Inspiration
    There is no compulsion in religion. - Qur'an 2:256
    Trending Posts
    • The Whole Book of Mormon in 15 Verses via gentlyhewstone.com
    • Repentance: a process of addition not subtraction
    • What are Doctrines, Principles & Applications?
    Trending
    • 29 – Two versions of reality
    • #28 – Navigating the interfaith world
    • George MacDonald Quotes About Forgiveness
    • #27 – My God, my God, why have you deserted me?
    • The Four Agreements
    • Have you been baptized by fire?
    • 26 – What is the doctrine of Christ and the fulness of the gospel?
    • #25 – How Nephi leverages scriptures heroes to his advantage
    oneClimbs.comoneClimbs.com
    • Podcast
      • Apple Podcasts
      • Spotify
      • Anchor.fm
    • Topics
      • Atonement
      • Symbolism
      • Temple Prep
      • Temples
      • Notebook
      • Vlog
    • Study Tools
      • Etymology Dictionary
      • Lectures on Faith.com
      • LDSSymbols.com
      • LDS Architecture Blog
      • Number in Scripture
      • Interpreter Foundation
      • Isaiah Explorer
      • ScriptureNotes
      • Septuagint (English)
      • Strong’s Condordance
      • The Book of Isaiah (IIT)
      • Webster’s 1828 Dictionary
    • About
      • About oneClimbs
      • Contact
    oneClimbs.comoneClimbs.com
    Home»Articles»Spiritual experiences
    Articles June 1, 20152 Mins Read

    Spiritual experiences

    Any “spiritual experience” I have ever had doesn’t feel theatrical or disconnected from reality. While many such experiences are not part of what can be considered possible in general experience, when they happen they are as real and tangible as anything else.

    It seems that the degree we understand something is related to what we can compare it to.

    Maybe you are familiar with the example where someone is asked to describe what salt tastes like. It’s a frustrating endeavor for something so common and it’s nearly impossible to put into words exactly how it tastes. Is it bitter? Bitter in what way? Some bitter flavors are enjoyable and others are horrible.

    If you have experienced the taste of salt, then all one woul need to say is “salty” and you would instantly be able to relate.

    When the scriptures speak of burning, fire, enlightenment, light, swelling, delicious, joy, peace, etc. The words don’t mean much unless we have experienced something similar, and when we do experience certain things, those words suddenly become very meaningful.

    With small children, we point to things and say, “That is a cat, that is a shirt, that is a sandwich, etc.” Unfortunately, we don’t really seem to have a unique selection of words that are exclusively used to describe these spiritual experiences. Instead, we use approximate words like fire, light, peace, etc. and when we do, anyone who can’t relate to the particular experience might raise an eyebrow.

    I think that this says more about the weakness of language than the reality of spiritual experiences.

     

    Revelation The Spirit
    Previous ArticleLift
    Next Article Lectures on Faith
    Steve Reed

      I created oneClimbs as a place to organize my thoughts and share my observations with anyone who might find the information useful. Though I may speak passionately or convincingly in some of this content, PLEASE don't simply take my word alone on anything. Always seek the truth of all things through study and prayer in the name of Jesus Christ.

      2 Comments

      1. Jeffrey on June 9, 2015 6:22 am

        Love it. I grew up hearing “the scriptures are best understood when experienced.”

        Reply
        • oneclimbs on June 9, 2015 10:54 am

          It’s true. The scriptures core value, at least in my mind, is their ability to convey principles from the mind of God to the mind of man. The Lectures on Faith talk about the importance of “ideas” and that ideas must exist for any intelligent being to exercise faith. We can find in scripture the “ideas” that we can experiment with. Experimenting on ideas leads to experiences and as we return to the scriptures we find those experiences validated and the scripture, in turn, can even take us higher.

          Reply

      Leave A Reply Cancel Reply

      Inspiration

      "No wonder the selfish individual is often willing to break a covenant in order to fix an appetite." - Neal A. Maxwell

      New Post Email Notifications

      You can subscribe any time, and I will ONLY use your email to send you new post updates.

      Trending Posts
      • Atonement
        Repentance: a process of addition not subtraction

        I came across this post the other day that had some interesting p...

      • Articles
        Joseph Smith on Truth

        Receiving truth "One of the grand fundamental principles of Mormonism is to...

      • Articles
        The Sacrament and Covenant Renewal

        "The title “renewing our baptismal covenants” is not found in the scripture...

      • Articles
        Abram and Zimri

        I heard this story as part of a high councilman's talk recently week and I...

      • Articles
        New Photo of Joseph Smith Discovered? (for real this time?)

        Is this for real? Here are two good articles about it but I'll summarize be...

      Recent Comments
      • Steve Reed on A Proposed Reinterpretation of Jacob 2:30: “No, you’re good, I think my response may have been unclear. I was looking at the situation with you and…”
      • Buffy Cordelia on A Proposed Reinterpretation of Jacob 2:30: “I think maybe I didn’t explain myself well enough 😅… I still agree with your assessment and wasn’t trying to…”
      • Steve Reed on A Proposed Reinterpretation of Jacob 2:30: “So even if you took away the punctuation, the placement of the word otherwise in the verse is how you…”
      • Buffy Cordelia on A Proposed Reinterpretation of Jacob 2:30: “That all made perfect sense and was a really great explanation! I personally agree with all of it too. But…”
      • Donna Toney on A Visit to the Decalogue Stone at Hidden Mountain: “There was a study done by Pastor Arnold Murray that gives additional insight. https://youtu.be/bv5ua3RPEQU”
      Blogroll
      • Academy for Temple Studies
      • Bruce Charlton's Notions
      • Conner's Connundrums
      • Gently Hew Stone
      • Hemlock Knots
      • Interpreter Foundation
      • Isaiah Explained
      • Isaiah Explorer
      • Junior Ganymede
      • Latter-day Saint Architecture Blog
      • Latter-day Saint Temples
      • LDSSymbols.com
      • Leading Saints
      • Number in Scripture by E. W. Bullinger
      • Sixty Symbols
      • Spiritual Arson Podcast
      • Strongs Concordance
      • TempleStudy
      • The Ancient Context of Joseph Smith's Egyptian Alphabet and Grammar
      • Webster's 1828 Dictionary
      New Post Email Notifications

      You can subscribe any time, and I will ONLY use your email to send you new post updates.

      Inspiration
      "A war is not won if the defeated enemy has not been turned into a friend." - Eric Hoffer
      About this Site

      I created oneClimbs as a place to organize my thoughts and share my observations with anyone who might find the information useful. All content on this site is considered a work in progress that is often updated when new insights are obtained.

      oneClimbs.com

      LecturesOnFaith.com  //  LDSSymbols.com

      © 2023 oneClimbs. All content unique to oneClimbs is fair use. All other content is property of the respective copyright owner. oneClimbs.com is not owned, controlled, or affiliated with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All views and opinions are of the authors here who are solely responsible for their content and should not be interpreted as official statements of Church doctrine, belief, or practice, unless specifically stated and correctly referenced.

      Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.