I have been conducting an e-mail correspondence with my niece who lives in California. She is visiting this country and agreed to come and share the story of her spiritual journey with a few friends the other evening. The story is of suffering violence as a child and of being able to see (and feel) spiritual entities. Her struggle to come to terms with the fear experienced has led her into seeking ways of dealing with the very real spiritual maifestations. Various people have been of help to her on the way, none of whom have been conventional Christians. Her language, therefore, smacks of the new age being littered with terms such as 'energies', 'karma', 'reincarnation', 'aura', etc. Most of this would make the traditional evangelical recoil in horror and search for the nearest exorcist.
I was interested to note that in some instances simply changing the words would make the story acceptable to the average Christian. Becky and Mark talk about this a little.
I've read most of the books by Christian authors that warn against all of the practices related by Danielle. I am concerned for her. The funny thing is that I can't get worked up about it. I have asked God to show me how to deal with this and I trust Him in His ability to do that. The important thing seems to be to keep the dialogue going, but I'm running out of questions to ask. The fundamental thing on which we disagree is that she believes that Jesus is just another enlightened human being, albeit the most powerful. I have to find ways to express (I don't feel the need to justify) my belief in His uniqueness and divinity. This, of course, is the fundamental point of divergence for most cults, etc. Her experience of the spiritual is extreme and came out of her need to control the fear that was generated by such things as hauntings. My spiritual experience is no less real but comes from a desire to commune with God and His reaction to that desire. It's interesting to be in a situation where I really don't know how to react, except that I'm reasonably convinced that all the teaching I had in the past is of no use in this situation.