(In a Good Way)
By Jules Evans
Recently I was at the wedding of an old school friend. The friend has since discovered Jesus in a big way. The congregation was split down the middle — 50 percent were young evangelists, swaying with their eyes closed and hands in the air; and 50 percent were old school friends, tight-lipped and looking very uncomfortable amid the rapture.
I had evangelists either side of me at dinner. The woman on my right was beautiful, charming and, technically speaking, psychotic. I mean that in the nicest possible way. Her eyes grew wide as she told me how God regularly spoke to her, cared for her, entered her. She believed she had witnessed many miracles, that her eyes had been opened to a hidden level of reality.
A western psychiatrist would nod and tick off the classic symptoms of psychosis: hearing voices, feeling guided by spirits, feeling singled out by the universe, believing you have magical abilities to save the world. Our psychiatric wards are full of people locked up for expressing such beliefs.
What’s been said…