High Theology

A Fictional Treatment of Altered Mental States and Theology

By: Aaron Kelsay

Narrated by: Virtual Voice

I once ran into a man at a Jiffy Lube who, before the legalization of marijuana, was casually advocating for a change in the drug war. I leaned in a bit, trying to discern how serious he was. He was a large man, not in terms of height, but just shear size. His voice was big, boisterous, but appropriate. The man had a band t-shirt, but I can’t place the exact band name. Probably something off the shelf of Hot Topic. He didn’t strike me as a guru, but when he spoke, it was with real authority. “The first time I tried weed,” he explained, “I recognized a transcendental state.” I had never heard that word growing up in the church, and it wasn’t important to me until about a year later. I heard from God for the first time in the midst of crisis. Apparently, that is often the case for people of many faiths. Christians may notice in scripture that a crisis may be a catalyst for God to act in some noticeable way. There are other times when quiet reflection is the means by which someone may access the divine. I remembered this slob from the Jiffy Lube referring to something that I had not yet experienced, or at least the label was unfamiliar. There was something about the unfamiliar language that poked me. It woke me up, not to some New Age alternative faith expression, but to a slight altering of my own thoughts on these ideas. Is prayer a “transcendental state?” Sometimes? All of the time? Am I always in the presence of God? What are people experiencing when they smoke something and encounter spirits? I do not want to glorify the occult with this book. That’s really, really important to me. The other spirits are dangerous. I am very comfortable with my Christian tribe, I do expect that will come through in this book. My point in mentioning it is to say, the “spiritual realm” is a real thing. For whatever reason, part of my journey was realizing the power of God came through my encounters with evil spirits. I was a naive Christian boy playing with things I did not fully understand, and I ended up saying to myself, “Oh, this stuff is real… and now my … oh, God, you are real, too.” All of that crazy, far-fetched stuff in religious texts suddenly becomes possible, expected, still abnormal but real, in light of an equally crazy present experience. Walking on water, mind reading, flying, talking to the dead, witchcraft, sex with demons, blood sacrifice for spiritual atonement, and on and on. These are just silly old fashioned things until they are not. What does weed have to do with it? Nothing really. You, the reader, might do a thought experiment with yourself if you are uncomfortable with that specific drug. Have a beer or two and then read pray to your God. If you aren’t comfortable with alcohol, fast for a week. If you are incapable or unmotivated to fast for a week, try a day. Fast for just a day and then pray. If you don’t want to try alcohol, fasting, or weed, then try reading the Bible while holding a sleeping newborn. If you are open to the possibility that one’s brain chemistry is in conversation with one’s spirit, then you may notice a difference in your experience relative to your regular routine. Weed is an extreme case, and it really does open up doors. Be forewarned, there are some doors that need to stay closed. I noticed, in the days and years since my Jiffy Lube encounter, that there were shamans in my city who were experiencing “transcendental states” of mind interacting with the divine. Sometimes it was the Creator, Jesus, good and bad spirits, or just experiences with themselves. I did my research, limited as it was, and found little or no Christian voices speaking into this experience. Would it be bad if a Christian pastor, theologian, believer got “high” and thought about theology, God, prayer, the concepts and constructs therein? This is a fictional imagining of "what if."