This is the second in a series of steps I took in my spiritual journey. I pray you gain tremendous insight into the spirit realm as I take you through the years on the journey that would, one day, end at the throne of God.
Back in 1993, I was alone in a bedroom I shared with my older brother when I had a ‘random’ idea to get up and go to the mall to buy a book called “Dianetics.” I considered it for a moment, then I wondered what time it was and I had fifteen minutes to get to the mall bookstore. Our Section 8 apartment was about 1/4 mile from it, so I figured if I went as fast as I could, I could make it - and I did. Naturally, they had the book and I hustled home as the sun was setting on a beautiful summer evening.
Photo courtesy Amazon.com
I opened that cool-looking paperback with a purpose and started to devour each page until I filled my brain with all the ideology I could handle. I was soaking up all the info I could on mental health because I was trying to figure out why mankind was so jacked up in so many ways … more specifically myself. I wanted to know what made us tick and this seemed to have some answers. I was already absorbing all the psychology I could, but was left sorely hungry and thirsty, but I didn’t know for what. So this seemed like a viable direction in my personal journey and I was going to surf this new wave to the shore!
Dianetics was so very different from anything I’d ever heard (like how they believe mankind is sort of an alien race) and was intriguing enough that, when the post card dropped out of the book, I was ready to send it into my nearest location ASAP. I got a call about three days later and a young lady on the other side of the phone invited me to come and have a visit. The ‘local’ church was one hour away. I found myself on the highway going to my first meeting that Saturday because, honestly, I thought she sounded like she was attractive. Hey, I was a single guy.
So I get there and there she is to welcome me. I was right in that she was attractive, but she slickly passes me off to a guy who explains things to me as I actively watch to see where she goes. I figure I’d see her later, so I give the guy my attention and he escorts me into a meeting room where there is a bronze bust of L. Ron Hubbard sitting out on a table covered with a white cloth. To start the meeting, an MC of sorts enters the room and opens with a cheery statement and a round of applause for L. Ron Hubbard.
After the briefing, my escort takes me into a room with other wide-eyed newbies where we are seated and he hands me a pair of metal tubes attached to a gauge (E-meter). He explains how this gauge works and informs me that ‘people have said that there’s no way to know another person’s amount of pain, but this gauge will reveal the amount of pain you are in so as to help you understand the science behind Scientology. I figured this might be something that might be off-the-wall, but hey, I was going to be open-minded.
“When seeking the truth, it’s important we use common sense.
There’s no point in being so open-minded that your brains fall out. ”
He tells me he’s going to pinch me on my right forearm and the gauge will reveal the amount of pain I’m experiencing. Well, being a street-smart guy, I realize a ruse and, since I have a sense of humor, I decide to take this guy on a bit of a ride. I was deep into Transcendental Meditation* at this time and I figured I’d drop into a trance and get him. Regardless of what happened next, the both of us were about to learn something definitive.
He commenced the test and I closed my eyes and took a breath and I’m gone. I remain in my ‘safe place’ for awhile until I think he’s done and I come back to my self and immediately feel the pain on my right forearm and I see that he has not merely pinched me, he got his fingernails dug into me, revealing sub layers of skin, and had my skin twisted around. I jerk my arm away from him and asked, “Are you done?!” I looked him in the eye as his wide eyes glanced over me and he stammered, “How did you do that?” Needless to say, my evening with the Scientologists was over and my query into Scientology ended with a very awkward thud.
As I sought the exit, I also tried to find the young lady I came to see to let her know things didn’t work out, but I figured it was best to simply leave. B-bye!
As I drove away, I was angry and disappointed and with some regret. Anytime we search for answers outside of absolute truth and God’s purposes for our lives, we will always end up this same way.
Photo by Gerd Altmann from Pexels
But there is always a bright side when you live in the Light! Our disappointments and failures are always opportunities for God to work a new thing inside us and to draw us closer to Him. When we depend less and less on our personal desires and abilities to make things happen, we continue to re-discover the love God has for us. The reason we get so disappointed with people is usually because we have placed too much importance on that person (people) and have depended on them to bring us joy and fulfillment when it’s always been God’s role! Trust in God!
Prayer
My Father, my God. I come before You and ask You to forgive me for engaging in Scientology. I repent of, renounce, and reject ever being involved in Scientology and all its entrapments. (Explain how you got involved and why and repent of those actions, as well.) In the name and Blood of Jesus, I break off all soul ties and demonic rights to my soul Scientology, Dianetics, and all other unholy beliefs I had engaged in regarding that cult that have opened my soul to demonic torment. I have no God but You, my Lord. I completely reject all connections between myself and all people who remain in the cult and I refuse to give the devil a foothold any longer. I ask that You would cleanse me of all unrighteousness and lead me into the truth and away from all lies. Help me see people, places, and things for who and what they truly are. In Jesus’ Holy name I pray, amen.
*Obviously, TM was not fulfilling me/providing me the answers I was looking for or I would not have kept searching if it did. Power and control are never the answer to life’s problems. Knowing the One who overcame the world is the answer.
“I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
Banner Photo from WikiPedia.com’s ‘Church of Scientology’ page. TY!