| Subject: | Any men willing to admit they faked priesthood blessings? |
| Date: | Mar 23 13:05 |
| Author: | Deconstructor |
| Confession time men! Where did the words for your priesthood
blessings really come from? I'm specifically referring to blessings of council or when
extending callings. Mormon priesthood blessings are supposed to be the words of the Lord and the man giving the blessing is speaking for God directly to the person receiving the blessing. But where did those words really come from guys? The women of the church never give blessings and take the words very seriously as the will of God. They aren't in on the little secret that blessings are faked. I've seen women get really bad advice from priesthood blessings and because I've given them myself, I'm in on the lie of what they really are. Yet the women obeyed the blessing, to their own peril, and later blamed themselves for the bad outcome. Anyone else willing to admit they faked priesthood blessings? |
| Subject: | I felt like a hypocrite |
| Date: | Mar 23 13:44 |
| Author: | Insomniac |
| Mail Address: |
| Not really with a calling. I gave a blessing to my daughter as she was recovering from a major surgery at Primary Childrens Hospital in SLC last summer. TBM mom and dad stop by to visit and instruct me to find some oil from the clergy closet found on all the floors. So the question is: Were the words I spoke the words of god? At that time and at every surgery she has had I have been a broken hearted, suffering parent. If you have children you know what I mean. There is my daughter, laying there trying to recover and in a lot of pain. I'm getting misty eyed just remember every time this has happened. So what do I want more than anything else in the world at that moment? Yeah, of couse take away her suffering. But what could I do? Nothing, it just takes time to heal. What would any parent (heavenly or earthly) want for their child? So back to the original question. Yeah, I spoke for god. I wanted to see my child feel better, not to suffer. I did it to passify my parents too I guess, I don't know. I felt like a hypocrite sighting my priesthood authority and giving credit to her eventual recovery to a god, who in my humble opinion, I don't know exists. I do know it was the love and care of her parents and the nurses at Primary Childrens Hospital who added her recovery. We spent alot of time explaining to her that is was going to hurt but it will be alright and she will feel better. Was it the blessing that caused this to be her best recovery to date? Well, I don't know. I gave her a blessing for a speedy recovery when she had her first surgery at six week old and againg at 6 months old and each time over the last seven year. Back then in 95 I was a TMB and the recovery times were not normal. Each blessing I gave I believed less. We were re-admitted to the hospital more than once. This last summer was the biggest (read: most painful) operation and she had the best recovery to date. I credit that to the care of the nursing staff and her maturity. At 6 years old she has been though more than I have at 33. I hope this relating of a bit of my history is understandable. Hej, Insomniac |
| Subject: | I don't believe in much |
| Date: | Mar 24 02:25 |
| Author: | a fan |
| Mail Address: |
| - but I do believe in blessing the sick (but not on a stage or for money or glory) The power of the mind is so great and mysterious and this is the most noble reason to abuse (or test) it. It's a lovely thing to do when its personal and done without grandstanding. This is one belief (delusion?) worth clinging to. I may have given up all beliefs but I still will pray when loved ones are sick. Why not? |
| Subject: | Re: Any men willing to admit they faked priesthood blessings? |
| Date: | Mar 23 14:11 |
| Author: | Thia |
| Mail Address: |
| You know, when I got my patriarchal blessing at 17 (which was really
short by the way), my patriarch admitted to me that he had added in the part about me
finding a husband and raising children. He also admitted that he added a mission to the
blessing of every boy he gave on too. So much for the word of God. Also. last summer, I asked for a blessing from my HT, because I was real stressed about losing my job. He, in turn told me through the blessing that the Lord was very unhappy with me. With what you have written, I now know these were his own words, but I will tell you, I almost died when those words were said. Thankfully I no longer believe and can put that behind me - but he will never know what that did to my self-esteem. |
| Subject: | That's horrible!! What a crock! So sorry. n/t |
| Date: | Mar 23 14:40 |
| Author: | Michele |
| Mail Address: |
| Subject: | The obvious answere is... |
| Date: | Mar 23 14:56 |
| Author: | L. O. Him |
| Mail Address: |
| every blessing ever given was faked. What bugs me is the pompous priesthood nutcases who actually believe they were speaking god's words. |
| Subject: | And that's exactly the reason why |
| Date: | Mar 24 01:40 |
| Author: | Emma |
| Mail Address: |
| I told my husband not to promise a friend of ours that she would be healed of her cancer when she asked for a last minute blessing before a doctors appointment. I gave him a good talking to about this very subject because this friend takes every blessing given to heart, hanging on every word as if God himself came down to earth promising great things. I just didn't want to see her disappointed if the cancer was worse than it was. All I wanted for her was to have hope, and faith that she would be in good hands with her doctors. I didn't want her to hang on to some words in a blessing promising her a full recovery or a healing if it wasn't meant to be for her. |
| Subject: | I've had positive and extraordinary experiences . . . (modified) |
| Date: | Mar 23 15:11 |
| Author: | Ex-caliber |
| Mail Address: | musica99@hotmail.com |
| . . .with Priesthood blessings, however it was only after my excommunication from the Church that I realized that these types of experiences are in no way reserved for members of the LDS Church. I guess that I believed that I was speaking for God, but in reality I don't know whether I was or not. My guess now is that I probably was not, if there is a God. Even without the formal Priesthood, membership in their Church, and their exclusive Holy Ghost, I continued to have the same types of experiences when situations came up and when I chose to participate. What should I call it? What difference does it make what I call it? The power of the mind, the power of God, the power of the universe, whatever. However one explains extraordinary things happening, sometimes extraordinary things happen. |
| Subject: | Don't mistake blessings for prayers |
| Date: | Mar 23 16:15 |
| Author: | Deconstructor |
| Mail Address: |
| I've brought the subject of priesthood blessings up on this board
before. Invariably, men - even exmos - rationalize that they meant well or were sincere
when giving a blessing, so there was no harm done. They mistake a blessing for a prayer. A prayer is when you speak to God and ask for things. A Mormon priesthood blessing is when you take the place of God, speak FOR God and give others promises, council and commandments in God's name. Maybe a father, bishop or home teacher just thinks he's giving a glorified prayer during a blessing. But quite often the receiver (usually a woman) takes the words spoken in the blessing as the word of God, not the word of the giver. This can lead the receiver to feelings of guilt, feelings unworthiness or obligation from what God tells them in the blessing. Patriachal Blessings are a prime example. The whole thing is fake and not direct revelation from God, but most TBMs take them as roadmaps for their lives. The same fakery exists with blessings when people are set apart in church callings. Those aren't prayers folks. All the well intentioned men who knew they were faking still did harm when they pretended to speak for God. The question is, do men know deep inside that the blesssings aree fake (not God's words)? |
| Subject: | Deconstructor - Keepin' it clear - the deconstructorama! - n/t |
| Date: | Mar 24 02:30 |
| Author: | a fan |
| Mail Address: |
| Subject: | I always wondered... |
| Date: | Mar 23 16:20 |
| Author: | vickilynn |
| if the men who were setting me apart or giving me a blessing or
whatever felt an adreneline rush (or whatever, can't think of the right words!) when
placing their hands on my oh so soft and shiny hair...like..."this woman is dependant
on ME and MY priesthood for just about everything. She is sitting here so passively under
my hands as I channel the power of heaven into her willing body." Etc., etc...anyone of you ever feel that "power?" |
| Subject: | Testosterone rush most likely nt |
| Date: | Mar 23 16:24 |
| Author: | Lilith |
| Mail Address: |
| Subject: | Well, we can't fake orgasms... |
| Date: | Mar 23 16:30 |
| Author: | Makurosu |
| So, some of us needed an outlet where we could really let loose. ;-)
Actually, I was always pretty shy giving blessings in front of people, so I would just be
fairly direct and to the point. "Father, please bless Sister Jones that she might be
able to discern the direction she needs to go at this time." etc. etc. Pretty vague, I know. Oh well. |
| Subject: | Exactly what I was about to type, Mak! |
| Date: | Mar 23 16:33 |
| Author: | Lilith |
| Mail Address: |
| Women have the best faking opportunities, but, as in the blessings, it is best for us all in the long run NOT to fake...*g* |
| Subject: | Laying on of hands |
| Date: | Mar 23 16:40 |
| Author: | Insomniac |
| Mail Address: |
| Knowing Brother Joseph's passion for um, er, women....and reading
vickilynn's post..... I get a visual in my mind's eye of Brother Joseph telling a sister to "just kneal here in front of me and I will lay my hands upon your head.....and.......well....I could.......well......aaaaahhhhh.........oooohhhhhh.........YES.......YES........YES!!........Halaluja!!!..........Um.......did I ever mention to you about an angel with a flaming sword?" Hope I don't offend, man I make myself laugh. Hej, Insomniac |
| Subject: | oh boy.... |
| Date: | Mar 23 16:46 |
| Author: | vickilynn |
| my original post stemmed from me feeling a bit of anger towards
these priesthood holders from whom I had to go through to seek a blessing from Heavenly
Father...and wondering if any priesthood holders felt a rush of power at these women
seeking them out for these opportunities etc...that said: You had me roflmao...(well at least sitting here in my chair lmao *g*) And all I could think about is the unique situations that mormonism has that would lend themselves wonderfully to a XXX film...oh boy...what if they showed THAT in the temple...*giggles* |
| Subject: | I am not sure I would use the word "faked" but I can say |
| Date: | Mar 23 16:42 |
| Author: | SamIAm |
| Mail Address: |
| that many times I felt no words coming and used my own because
otherwise...well...it wouldn't have been a blessing. In the beginning I thought there
might be something wrong with me. I was truly trying and was "worthy". I stood
in on blessings where men promised women they would be mothers to prophets...WOW...I never
was given such celestial insight. I realized that I used the same phrases in almost EVERY blessing I gave. I even found myself sort of keeping a mental log of who I had and hadn't because I had this fear that if someone heard me use the same words I would look phony or something. I truly tried to receive revelation it just didn't come and the callings did. One time I was asked to set apart between 20 and 30 women in a newly organized ward. Yikes! To make matters worse the women were invited to witness each others setting apart which of course included a few words of blessing. I bless you with health, I bless you with peace, I bless you with all the rights, privaleges, and powers that pertain to this calling (add "keys" for men), I bless you that you will know how much you are loved, I bless you with strength, I bless you that you will know how special you are to your father in heaven and I bless you with all other blessings that you are in need of at this time. blah, blah, blah. Damn, I'm (still) good. So, I felt panicked at the thought of setting apart this many women in front of each other. I did my best to mix up the words and prayed for inspiration. I wound up using basically the same words over and over. Did anyone say anything? Of course not. I kept wondering what they would think. About half of them spoke with me after and told me how wonderful the blessing was and one even said, with tears in her eyes, how I had quoted her patriarchal blessing near verbatum. I felt like a phony but rationalized these feelings away because I had been called and was worthy therefore it must be right. The world is so different when you try to understand it objectively. In the Morg you must supress some feelings and enlarge others. Now, everything works together what I see and feel and think they don't conflict anymore. It is soooooo awesome. |
| Subject: | Re: I am not sure I would use the word "faked" but I can say |
| Date: | Mar 24 02:12 |
| Author: | JayT |
| Mail Address: |
| My experience is similar. Sometimes I knew I was using my own words.
There were times when I really struggled for the right things to say and felt like I had a
stifling mental block. On some occasions however (primarily with my own family members) I felt like the words flowed remarkable well and truly wondered if this was indeed divine inspiration. I do believe that when people are assembled in a truly caring manner in an effort to "bless" someone, that a good (maybe even divine) spirit is often present. But I do not believe that the Mormons have the exclusive rights to it. IMO people of all faiths have this potential, and it is very arrogant for TMBs to think that they own it. |
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