[Question and answer about religion from another context]
Q [Person A]: One more observation - or question. If you don't think He does physical kinds of miracles (at least very often), does that view jive with how people in the scriptures experienced miracles? If it is discordant with Book of Mormon or Bible (or other standard works) experience, why would that be? Has the Church changed, has God changed, or have people just changed how they view God from when the Church was "restored" and if so, does that really leave room for a restoration of what is really no longer the case? Hence, revisionism more than restoration.
A [Max]: I'm not sure I agree [that he doesn't do physical kinds of miracles]. What I'm saying is that His inclination to do physical kinds of miracles for me has apparently decreased as I've grown in spiritual maturity, which is why childhood is relevant. When I was very young, the answer to "I lost something" was typically "Here's where to find it." At a certain point I started getting the feeling the answer from here on out was increasingly going to be, "Here's how to be patient and unstressed while it's lost," and eventually "Here's how to go about replacing the lost things without suffering unduly from stress during the process." It doesn't mean I have ceased to lose things, or even ceased to lose things and then find them again, but the Spirit says to me that it's not (typically, for most things) even appropriate any more to pray to for a "physical miracle" in that sense because I've moved beyond them.
This doesn't mean other people couldn't experience physical miracles, which is one reason it's important for me to be very open-minded about how other people experience divine interventions, since we're all at different points in our progressions. But most of my divine experiences in the past few decades are more spiritually-oriented (read: concerned with conveying intelligence and making me a better, kinder, stronger person) since I don't really have many physical needs now. When I've needed physical interventions, such as after my injury in the Army, I knew I would get them if I asked for them and I did. If you classify finances as "physical" I also feel distinctly blessed in that regard as a result of paying tithing--not just that I have money, but the confidence that comes from knowing the Lord appreciates me taking my duty to him seriously and that if I ever needed more He would give it to me, because that's the kind of Man He is. (I'm sure you can relate though to the feeling of already having more money than you ever intended to have, and not really having anything in particular that you need to spend it on. You and I don't share much in common but I recognize that we (and also Gale) share an inclination to use our financial surplus for the benefit of others, such as generously tipping working-class taxi drivers and waiters at restaurants and strangers in need.)
But anyway, the premise that "you don't think He does physical kinds of miracles" is incorrect.
-Max
--
I could not love thee dear, so much,
Loved I not honor more.
Q [Person A]: One more observation - or question. If you don't think He does physical kinds of miracles (at least very often), does that view jive with how people in the scriptures experienced miracles? If it is discordant with Book of Mormon or Bible (or other standard works) experience, why would that be? Has the Church changed, has God changed, or have people just changed how they view God from when the Church was "restored" and if so, does that really leave room for a restoration of what is really no longer the case? Hence, revisionism more than restoration.
A [Max]: I'm not sure I agree [that he doesn't do physical kinds of miracles]. What I'm saying is that His inclination to do physical kinds of miracles for me has apparently decreased as I've grown in spiritual maturity, which is why childhood is relevant. When I was very young, the answer to "I lost something" was typically "Here's where to find it." At a certain point I started getting the feeling the answer from here on out was increasingly going to be, "Here's how to be patient and unstressed while it's lost," and eventually "Here's how to go about replacing the lost things without suffering unduly from stress during the process." It doesn't mean I have ceased to lose things, or even ceased to lose things and then find them again, but the Spirit says to me that it's not (typically, for most things) even appropriate any more to pray to for a "physical miracle" in that sense because I've moved beyond them.
This doesn't mean other people couldn't experience physical miracles, which is one reason it's important for me to be very open-minded about how other people experience divine interventions, since we're all at different points in our progressions. But most of my divine experiences in the past few decades are more spiritually-oriented (read: concerned with conveying intelligence and making me a better, kinder, stronger person) since I don't really have many physical needs now. When I've needed physical interventions, such as after my injury in the Army, I knew I would get them if I asked for them and I did. If you classify finances as "physical" I also feel distinctly blessed in that regard as a result of paying tithing--not just that I have money, but the confidence that comes from knowing the Lord appreciates me taking my duty to him seriously and that if I ever needed more He would give it to me, because that's the kind of Man He is. (I'm sure you can relate though to the feeling of already having more money than you ever intended to have, and not really having anything in particular that you need to spend it on. You and I don't share much in common but I recognize that we (and also Gale) share an inclination to use our financial surplus for the benefit of others, such as generously tipping working-class taxi drivers and waiters at restaurants and strangers in need.)
But anyway, the premise that "you don't think He does physical kinds of miracles" is incorrect.
-Max
--
I could not love thee dear, so much,
Loved I not honor more.
