Opinion: Will the ‘Spirit of Wisdom’ ever visit me?

I was enjoying an iced coffee the other day when two ladies were discussing an event. The more I listened, the more I wish I had just not eavesdropped. Or, to put it better, I wish I I was out of earshot of their particularly loud voices.

It’s difficult for me to retell because their hard-to-ignore conversation was spoken in what often seemed to me to be a different language full of esoteric terminology.

The one woman told her companion she had been sleeping and woke up to a spiritual vision in a state she referred to as “religious ecstasy.” She observed a figure, a spirit of some sort, apparently, next to her, she said. At that point she started praying in tongues and apparently frightened off the apparition.

She didn’t know what happened, but as she was driving the next day, the “Spirit of Understanding” appeared and told her the figure she saw in bed next to her wasn’t real. Startled by the Spirit of Understanding, she swerved her car before regaining control. Then she felt an intense burning sensation which was explained as being God’s chemical reaction experienced by those to whom the Spirit of Wisdom has been inserted.

Calmness followed the burning sensation.

What took me aback about this situation wasn’t hearing a conversation in English (apparently), but making little sense of it, but that the other woman was nodding in agreement and was overjoyed that her friend had that experience. It got me thinking: is it my lack of intelligence and awareness that caused me to find these two strange, or are they so enlightened that the rest of us are missing out on all sorts of spirits?

There was a dilemma: What should I do? I decided the only correct answer is nothing.

We live in a society that almost mandates that we accept diverse thinking, whether it appears to be rational or not. Frankly, I’m running the risk of being labeled a bully just writing about this encounter. Questioning religion is a huge taboo and frankly I get that. I don’t want anyone telling me what to believe. Most people likely feel the same way.

We can all agree on that.

But is the level of collective tolerance really improving, or have we simply moved the goalposts on what we tolerate? Suppose the women were talking about President Trump glowingly. Suppose they were making racist comments. Suppose they were making fun of somebody. You could reasonably make a case that kind of behavior should be called out.

But should it?

I’m going to resign myself that the encounter I had will only be retold around a fire pit among close friends. And when I’m burned by an ember while spinning the tale, I’ll have to decide if it was a random occurrence, or the Spirit of Wisdom entering my leg.

This story was originally published November 6, 2017 at 2:21 PM with the headline "Opinion: Will the ‘Spirit of Wisdom’ ever visit me?."