance) just in case.
That was a good way of explaining it LT.
In my last several years my spirituality has matured and I have become more in tune with it as well as with myself. It does grow, and it transforms. My outlook at life surely is not as it was when I was 30 or 20 for that matter.
You also right that some dont realize it when they have had a spiritual encounter..They need the cosmic 2>< 4 in the head..
Nor the wisdom or knowledge to know if its good... I laugh and at the same time squinsh at these kids that want to contact demons etc and have no clue what they get into. Because there is evil as well...dont mistake that.
As I have matured, and my spiritual self has matured, so has my gift... I give many thanks for what i have too.
I think so many worry about what they dont have instead of being thankful for all the good they DO have. Why should God give you another blessing, when no one appreciates or gives thanks for what they already have...We're like spoiled children in some sense, and we all could use a good spanking at times... And I think we get it.
Everyones experiences are pretty much different. Some similar..But just as santa dispenses his wrapped up gifts at Christmas time to be opened...so too does the Lord dispense his gifts to us... some the same, some slightly different.... I surely dont have what my grandmother had...but Im thankful none the less for what little I do.
I did look to someone outside to define it... The Lord who gave it to me. All good I believe comes from him. And I will be eternally grateful I am A child of the Light and Lord.
I think we all have the same God, but just call him by different names...
Well, thanks for listening to me... Blessings