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16 Nov 2007 Alpha Course: Week 6
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This weeks session was entitled "How Does God Guide Us?" Mankind has a great desire in life for guidance because, ultimately, mankind always wants the easiest way in life. Sometimes people can feel like their on the wrong path in life, or perhaps they are no longer on plan A. Can the Holy Spirit provide us with the right path in life?
The usual minister took the center stage and talked on this subject, which covered the following topics:
- Commanding Scripture – Stuff that is written in the Bible
- Compelling Spirit – Urges and impulses that people follow
- Common Sense – Self explanatory
- Counsel of Saints – Talk to other people to get other opinions
- Circumstantial Signs – Things that seem to happen just in the right place at the right time to give us a sign.
I was expecting the minister to go all preachy and holy upon his audience, ranting on about listening to the bible, to listening to any and all external sources to be a sign from God and so on. But to my surprize he was not. He stated that, although these 'spiritual interventions' like coincidences and holy messages do occur, we should not just blindly follow these messages without questioning and making sure that it is indeed the Word of God guiding us. He encouraged us to use our common sense and intuition and to consult others. Which to me was very positive to hear from the minister because it's not a message that is solely for Christians but can be applied to anyone and everyone. The minister stated that the Bible tells us only the 'How' in life, not the 'Where', 'Who', 'Why', and so on. And lastly the minister told us that God is with us always and loves us and, no matter what mistakes we make in life (because we will make mistakes, we're only human after all), He will be there for us to help us through life.
In my discussion group I felt it was quite difficult to come up with anything to discuss, mainly because it was all said already. That and it was requested we don't discuss the age old debate of "Free will vs pre-determined life" because "We would just go round in circles and we will never know the answers". Still we managed to come up with some points, including how making mistakes was a good thing because it develops character, understanding and empathy. Though one should not go around making mistakes just to experience them. I also came up with the argument that everything we do in life we have a choice, even with particularly difficult things including severe mental illnesses like depression and suicidal tendencies. Although I will admit this is purely a naïve claim and I will never fully understand what it feels like to have a severe mental illness.
I also managed to state a theory about reality that I adapted from an article I read in the New Scientist magazine (though I can't remember which article, which is a shame because it would back my theory up a lot). I proposed that every possible possibility in life happens at once, which creates a kind of 'white noise'. Our perception of reality is a series of snapshots through this white noise, like a Zoetrope, which leads down one path of reality. This could accommodate both free will and destiny because everything has been determined and played out, yet we can still choose to see which reality to perceive.
As expected I was met with looks of bemusement and disbelief, with one person swiftly saying "Well I don't believe that". However one person did approach me afterwards and asked me to elaborate on that subject, which I found quite flattering.
This weeks session I felt had a more weaker connection with Christianity compared to the other sessions and had less opportunities for discussion, partly because there was no need for any discussion. Whether this was the desired effect that the runners of the Alpha Course wanted or not I couldn't possibly say.
One more thing; the minister stated a bit of a disclaimer regarding "Hearing the Words of God". He warned us to be careful with making such a claim as "God has spoken to me and he said....", rather than saying something like "I get the feeling that God was talking to me because....". The reason for this is because the first statement is a strong claim and in the ministers words "Who are we to question his claim? It is the Word of God" like it is the end of discussion, whilst the second statement is an open claim that can be discussed. So it almost means that if you say "God has told me that.." then Christians have to believe you because they cannot go against the Word of God.
I find that a tad disturbing.
Posted at: 11:35 AM
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