[mygalinasoo]

I've always felt closer to The Divine when out in nature.

Same here. Also in meditation. For me the feeling is that I'm connected with a bigger life energy. It feels like life energy is a bit like electricity in that it travels through stuff, including me.

I've only gotten that feeling in a "religious" group setting on fairly rare occasions.

Chanting "Om" in a group felt a bit like that.

Sometimes singing a hymn felt a bit like that.

Part of the feeling is sensing a vibration, and sound is about vibration.

Group meditations worked sometimes as well, but better if there were sounds.

The feeling also comes up in group activities where the crowd is sharing an experience. It can be a concert, watching sports, or anything where a group is sharing an emotional experience. I get that feeling of being one with the group and there's a transcendental quality to the experience.

When the group is sharing ideas, and my internal reaction is to question what is being said, I'm not sharing the emotional experience of the believers. For the believers, the emotional experience they are having is undoubtedly validating those shared beliefs. It's a good feeling, but I find it difficult to accept most ideas without going through a questioning process. You can't believe everything people tell you. Especially if it sounds like a sales pitch. So, I'm not open to having that good feeling in that context because I feel the need to protect myself.

I actually find it easier to have a shared emotional experience with a group at a concert. Maybe that's why all those Dead Heads would follow the Grateful Dead around, like the Israelites following Moses.

Honestly, I have trouble understanding how people believe many things. But we humans are imaginative creatures, and as they say, where there is a will, there is a way.

Anyway, that's been my experience.