What We Were Like

In 1931, the renowned Swiss psychiatrist Dr. Carl Jung told a patient, "You have the mind of a chronic alcoholic. I have never seen one single case recover, where that state of mind existed to the extent that it does in you." The man, Rowland H., asked, "Is there no exception?" "Yes," replied Dr. Jung, "once in a while, alcoholics have had what are called vital spiritual experiences." He went on to describe spiritual experiences as ". . . huge emotional displacements and rearrangements. Ideas, emotions, and attitudes which were once guiding forces . . . are suddenly cast to one side, and a completely new set of conceptions and motives begins to dominate them." The doctor, however, dashed water on Rowland's hope that his past religious convictions alone could bring on this "vital spiritual experience."