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Thank you, Nancy, for your response. I appreciate your comments on what you termed the "spiritual world". I see that by going to the top of the ladder on the "hot list", the discussion has opened itself to many people that were unaware of this thread. Perhaps I was not clear in the previous posts. If I may, I will try and describe what happened to me and the conclusions I came to. If possible, perhaps we could hold off on trying to fit what happened to me into a dogmatic argument, at least until I have finished this post. If it is important to anyone, I will say again that I am a baptized and confirmed Episcopalian. What happened is very simple. Many years ago, I almost died. I was taken to a hospital, where surgery was performed. The surgery was successful, as you can see empirically. This was what is called "major surgery"; I was "out like a light". While the operation was taking place, I found "myself" outside my body. I could see the doctors, the nurses, the room, and all. I could hear the doctor talking to the nurse. It seemed that I was up in the air over my own body. That's it! I didn't choose to do this, I didn't decide to do it, it just happened. That is the extent of the experience. That seems simple enough, right? A few days later, I don't remember how many, perhaps one or two, the doctor came in my room to examine me. I mentioned what had happened to me, as I thought it was fascinating. He smiled and shrugged it off and said not to worry about it. Then I told him one of the things he has said during the operation. He seemed quite taken aback, but I knew I was right, because I told him an exact sentence with a curse word he had used. He admitted he has said that and could not explain how I had heard it since I was totally unconscious. There is no need to call me a demon or a Satanist or a witch or anything yet, right? I'm joshing. A short time after that, I was driving down a street in the city where I live, a city with a population of about 150,000 people. I saw an old house that I had never noticed before. I don't remember ever driving down that street, but I can't say I never did. I remembered a time where I had seen the house before, but as if I was in a helicopter over it. I have never been in a helicopter. There was an old car from before the war in the driveway. Then I remembered dying in the house. It seemed as if I were remembering some sort of a movie. I remembered my name. I went to the library and searched and searched and I found an article that told of the death and the name was the one I had remembered, this was astonishing. If you want to explain this by saying that I'm lying or that I'm confused or that I made some sort of mistake, that is your prerogative. But here is what my thought process was. I was outside my body during the operation, and I remembered it and then confirmed my memory with the doctor. My conclusion is that I am somehow spiritual in nature, I am separate from my body. I mean me myself. I could remember what happened, my memory stayed with me after I had woken up in the hospital. I couple that with my memory of dying while I was inside another body, at an earlier time. This seems quite understandable to me. The spirit occupies the body, and when the body dies, the spirit does not die. The spirit is me. I am a spirit. Then I further concluded that everyone else has the same nature, they are all spiritual in nature. That's all there is to it. That is the conclusion I made and it makes total sense to me. If people want to argue about dogma and belief systems or whatever they call it nowadays, that is fine, but the truth is that this really did happen to me. When I say I see God in everyone I meet, I really mean it. I don't want to die, but I certainly don't fear death. What I do fear are people that have made judgments about other people and the way they celebrate their faith. I also fear doing bad things, because it seems like there is such a thing as what they call "karma" or "you reap what you sow". Hundreds of years ago, and even not so long ago, people have been ridiculed, deeply hurt, and even murdered for the sole reason that they celebrated their faith in God in an 'unacceptable' way. I don't think that is right, I think that is the main problem. Everyone has their own mountain to climb. Why not climb together. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. See the people that want to cause pain and destruction (for whatever reason they claim)as what they really are and see the good people who want to help (for whatever faith they want to claim) for what they really are. Arguments about who is right and who is wrong in their interpretation of the facts are allright unless you have guns. But the fact is for me that I am a spiritual being and I won't die when my body dies, and if that makes me evil in someone else eyes, I just won't talk to them. This is what I have learned and thank you for letting me share it. It seems very simple to me, but I am not as bright as many other people. God bless you and your beautiful family, Herb |
