For many years now I’ve been having experiences that at first flush seemed unfortunate, only to discover shortly afterwards that, without them, something very desirable would not have occurred or something fairly awful would have. For example, if all three persons involved in getting one of my sons to a distant airport for a trip to visit his father one time had not misread or misremembered the plane’s departure time, we would have been en route to get him there when the car’s water pump took out. This would have left us stranded by the road somewhere without money for towing or repairs. As it happened, our collective error meant that the problem was taken care of at home, allowing us time to safely reschedule his departure. One can posit that some external influence deliberately engineered our identical misimpressions in order to prevent a really serious mishap. When only the mind is involved, there is more room for speculation, but my last brush with “more than coincidence” involves a material component somewhat harder to explain away. Read the rest of this entry »
Archive for the ‘True Mystic Experiences’ Category
Fates that Walk Our Hospital Halls
On December - 21 - 2011
Why we never talk about the miracles that come during suffering
Dec. 2011
by Julia Finley
Think what you must — they are “delusions” brought on by stress; “strands” let out by a strained mind — but truth be told, our dismissals are how we avoid touching the areas of life we do not understand, not coming anywhere near it.
The observer is stumped too, but without the luxury of these easy dismissals. After catching a glimpse of the unknown — the part of reality that exists beyond the veil, peaking out for a moment to smile warmly, then everything returns as it was — the observer is left to wonder what to do with a miracle.
“Witnessing” is largely out of the question. If they do “witness”, it has to be what people want to hear; if the observer insists on naked honesty, it is signed ‘anonymous’. I remember two “witnesses” that were nakedly honest, but only because I was in a position where I had earned their trust.
The first was an old nurse turned teacher, somewhere during my interest in a medical profession. The topic “Dealing with Loss & Suffering” had come up in our class, but the lecture soon turned to intimate feeling and experiences. Twenty minutes in, the teacher confessed an amazing personal experience with loss and suffering:
“Some years ago, my dad was really sick in the hospital. It was incredibly hard on me because dad and I were close. Then one night, when I came home from the hospital, I sat in my bed and something happened. I looked up and saw clouds opening, right in the ceiling, and light shined down upon me. I heard a voice which told me not to cry and worry; everything is all right. Then it told me that my father was going to die, and that my mom would pick up the body on Tuesday. My father passed away that very weekend, and my mother did arrive to take the body on Tuesday.”
The story she recounted made a large impression on my views and assumptions. How can we be so ignorant? Doesn’t anyone know more about this? How do I learn, without being regarded as crazy? I began to recognize how many mechanisms exist in society, to sensor spiritual experiences.
In another, my own dear family member was going through her medical crisis; during a stroke, she witnessed:
“Shortly after my hospital bed was wheeled into an elevator, I had a stroke just before reaching the 6th floor. I couldn’t move. Four ladies around my gurney told me to stop struggling; what I needed to do was calm down. I wanted to speak to my daughter, so I kept struggling. One of the women told me she was watching over me, do not worry. She was shaped like a pear — I don’t remember extremities, just her pear shape. When I spoke about the four ladies later with my daughter, she informed me there were only two persons on the elevator.”
Now I understand something. Our closed minds close off supernatural encounters, and foil the mission of their occurrence: impact. Again, these stories left profound impact on me. They arrive at trying times, not as products of stress, but as reassurance that life is still beautiful, even when it rains. The best thing a listener can do with these amazing recollections, is to contemplate the timing and purpose of the higher power. It could be that they arrive at that time on purpose, when we most need intervention, when it could change our views of life and reality forever.
Images: “Abundance” & “Breathe” [masthead] by Aaron Paquette
The Passion of the Poltergeist
On October - 13 - 2011
One woman’s story of supernatural encounter and its aftermath
October 2011
by Julia Finley
My Google Homepage has evolved over time. Now its got a little digi-pet, some news wires, noticeably no games, and a major menagerie of spiritual quotes from various religions. And of course, my email preview on the upper-left.
Thank heavens for that — I could never take the burn of directly viewing my inbox. I need a buffer. Did they have people like me in mind when they designed such things?
Anyway, today’s preview:
You are receiving this email because you have incurred a warning from Religious Messageboards. Repeat violations will result in permanent banning.
I peek at the previous window to confirm something I thought I saw. …Yes, I received two emails with this same subject header, from two different moderators. It seems I’m already a repeat offender, but of what crime, I must read on to find out.
The Disappearing Check
On January - 27 - 2011
FATE Magazine “True Mystic Experiences”
April 2003
by Martha Waters
My high school sweetheart and I were married soon after we graduated in 1970. Being children of the 1960s, we often talked about death and the occult. We agreed that whichever of us died first would try to make some kind of contact.
Jerry got into drugs, much to my dismay, and we eventually divorced in the late 1970s. As time went by, we both married again. We remained friends after our divorce but kept only minor contact.
In May 1993 I received a phone call that Jerry had died of an accidental drug overdose. I called my ex-sister-in-law who proceeded to tell me that Jerry’s current wife did not want me to attend his funeral. I did not want to cause any problems for the family, so I decided to abide by her wishes. Read the rest of this entry »
