Experience

“Participation captures the central experience of divinity for many American evangelical Christians: that humans can experience divinity intimately, and that in such intimacy the internal mind and an external reality in someway participate in each other.” Having an “experience” of the liminal space of reality and divinity is pretty tempting. Reading the text reminded me a lot of my experience at the mega church I went as a child. I looked up the vineyard foundation website with the warm welcoming accounts from the “national director” of the vineyard movements. The vineyard worships well documented on youtube also reminded me of my old church, how moving it was to be a part of congregation singing one song. A good band and singer added to that emotional resonance. I have now shifted my faith practices to more personal ways. I’ve found that there’s a hypocrisy in “experiencing” the divine so intimately during services that are designed to make me feel that way, while my personal relationship with God wasn’t sustained by my own will and belief. I’m hesitant to say that such evangelical, new-age way of faith is wrong, but I definitely do think there’s an interesting dichotomy to be examined.