Ron Huggins, a Doctor of Theology who lives in Wisdom, Montana, wrote me the following on Facebook: “I’d be very much interested in hearing you more on what you mean by the Holy Spirit coming ‘through psychedelic experience.’ . . . .
He continued, “The language of the Holy Spirit ‘coming through’ psychedelic experience is not one I would probably use. I would feel comfortable to say that the Holy Spirit can use psychedelics to bring people to God, but then I would say that the Spirit can use pretty much anything to do that, good or bad. For me that would certainly be true, but by a very indirect route. They demolished my world view and sent me off in the direction of Eastern mysticism from which point, I think, the ‘My sheep hear my voice’ factor kicked in and caused me to ultimately need to turn my back on that and surrender to the exclusive claims of Jesus. However for many psychedelics led to Eastern mysticism and a life-long antagonism not toward the figure of Jesus per se, whom they always say they affirm, but toward his own account of himself as given in the New Testament. In other words, Jesus the avatar, or the Jesus who was the I AM in the same sense that we all are, or Jesus the advanced being.
But never the Jesus who said of himself and himself alone ‘I am the way, the truth and the life, No man comes to the Father but by me.’ I suspect that that may be the more common result of getting to spirituality via psychedelics. Anyhow, what’s your view on all this?”
I answered, “I think Jesus has sent the Holy Spirit, just as he said he would, and he is here right now, but I become distracted by worldly concerns so that I don’t pay attention to him. Recalling what my experiences under the influence of mescaline and LSD were like reminds me that I have known without a doubt that there is a Reality that encompasses and overwhelms worldly concerns. The Advocate is more powerful than the Accuser. I would not have used these terms back then, but I do now, and I believe they are more accurate than what I would have said then about what was happening then and is happening now, in a less intense but more sustainably joyful way.
“I also look forward with hope to the restoration of all things.”