Can You Have a Spiritual Experience Without Believing in God?
Science says, yes.
I wrote my first sermon as an atheist. I had chosen to be involved in a church internship out of habit — even after changing my thinking patterns to exclude the word “God” as I recovered from spiritual abuse.
The cognitive dissonance of writing a sermon for a group of people who supposedly did believe in God bothered me to the point of seeking out a spiritual experience to clear my mind — I grew up conservative evangelical. Old habits die hard.
I knew that spiritual experiences made me vulnerable to religious manipulation, which was why I had ousted God from my vocabulary in the first place. But after working with a trauma-informed spiritual director, I felt able to let myself explore spirituality as long as I could do it alone, without anyone telling me how to experience it or what it meant.
I spent two days in a small cabin trying to work with the text and string together the right concepts to feel like a person of integrity while preaching. When I got frustrated to the point of seeking spiritual help, I took time to walk the prayer labyrinth outside, trying to center myself.
As I walked the prayer labyrinth I repeated the words, you will be safe, as my mantra with each step. By the time I reached the…
