What We Think of as a Religious Experience

I was having lunch today with my friend Melissa Bernstrum when I was moved to ponder what we think of as a "religious" experience.

Since we hadn't talked in a long time, we were catching up on things. Melissa told me that other than news of family and work the thing that was most on her mind was Tai Chi (an ancient Chinese form of what I would call movement meditation). Melissa practices (and teaches) Tai Chi several times a week.

(if you live in Louisville and would like to experience Tai Chi, there is a free offering from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Mondays and Wednesdays featuring Tai Chi master, Baba Serikali, at the Public Health Building at Preston and Gray)

She waxed enthusiastic about this meditation and said, "For me it's almost a religious experience."

I looked at her for a moment and said, "Melissa, from the sound of joy in your voice, I would say tht it IS a religious experience for you.

That just draws my attention to the fact that for some odd reason we don't think of things that connect us most deeply to our spiritual selves as "religious experiences." But they are.