The Daily: Thursday June 27, 2024

Daily Lectionary Reading: Psalm 130 (NRSV, The Message); 1 Samuel 19:18-24 (NRSV, The Message); 2 Corinthians 7:2-16 (NRSV, The Message)

As he headed out for Naioth in Ramah, the Spirit of God was on him, too. All the way to Naioth he was caught up in a babbling trance! He ripped off his clothes and lay there rambling gibberish before Samuel for a day and a night, stretched out naked. People are still talking about it: “Saul among the prophets! Who would have guessed?”
1 Samuel 19:23-24

Is this how God works - by creating naked babblers?

Throughout these writings attributed to Samuel, there is a thread of the mystical ecstatic with Saul and David. It's a good reminder that sometimes we are overcome by Spirit, there are indeed times when our spiritual experience moves beyond the rational.

However, ectastic experiences are symptoms of both mystical expereince of the divine and emotional disturbance, maybe even both at the same time.

An added dynamic in this passage is that the "prophetic trance" is implied to be a punsishment, a defensive move of God to protect David. I don't for a moment believe God would force their spirit unbidden on anyone.

When we seek a direct experience of God, whether through meditation, prayer, psychadelics, or other means, it is important, it seems, to "remember our feet," to be grounded, to be part of a community that holds our hand.