Wk 8: Is One Bad Experience Driving Your Bus?
The Skeptic Framework > Personal Experience
The “EP” in Skeptic: Experience, Personal
In prior articles, I discussed the first two lenses of the Skeptic Framework (Scripture and Knowledge). In this article, we’ll take a look at the next one: Personal Experience.
Let’s begin by defining “personal experience.” I like the definition given in preparation materials for various AP exams.
Personal experiences are individual encounters or events that someone has gone through in their life, shaping their beliefs, values, and understanding of the world.
In the context of spirituality, this refers to encounters and events with or related to a religion, faith, or Higher Power.
A Brief Refresher
As a reminder, this article is part of a sub-series within Phoenix Your Faith. I will be exploring the lenses of the Skeptic Framework with the help of two sources:
The video (and companion Listening Guide): Ways of Discovering God’s Will by Steve Veazey.
A sermon I published here on Substack in a two-part article: Have You Been Marginalized? Part 1 & Part 2.
Below, we will explore the lens of Personal Experience in these sub-sections:
Steve’s Take: A summary of what Steve Veazey said about the lens in his seminal video.
Sermon Notes: Where and/or how I used the lens in preparing my sermon.
Editorial Comment: My additional thoughts related to Steve’s Take or my Sermon Notes or my personal story.
A Personal Story: Something else that happened in my life that illustrates the application of the lens.
Prompts: Questions to help you explore how you feel about the lens.
Steve’s Take on Personal Experience
We take personal experiences seriously. Nevertheless, every experience needs to be examined and interpreted soundly. Unexamined experiences can be dangerous when misused.
The most reliable spiritual discernment occurs in association with others. Struggling with diverse experiences leads to real community. It’s important to listen together to the Spirit’s voice.
Editorial Comment
Elsewhere, Steve has written about the importance of listening to one another’s sacred stories. This implies we are sharing our sacred stories with the community (which is what my online writing is about, in general).
Sermon Notes
I used this lens in the sermon when I shared my journey to becoming a writer. I feel that it makes a scripture story more relatable when I use illustrations from my own life.
Editorial Comment
Sharing my experiences comes naturally to me. I choose to see evidence of a Higher Power all around me, giving me a never-ending supply of stories. I recognize that spiritual experiences can take many forms, from the dramatic to the everyday.
There is drama in near-death experiences (NDEs), angelic visitations, lucid dreams, miraculous recoveries, and similar one-time events. Dramatic experiences do tend to be harder to discount. But these experiences are the exception, not the rule.
Many people discount or fail to notice spiritual experiences in their everyday lives. These can include moments of peace in nature, synchronicities and coincidences, and random acts of kindness.
On the other hand, experiences that affect our relationship with God can also include negative events:
That judgy lady who always turned around in her seat to scowl at your childish interruptions during the church service.
The cutting remarks directed your way by misogynists, racists, homophobes, or transphobes.
In these cases, the challenge is to keep the actions of others from coming between us and God.
A Personal Story About Personal Experience
The year was 1966. The sixth-grade class of Lee Elementary School was practicing for its upcoming graduation ceremony. All thirty-something of us were seated on stage, on long painted benches that would normally line the walls of the small gymnasium.
Principal Washburn popped in to see how things were going. He stood facing us, his imposing height even more imposing to tiny four-foot-eleven-ish me sitting on the low bench. He came to give us a few words of encouragement—and warning.
As he fumbled about, trying to convey his expectations as to how we should dress, I raised my hand. “Do you mean we should wear what we wear to Sunday School?”
Sniggers and snide remarks came from all around me. I felt my face get hot. It wasn’t until that moment that I realized most of my classmates must not be going to Sunday School.
Fortunately, the school year was almost over, so I only had to endure the continued teasing and whispers for a few days.
Editorial Comment
Thinking about this now, maybe this set me up for my life-long avoidance of evangelism. Maybe not. 😜
Prompts for the Lens of Personal Experience
Consider your past experiences with God (aka, a Higher Power).
Describe a dramatic spiritual experience you’ve had or have heard about. How did it affect you?
In the past, have you felt God, seen God, heard God’s voice, or recognized God's hand in your life? Or have you heard stories about this from others? How do you feel about it?
What has happened to you recently that you perceive as being evidence of the work of an everyday Higher Power?
Are you reluctant to attribute anything (good or bad) to God? Is it all just coincidence?
Reflect on a bad—maybe horrid—experience that might have caused you to turn away from your faith. Are you letting that one bad experience drive the bus? I.e., are you blaming God for something done to you or said to you by misguided people, perhaps in your own faith community?
What uncomfortable experiences have you endured at the hands of those outside of your beliefs, faith, or religion? Have you let that keep you from growing spiritually or from sharing?
The Takeaway
Since encounters with a Higher Power or with a faith community or with everyday life or even with nature will affect different people in different ways, it can be difficult for someone like me to know the right questions. The prompts I wrote may have no meaning for you.
Please don’t feel constrained by what I asked you to consider.
Think more globally, in terms of the encounters and events that have shaped you spiritually. Think about the events and encounters that brought you to where you are now, whether that’s in a place of deep faith, or in the midst of the dark night of the soul, or somewhere else entirely.
May you find that journey to be enlightening!
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