Spirituality of any kind opens the door to religion. If astrology or   
   numerology or anything of similar sort is true, then so is God. With such   
   things working, you do not get away with a materialist fundamentalist   
   worldview. Instead you have to look for    
   logical applications of what you have seen; and this means divine origins.   
      
   I had a girlfriend who was an astrologer. Now many people think that astrology   
   is for idiots, but this woman was brilliant. She also had experience in a cult   
   of a Hindu swami, and she had many valuable things to say. Of course the   
   materialist    
   fundamentalist types attacked her a lot; but what she had to say was far wiser   
   than what they had to say. And even any number of people who thought that   
   astrology was a pseudoscience commended her on the precision of her   
   observations.   
      
   Then the astrologers – at least on the Internet – were attacked by people   
   who called themselves skeptics, and these people were very nasty. They decided   
   that astrology was for lunatics, and they personally attacked the people who   
   were into it. On my    
   part I have had many experiences with less than a billionth chance of   
   happening whose only possible explanations were religious, and of course many   
   people saw me as a kook. However for me to deny what I have experienced would   
   not be logical; it would be    
   dishonest. And dishonesty does not a rational person make.   
      
   Then I started having experiences of God and of Jesus Christ. For me this has   
   been a constant battle, as I am sure it has been for many others. Nobody wants   
   to go to hell. Many people do not want to submit their lives to a power. Being   
   a brat that I am,    
   I find it very difficult to submit to Christ. However it is better to submit   
   to Christ, who is wise and benevolent, than it would be to submit to people   
   who think that they know what they are talking about but really do not.   
      
   Christ, in my case, has proven His reality to me again and again. Often I do   
   not want this to be the case. Often I want my life to be my own. Often I want   
   to go back to the atheistic worldview. However I do not have the option to do   
   so honestly.   
      
   As for the people who consider such things illogical, my answer is that logic   
   is a method and not a worldview. If something does not fit into a worldview,   
   the logical solution is not to deny the experience but to modify the   
   worldview. In my case, this is    
   not a matter of faith or belief. In my case this is a matter of fact. And if   
   even I, having had the kinds of experiences that I have had, am open to   
   doubting or wanting to deny them, then who else is not vulnerable.   
      
   Is Jesus real? You bet He is. And I say this as someone who for a long time   
   have been a militant atheist. If you have not had these kinds of experiences,   
   then you can be seen to be honestly in error. However I, among others, do not   
   have that luxury. I    
   could do such a thing; but to do so would be a very profound sin.   
      
   Whether you have the materialistic worldview or if you are into spirituality,   
   I implore you to look further into the Bible. Ask Christ into your life. His   
   wisdom is greater than that of the world, and He can teach you what you need   
   to know. He does not    
   only save souls. He also saves lives.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)