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TopHEY, GOD, IS THAT YOU?
One of the notes that came in was asking about a very special kind of problem. How can someone tell whether something is coming from God or not? Are there additional issues or problems in sorting things out for someone with MPD? Is it possible to be "tricked" into thinking something is coming from God when it’s really not?
I’m going to have to base this response on some standard considerations in spiritual direction and pastoral counseling, plus reflection on my own experiences of prayer and faith, and then consider what I’m aware of when it comes to MPD. This may be a subject that I’ll end up continually adding ideas to as we go along.
To start off with, there is no sure way of knowing whether something is from God. There is no clear identifying indication. This subject is considered one of the most sensitive and delicate in spiritual direction. Often, no evaluation can be made for quite a while.
It may help to look at some broader issues.
It would help to recognize that when I focus strongly on something, even if that is only reading a book, I enter a very light kind of "trance." (Different people use different definitions for trance, hypnosis, etc.) I choose to limit my awareness of other things around me so that I can focus my attention. The same is true for listening to something, considering a tough problem, whatever. During that time, I am slightly more open to outside (or inside) influences. Generally, the heavier the trance state, the more open I am. What goes with that is a lessened "critical ability" or ability to sort things out or check whether things really make sense. The light levels are not really a problem at all. The heavier kinds of trance can be a different story.
Entering heavy states of prayer or meditation, some types of very intense or emotional prayer services, or situations where someone intentionally or not leads someone into a heavy trance, can all lead to powerful experiences with lessened critical ability. Of particular concern is when stimulation is occurring at an unusual level. Both heavy understimulation as well as heavy overstimulation can lead to deep levels of trance. The depth may not be clearly chosen by the person, it may be hard to move out of, and it can be a time of special vulnerability.
Ordinarily when the intense experience ends, the trance state lightens and the critical ability quickly returns. At that point the experience can be "sorted out" and thought about. That process is very important, whether the experience was beautiful and joyous, heavy and serious, whatever. After the experience we think about it and evaluate what has gone on.
Ordinarily that process occurs without thinking about it and there’s no real problem.
If someone has had an especially hard time with trance states, for example by going heavier than usual, being especially sensitive to suggestions while in a trance state, with extra difficulty moving out of the trance state, etc. I would recommend caution. I would encourage focusing on gentler, less problematic kinds of experiences. I would also strongly remind them that it is not true that the more intense experience is more likely "of God" or even more spiritually important or reflective of being "closer" to God. (Is God more likely to be found in a thunderstorm than the gentle breeze of a spring day?)
If someone was going to be part of such an intense experience, I would encourage setting up extra precautions beforehand. For example, if someone was going to attend a type of religious service that is often intense and emotional, I would encourage them ahead of time to decide that 1) no money would be given under any circumstances, 2) no significant decision about their faith or life would be made during the service or for three days after. Those are just examples.
As a side issue, one way of viewing spiritual direction is to continually ask questions about balance. If someone is very intellectual in religious thinking and experience, focusing on the emotions for a while may be helpful. If someone tends to the emotional, focusing on intellectual study and development would be appropriate. Many religious issues have extremes that can be unhealthy and an aim can be to seek a healthy balance point. Different denominations can tend to stress one side of a dynamic or the other, as well.
To get back to the central question, how can you tell if an experience, or an idea, or a suggestion is from God?
If I have an idea or an impulse, it can come from one of many different sources. I believe that at times it may indeed be of God or the "prompting of the Holy Spirit." It may be an idea that is "derivative" or something that naturally flows from another religious understanding. It may be a growth that has occurred as part of faith, a "light bulb" that has turned on. An impulse may be an "intuition" that simply occurs. It may in fact be a result of an awareness based on very natural "data" picked up by observation, often without even being aware of having collected that data. It may be a temptation based on a "half truth" or rationalization that would encourage me in something that I would like to do but that may in fact be wrong. If I hear a voice, it may in fact be a form of hallucination (without meaning that I am "crazy"). In a situation of MPD, it may be another personality, perhaps one that has not been directly met by the personality doing the hearing. Some personalities that some with MPD have are called "ISH"s (Internal Self Helpers) who can be experienced as wise or even angelic or godlike. It can be a nurturing personality, or even a personality seeking to mislead. It can be a personality representing or modeled on some outside person from the past. All of the above are possibilities. Some people with MPD experience "influences" or emotions from other personalities rather than switches and so may feel called or encouraged toward a particular action without knowing clearly why or what it means.
I can remember, quite some time ago when I was in college, a time when I had contact with what is called now "Charismatic Renewal." The processes and experiences are highly intense emotionally. As part of the idea of following the call of the Holy Spirit, there was an idea of responding to, of following, those impulses, presuming that they were from the Holy Spirit. At one point I found myself asking for guidance as to whether to make a phone call, how to invest my time, etc. There was movement toward living my life, living out my faith, based on what answer seemed to be coming internally.
That process didn’t last too long. It suddenly hit me what was occurring. There was a sense of calm and peacefulness in responding to those impulses, a sense of things being clear and definite. Things felt very comfortable. What I suppose I could have called "being reflective" was actually a process of seeking to live in a state of trance. It was still fairly light, but I think it was a trance dynamic. It was a way of walking away from the responsibility of living out my life and faith. It was a way of avoiding having to deal with the moral uncertainties of life. It was a way of faith that, at least for me, was not in the direction of health or spiritual growth.
I’m sure that, for some, that is not the case. For some, Charismatic Renewal has been a source of growth and new life, leading to a stronger and deeper faith. I’ve also seen people whose lives have been damaged. I’ve seen people give up on the idea that the search for truth is a quest—they made their feelings into a theology and sought truth only in their feelings. Balance, at least for them, was lost.
At those prayer meetings, there was incredible pressure to conform to the expectations of the others who were there. Serious questioning was considered to be wrong, a flaw, resisting the Holy Spirit. There was incredible pressure to pray in tongues, to be closely identified with the people who were there. That pressure was sometimes very subtle, but it was there. The ability to evaluate critically, to question, to seek openly, to challenge contradictions—all that was disrespected and discouraged. I know that some of those groups ended up, finally, having many of the characteristics of cults, robbing members of their freedom to think and act. Again, some of those communities were excellent, some had problems but generally did pretty well, but there were some that ended up as disasters for those involved in them. Concern over theology and seeking truth can be one of the first things to go. God quickly starts to become what I make of Him rather than seeking.
I’m not sure if that is a detour in this discussion or not.
When it comes to issues of faith, there is an inherent danger in "seeking certainty" perhaps especially for those who are desperate for an orientation point or something to hang onto. Again, there is an issue of balance. The yearning for certainty can lead to using the Bible as some sort of absolute reference point or making feelings and emotions absolute, as above. It can lead to using novenas and devotions as ways to "force" God to act in the way that I want. Someone who is respected can be turned into the center of truth and wisdom. A minister who strongly offers certainty can in effect call a Christian cult into existence around him.
What I would call superstitious practices can develop in a search for that certainty. Some people might flip the Bible open at random and put their finger on a passage as an answer to a question or problem. Some might look around for "signs" in nature or relationships that will tell them what it is they are supposed to do next. Some might give up their responsibility for decision-making to some leader, doing whatever that leader directs or orders. Some will label all kinds of things as "evil" or "demonic" and get a sense of direction by means of running away from those things, or a sense of power by viewing themselves as confronting them.
What I would suggest, as at least a partial answer to the question of how someone can tell if it’s God talking, is to seek balance. Faith does not mean turning off our brain cells, or walking away from questions, or giving up our human freedom. If something calls in the direction of healing, of opening out to the world, of creatively bringing new life, of responsible freedom, of being "light in darkness," of reconciliation, of courage—that is most probably of God. It may not be clear immediately, often things will be kind of a "mixture" that must be sorted out, but if it is in that direction, I would tend to view it as "of God."
If something leads to isolation or alienation, to a sense of being "better" than others, to a giving up of freedom and taking on of chains, to a giving up on the quest for truth, to movement away from healing—that may not be of God.
The bottom line is that it usually isn’t possible to make a determination immediately. Something from an ISH may help me walk toward God, or it could be a tremendous detour. An impulse could be based on loving intuition or dynamics that I don’t really understand. Something good occurring because of a particular action may in fact be mainly coincidence. Does it really make a difference?
A lot of the living out of faith comes as a result of decisions that are carefully made and then lived out. Clearness should come in the relationships I enter into, the choices that I make, and the values that are honored by those choices. It doesn’t have a lot to do with how I "feel" about something at a given time. Those life directions are the core of living out faith in God. Those choices and decisions should be carefully and clearly thought about, worked with, prayed about, and made with as much wisdom as possible. Certainly the faith community that I am a part of has a lot to do with that, but even the choice to follow that community’s teaching is a decision. It may still involve acting differently in a particular situation.
That walk in faith is a struggle for all of us. It’s not necessarily easy. All of me is meant to be involved, though, including my ability to think, to analyze, to decide.
The term that is usually used for faith that is healthy and mature (sorry guys), that is based on thought and prayer, that is consistent and growing, is "integrated" theology and faith life. That is something that all of us can work toward.
For church and religious leaders, mature believers can be very uncomfortable to have around. They tend to ask questions that it would be more comfortable to avoid. They remind me of how much growth is needed in my own life and faith. They tend to be very supportive and accepting of the faults of others, but there is a push to grow to be worthy of their respect. They tend to be intensely curious and "involved" in the world around them. They don’t talk much about God, but when they do, it is with calmness, love, and wisdom. Their actions communicate what they believe and who they believe in, and their faith is a constant part of their life, even when they aren’t thinking about it. I don’t think they see themselves as "good Christians" and would be surprised if someone told them that they were seen as a "model." They are usually very aware of where the "growing edges" are in their lives.
Throughout, there is a "balance" in their lives.
© Fr J Mahoney