This blog is more than an account of Near Death Experiences. It ponders in detail the tough questions of life. Who are you, and why are you here in this physical world? What happens when you die, and is there a judgment? However, most anything could appear here. This is not a news blog, archived posts are just as relevant as new posts. Check the boxes at the top of the page for the Contents, Contact, Forum and other links.
Everyone has a circle of love. In this circle are the people they are willing to love. Some circles are small and contain only a few, other circles are large, containing many. God has the widest circle of all; He loves everyone. Our goal in life is to widen our circles of love until they reach God’s circle. The circles below start with average and grow wider as more people are added. Give some thought to your circle of love today.
Average circle: Immediate family, other relatives, close friends and co-workers. People who believe like we do; belong to the same organizations, etc.
Good circle: Add those of different beliefs, different nationalities, and different customs. Good people, but with habits unfamiliar to us.
Better circle: Then add the homeless, alcoholics, thieves, drug addicts, con men, and others who have fallen from the grace of our society.
Best circle: Further add your enemies. Those who hate you and would spitefully use you. Even those who would bring harm to you.
God’s circle: All of the above and anyone else not mentioned here. Everyone.
It is not necessary to approve of, or judge someone’s behavior in order to love them.
It takes a lot of courage to love that which seems unlovable, but the reward is worth it.
There
is a vast difference between Religious beliefs and Spiritual reality.
The Greeks and Romans had many Gods. They erected statues and places
of worship. Gave sacrifices, wealth and great devotion to their Gods.
Now, the religions of this ancient time have faded into history. The
religions of today will also eventually fade out of favor and into
history.
Religion
is an institution for expressing belief in a divine power. A set of
rites, rituals, practices, and protocol written and followed by
mankind. It is because religion is physical expression, it is doomed
to the fate of all physical constructs. They have a beginning, grow
into maturity, get older, out of date, and finally come to an end. We
read about them in history class.
Spirit,
on the other hand, remains unchanged. Spirit exists above and beyond
the discernment of mankind. Spirit created the physical world and all
things within. You are spiritual. You were created by Spirit and are
occupying a physical body in order to live, learn, and grow
spiritually within the physical world. When your body becomes
unsuitable for physical life you will return to the spirit world.
Like spirit, you are eternal.
As
humans
we can not fully understand the nature of spirit, nor do we know how
spirit came into being. Some
humans have experienced a short
glimpse
of the spiritual world through a
phenomenon called the
Near
Death Experience.
It is through these experiences that we are able to understand some
realities of the spirit world.
Spirit
is light, and the light is pure energy. All things have their
beginning in the light. You were created as a being
of
light, self-aware, and with
the characteristics of
unconditional
love,
unflagging curiosity, and
eternal life.
You
grow spiritually by expanding your awareness. The physical world
allows you to make choices, then
live through the consequences of those choices. The rule of spirit is
“like attracts like.” How you treat others determines how you are
treated.
Eventually
you will learn to be nonjudgmental, kind and loving. Your
job is learn to
understand yourself and others. Accept others and yourself for what
you are and expand your love. The
more you learn the more you will understand.
You
honor yourself by honoring others.
Never
forget you are the light of the Creator surrounded by unconditional
love. When life gets difficult seek the light within. It
is your birthright. Ask, and you will receive. Search, and you will
find. Knock, and the door will be opened for you.
About 25 years ago, I borrowed my dad’s car. I got in and went to start it but nothing happened, I tried several times and still the same thing, nothing.
Then out of no where, I hear this audible voice tell me “Put your Seatbelt on” (note I had never worn a seatbelt in my life) I looked around no one else was in the car but me and the radio wasn’t working.
I shook my head thinking I was hearing things and tried to start the car but once again nothing happened, after a few more tries at starting the car the voice came again this time more demanding. “I said put your seatbelt on,” by this time I’m like totally getting freaked out of course, the voice came again. “PUT YOUR SEATBELT ON,” it was almost a scream.
Well to make a long discourse shorter, I gave in and put my sealtbelt on. As soon as I put the seatbelt on, the car started. Ten minutes later I was involved in a single car collision with an oak tree which I hit 2 times in the same accident at 65 mph. I could reach out the passenger side of the car from the drivers side and touch the ground. I walked away from the wreck without a SINGLE scratch or any sign of being in an accident at all. The car was completely demolished.
Was it my guardian angel that stopped the car from starting until I put my seatbelt on? Maybe the angel or whatever it was knew ahead of time what was going to happen. Since then I have ALWAYS worn my seatbelt when I’m riding and driving and will not move the vehicle untill ALL the passengers in the front seat and back seats are buckled in.
That was the first of many supernatural encounters I have experienced, is there an afterlife or spiritual realm? Let me say I am totally convinced there is.
At a fundraising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question:
“When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection.
Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do.
He cannot understand things as other children do.
Where is the natural order of things in my son?”
The audience was stilled by the query.
The father continued. “I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.”
Then he told the following story:
Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, “Do you think they’ll let me play?” I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.
I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, “We’re losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.”
Shay struggled over to the team’s bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three.
In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay’s team scored again..
Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?
Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball.
However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay’s life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact.
The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed.
The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay.
As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow
ground ball right back to the pitcher.
The game would now be over.
The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman.
Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman’s head, out of reach of all team mates.
Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling,
“Shay, run to first! Run to first!”
Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base.
He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled.
Everyone yelled, “Run to second, run to second!”
Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base.
By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball. The smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.
He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher’s intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman’s head.
Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home.
All were screaming, “Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay”
Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, “Run to third! Shay, run to third!”
As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, “Shay, run home! Run home!”
Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.
“That day,” said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, “the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world.”
Shay didn’t make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!
AND NOW A LITTLE FOOT NOTE TO THIS STORY:
We all send thousands of jokes through the e-mail without a
second thought, but when it comes to sending messages about life choices, people hesitate.
The crude, vulgar, and often obscene pass freely through
cyberspace, but public discussion about decency is too often suppressed in our schools and workplaces.
If you’re thinking about forwarding this message, chances are that you’re probably sorting out the people in your address book who aren’t the ‘appropriate’ ones to receive this type of message Well, the person who sent you this believes that we all can make a difference.
We all have thousands of opportunities every single day to help realize the natural order of things.
So many seemingly trivial interactions between two people present us with a choice:
Do we pass along a little spark of love and humanity or do we pass up those opportunities and leave the world a little bit colder in the process?
A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats it’s least fortunate amongst them.
You now have two choices:
1. Delete
2. Forward
May your day, be a Shay Day.
