It seems that the latest syncro blog- On a Christian Perspective into Altered States of Consciousness seems to have caused quite a stir, one or two of us have stirred up a bit of controversy regarding our approaches to this subject.
It seems to centre around where we consider God is at work, can we or can we not find truth and light in other religions and spiritualities.. for some folk this is a bridge to far, especially when it comes to talking of meditation and prayer n this way...
Yet visions are not unusual throughout the Bible- what do we make o Revelation for example- and can we dismiss the fact that God may choose to communicate with some folk through visions and dreams? Visions and dreams were accepted not only by the early church but also by mystics down the ages... so what are we afraid of.... especially when we take into account the psalmists acknowledgement that there is nowhere he can go to escape God's presence- neither the heights nor the depths are devoid God's light.
How about meditation then, why do we fight shy of unlocking deep places of our minds, and asking God to come in... to be with us and lead us into all truth... do we believe God when he that we will find him when we seek him with our whole hearts...?
I am not saying these things lightly nor am I unaware that there is both good and evil in the spiritual realms and that to lay ourselves open without thought or care is both foolish and irresponsible... but I do think that we should read again Paul's words about visions:
……but I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. I know a person in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows. And I know that such a person—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know; God knows was caught up into Paradise and heard things that are not to be told, that no mortal is permitted to repeat…(2 Cor: 12: 2-4)
He goes onto say that these are not things to be boasted about, but neither does he seem to find them disturbing , nor does he suggest this is wrong....
In our intellectualised world dare we be open to a God who is working in deeper and more unusual ways than we can possibly imagine? I hope that we can, and I hope that as we are we will be able to enter into a richer dialogue with folk of other faiths and spiritualities, recognising that they too are loved and created by God.... and though they may not recognise it, the cross was all about them too...
