Warning: Life, Mormonism, and Spiritual Thoughts. Enter at your own risk.

[sirkickyass]

You all are missing the point, although YB's "Oincidence" made me smile. The point isn't that the things that solved Trout's problem couldn't have happened due to natural phenomena--they certainly could--it's that they happened directly after the blessing... whereas he was struggling for days and days before getting the blessing. Therefore the blessing either facilitated matters, or else it was just coincidence that these things happened right after the blessing. The believer will see it one way; the unbeliever will see it the other way.

And thus we have a classic correlation/causation problem.

To a certain extent I think those trying to "disprove" that religion had something to do with it are missing the point (and we all know how religious I am). At the end of the day spiritual belief makes Trout feel better, feel more connected to his fellow man, and appreciate his life to a greater extent and the things that happen to him, whether divinely guided or coincidental, a little bit more. He's gained a greater appreciation for the fragility of his life and the strands that connect him to those he loves.

If this was the only aspect of religion that mattered, would any of us have bad opinions of religion? I know I wouldn't. Hell, I'd probably be the Pope.

There is not one ounce of hatred of others, exclusion of "sinners," or moral justifications to commit petty acts or crimes against his fellow man contained in Trout's post. No one should have a problem with that kind of sincere belief. There's even a bit of acknowledgement that other beliefs might have access to the same kind of knowledge or power.

It doesn't matter whether or not it objectively happened, what matters is that it is unequivocally a positive in this instance. Here, religion is all upside. And frankly, it's a little twisted to try and take it away from him.

 

[kwb]

So God decided to cause ER worthy injuries/illnesses to happen to enough people to make the IMC so busy that he had to go to LDS hospital. This sounds completely negative, but I promise it isn't. I'm open to the idea, just not for me etc. I just think that it is one of those things that seems like a miracle if you look at it from one person's point of view, but if you are going to believe there was divine intervention or whatever that caused this to happen, it actually was worse for everyone but trout. I'm gonna go with "oincidence".

He is, "Trout" after all.

 

[Scat]

Dave, great post.

I think some of the posters are missing the point of why you have a strong spiritual feeling about what happened. Anyone could have told you to go to the hospital, however, during a blessing of health, one is expected to hear, get better or you will overcome this this, etc. I do feel that your friend was prompted by the spirit telling you to go to the hospital because nothing else could have healed you or helped you from your misery. The fact that you listened and recovered was you exercising your faith as well.

It's pretty cool to see such an *** clap such as yourself share an awesome story that read very powerful and spiritual.

I think Archie brings up an excellent point here. As many here are not Mormon or may have not received or given a blessing there is a strong correlation between these blessings and some form of wording referring to healing/feeling better. The fact that Trout's friend did not mention healing or even being relieved of pain is a pretty big omission when it comes to these matters. It is almost always a part of these blessings. While common sense tells you to go to the hospital, in Trout's case, had the Elder mentioned healing or even pain relief, Trout may have very well waited until the following morning. In my mind, the fact that nothing at all was mentioned regarding healing is a pretty big deal.

 

[One Brow]

Therefore the blessing either facilitated matters, or else it was just coincidence that these things happened right after the blessing. The believer will see it one way; the unbeliever will see it the other way.

I call neither way. Do I still get to be an unbeliever?

TroutBum said he called for the blessing because he was desparate. It was not coincidence that TroutBum received the blessing right before he went to the hospital, the blessing was the last attempt to not go to the hospital. Note that while I have a personal opinion of which everyone is well aware, this explanation of the sequence fits in well with both the notion that the blessing helped TroutBum (at the very least, to get over his stubbornness), which itself fits in with both a believer and non-believer take on the situation (ther blessing being a physical event at which TroutBum was present, it could have an effect on TroutBum's actions in mystical or non-mystical ways).

 

[One Brow]

To a certain extent I think those trying to "disprove" that religion had something to do with it are missing the point (and we all know how religious I am).

I agree with the whole post, and especially with this. My apologies if that has not been clear.

 

[Scat]

I think Archie brings up an excellent point here. As many here are not Mormon or may have not received or given a blessing there is a strong correlation between these blessings and some form of wording referring to healing/feeling better. The fact that Trout's friend did not mention healing or even being relieved of pain is a pretty big omission when it comes to these matters. It is almost always a part of these blessings. While common sense tells you to go to the hospital, in Trout's case, had the Elder mentioned healing or even pain relief, Trout may have very well waited until the following morning. In my mind, the fact that nothing at all was mentioned regarding healing is a pretty big deal.

I call neither way. Do I still get to be an unbeliever?

TroutBum said he called for the blessing because he was desparate. It was not coincidence that TroutBum received the blessing right before he went to the hospital, the blessing was the last attempt to not go to the hospital. Note that while I have a personal opinion of which everyone is well aware, this explanation of the sequence fits in well with both the notion that the blessing helped TroutBum (at the very least, to get over his stubbornness), which itself fits in with both a believer and non-believer take on the situation (ther blessing being a physical event at which TroutBum was present, it could have an effect on TroutBum's actions in mystical or non-mystical ways).

See my above post. If healing/relief had been mentioned in the blessing Trout may have very well put off the ER trip for a few more hours as you yourself admit that the blessing was a last attempt to avoid the ER. The highly unusual omission of healing/relief in the blessing prompted Trout to go to the ER immediately.

 

[GVC]

And thus we have a classic correlation/causation problem.

To a certain extent I think those trying to "disprove" that religion had something to do with it are missing the point (and we all know how religious I am). At the end of the day spiritual belief makes Trout feel better, feel more connected to his fellow man, and appreciate his life to a greater extent and the things that happen to him, whether divinely guided or coincidental, a little bit more. He's gained a greater appreciation for the fragility of his life and the strands that connect him to those he loves.

If this was the only aspect of religion that mattered, would any of us have bad opinions of religion? I know I wouldn't. Hell, I'd probably be the Pope.

There is not one ounce of hatred of others, exclusion of "sinners," or moral justifications to commit petty acts or crimes against his fellow man contained in Trout's post. No one should have a problem with that kind of sincere belief. There's even a bit of acknowledgement that other beliefs might have access to the same kind of knowledge or power.

It doesn't matter whether or not it objectively happened, what matters is that it is unequivocally a positive in this instance. Here, religion is all upside. And frankly, it's a little twisted to try and take it away from him.

Yep.

 

[7StraightIsGreat]

It doesn't matter whether or not it objectively happened, what matters is that it is unequivocally a positive in this instance. Here, religion is all upside. And frankly, it's a little twisted to try and take it away from him.

I don't think anybody is trying to take it away from him. Seems like Trout made this thread in a effort to see what everybody else thought. I totally see how Trout comes away from this feeling the way he does and I think that's great. However, I just don't think it takes gods intervention for Trouts friend to see him writhing on the floor in agonizing pain and realizing that this guy doesn't need to hear the words "get better", he needs medical attention immediately. An earlier poster made a great point: Did god make it so an ER had an hour and a half wait worth of sicknesses/injuries simply for the purpose of facilitating Trout's miracle? I doubt it works that way.

 

[The-Joker]

I think the real question in all of this is...

Could god make a burrito sooo hot, that even he couldn't eat it?

 

[LogGrad98]

What is interesting is he went to the hospital before and they did nothing. This time when he went they were full, so he got bugged and went to a different hospital where he got different doctors that were willing to check into the issue more. I would say there was some help from "on high" to get you fixed. I'm glad you made it through Trout. By the way, are you just a little more grateful to be alive after this experience? Are you a little bit more humble? Are you a little bit more happy with what you have, and the people around you than you were before your near death experience? In my opinion that is one of the results, if not reasons why things like this can happen to people. What do I know though.

Near-death experiences are not this cut and dried. Almost always they change the person, from my experience, but they can have implications that last far into the future and forever change your life in ways you would never have imagined. Sometimes in ways you never wanted or cannot come to terms with.

 

[Duck Rodgers]

I think the real spiritual question is....what kind of voodoo black magic vengeance spell did the guy that wanted to kick your *** from your political offerings put you under?

Glad you made out okay, dude. Opening the pipeline to God never hurts.

 

[bat]

Going to the hospital when you're in pain?

Sounds like a miracle to me.