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Parenting
AggieCouple
member
Have you ever "spoken in tongues"?
AggieCouple
member
in Parenting
Or known someone who has?
I'm listening to a recent episode of This American Life, and one the stories is about a brother and sister who grew apart after the former became a born again Christian. He was describing his first experience of "speaking in tongues" and he says, "And this feeling just welled up inside, this really warm feeling and suddenly I was just like... speaking in tongues. I was thinking, oh wow, this must be me, speaking in tongues."
I have to admit. I am highly skeptical of the concept. Even with biblical reference, I have always believed this phrase refers to the Apostles speaking in different languages after the descent of the Holy Spirit. So what's up with all the growling?
I used to do perpetual adoration (where a church has someone always praying in the chapel), subbing for those who couldn't make their shift. I was asked to do a 2 AM shift once, and the other lady was making some weird growling noise. When I asked if she was OK, she said, "Oh, sorry, I was just speaking in tongues."
WTF. After that, I stopped going. Sorry, but the idea of perpetual adoration was weird and archaic anyway (I only did it because my dad signed up for it then fell ill and couldn't do it) and there was no way in h*ll I was sharing that tiny chapel with someone growling at 2 AM.
Anyway, I have to admit, I'd really like to try this thing. I'd like to see if I can actually convince myself that I'm speaking... what? Angel language? What is it? Do people really experience it and believe they are doing something otherworldly? I want to see if I can logically separate myself from it, and still think I'm really experiencing it. The guy just sounds so logical about it, like he WAS separated from it, and still convinced he did it. I always assumed there was some sort of trance involved and you forgot about it afterward.
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Re: Have you ever "spoken in tongues"?
Not much of a help to you, but an interesting little story that has always made me a little leery:
Story has it that my great-grandmother was in her Pentecostal church when she began behaving strangely and speaking in tongues. Everyone around her was giving praise and thanks for this miracle.
Turns out she was having a stroke but no one recognized it as such, they thought she was just possessed with the holy spirit.
I'm so lost.
Is it possible it's a self-induced hallucination?
I haven't ever witnessed it in person, but for someone to say, "Oops, sorry about that. I was just speaking in tongues," makes it MUCH less genuine. For it to be authentic, I think it would have to be almost like a possession... You would be completely unable to control it, but you may or may not be aware or retain memories of it.
Also, I have never heard of perpetual adoration. That sounds... interesting.
My other speaking in tongues experience:
In college I was working with a developmentally disabled man who has spent almost his entire life in a state run institutionalized setting. He was now out living in an apartment in the community. I worked on Sundays and he was interested in finding a church to attend. We decided to try out this tiny little church based on the recommendation of another coworker who thought the client might like it because the church had a little band who played lots of worship music.
So we get there and sure enough, there are drums and a guitar. My client is clapping his hands and totally getting into it. Then people start talking in tongues. Women start falling down in the aisles and writhing around on the floor while making unintelligible growling, grumbling noises.
My client FREAKED out. He thought everyone was suddenly having seizures. He began to panic, scream and cry. We high-tailed it out of there and never went back.
It was absolutely one of the most surreal experiences of my entire life.
Oh my gosh, that is terrible. I'm sorry that happened.
I have never experienced anyone, including myself speaking in tongues. I've seen The Exorcist...that's the end of my knowledge on it.
It pretty much sounds like a crock to me.
The whole premise of 'speaking in tongues' is that the Holy Spirit came down into the people in question and they were suddenly able to speak in other languages. It was meant to be a way of spreading the Gospel. Dropping on the floor and growling? Is crap. The languages were completely intelligible as language, just not ones that those people had been able to speak before.
Mass hysteria is real and I am sure that there are plenty of people who would 'speak in tongues' for the attention.
DS - December 2006
DD - December 2008
True stories!! I am not kidding:
I was church "shopping". This is what I called it when I was actively looking for a church to join. So my MIL invited me to her church (Pentocostal sp??). There was a lady who was a DJ for a local Christian radio station. We were deep in prayer (it's almost like a meditation) when this lady started talking in tongues. Her voice turned this strange almost manly pitch and she was speaking, it almost sounded like Latin but not quite, etc.... her eyes were closed but tears were still running down her face, and after like 5 minutes she was spent. She sat down hard on her chair and finally opened her eyes. I was fascinated.
Another true story:
My MIL and I were invited to my brother's Pentecostal church. MIL had just gone through chemo/radiation, and I had bought her a nice wig so she could go out. So it was time for the deep prayer meditation and all the chairs were fold up metal type ones. So eveyone was worshipping and my MIL suddenly starts yelling "the Lord is mine, mine, mine" and shaking and just THROWS herself backwards and knocks over her chair and 3 more rows of chairs. Her wig goes flying off to the other side of the room. Every single woman suddently starts having this type of fit too. I am ducking trying to see where her wig ended up. I mean I was caught off guard by this I start crying!!! It was the most hysterical shocking thing I had ever seen. I was beside myself.
How horrible is it that I'm nearly crying in laughter, LOL? I know from experience (see my seizure story above) that it certainly isn't funny at the time, but years later? Hysterical. Having been in similar situations in Pentecostal churches I can absolutely picture it all too clearly. I hope you're able to chuckle now too and that it didn't traumatize you forever. ;-)
Woah. I'm going to have to listen to that particular episode. Was it aired just recently?
OMG exactly! Now I crack up but I was sooo shocked - poor MIL had been so weak and suddenly this explosion of energy. KWIM? Also, I forgot to add that some lady found her wig and helped her put it back on but it was sort of crooked. I couldn't look at her for a few minutes.
No. I have the This American Life app, and it shows they re-aired the story on November 25, but I don't see that on either their podcast list or on their website.
But you can stream it from their archives here:
https://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/166/nobodys-family-is-going-to-change
ETA: The update may have been inserted when they reran the story recently, and it may not be there if listened from the archives.The story of the wig flying off has me crying, seriously. That is way too funny. When I was in high school I attended a Church of God w/friends (my family didn't go to church) and a lot of people there spoke in tongues. There was never any growling. It was really fascinating to watch, though I never really got it. There was camp meeting at that church & everyone was whipped into a big praying frenzy, a ton of people were speaking in tongues & I found myself doing it as well. Honestly- I think it was a 'group think' or 'herd mentality' thing because at the time I remember being totally cognizant of what was happening & didn't feel anything necessarily spiritual. It never happened again.
I am a Christian & while that isn't something I practice or understand myself, if it's part of someone else's worship then hey, all the power to them!
This. I've heard speaking in tongues in a church, but it wasn't hysterical or "growling" like what pps described. There was no fit or falling on the floor. That would have freaked me out!
What I got from this post...
Jodi, as usual is lost.
I think I'd like to visit a Pentecostal church for some wig flying fun.
No.
Honestly, I find it kind of laughable. I can speak gibberish too - doesn't make it some religious epiphany.
Have you seen the documentary "Jesus Camp"? All the kids are speaking in tongues. Really disturbing!
I loved that movie. I really need to start going to church for entertainment. I think the whole concept of speaking in tongues has been bastardized to suit a zealot niche
That was my first real exposure to the whole saved concept. I found it so shocking and sad.
I have and do speak in tongues however I know that it seems to be something different in every denomination of Christianity. In some faiths you must tarry and just wait in my experience it was spoken to me until I started to speak in tongues. I am very aware of what I am doing, I am not possessed or out of my mind. It is my spiritual language. It is my spirit speaking to God on my behalf. When I don't know what to pray for in my own mind my spirit does. The church that I grew up in thought it was disrespectful for someone to speak in tongues especially from the pulpit. I have since learned that it is not and it is something that is a part of my relationship with God. I do think that sometimes ppl take it too far which is when I also think "Are you serious?"
I also had a very strange experience in church where I would have been one of those ppl to look at. I just started screaming (as if someone were out to get me) and I was fully aware but I couldn't stop myself. I felt as though it was a true out of body experience. I was on top of myself looking down saying/thinking "STOP IT" but I really couldn't stop. It lasted for about 1-2 mins. It was very freaky but never has happened again.