Moving from blind faith to conviction
Posted on 15 April 2010, 16:35
Birthdays are a good time to stop, pause, and figure out where we have been, where we are now, and where we are going. On the occasion of my 73rd birthday recently, I took time out to discuss this with my Higher Self. Below is a transcript of our discussion. (MT = me, my lower self; HS = my Higher Self)
MT: As you know, HS, I spend quite a bit of time thinking about, reading about, and writing about the evidence for an afterlife and what that afterlife is all about. My friends keep telling me that I am too obsessed with the subject and that I should focus more on this life. What do you think?
HS: Well, Michael, my boy, if you were half your age and still very much involved with raising a family and working a full-time job, I might agree with them, although I would still encourage you to have an interest in the subject. But since you are no longer working a full-time job or raising a family, what would you do with your time?
MT: That’s what I ask them, HS. I guess I could take up golf and idle away my time by hitting little white balls into holes, or I could escape life by reading novels or watching fiction on television, or maybe I could go down to the senior’s center and play cribbage or lawn bowling with others my age. I haven’t been able to come up with any really meaningful activities to focus on. Any suggestions?
HS: You could do more volunteer work than you are doing now.
MT: I know, but, as you know, I volunteered for hospice last year and even went through their training program, but they still haven’t called me and have ignored my calls to them.
HS: That’s strange. Any idea why?
MT: Probably because I made the mistake of discussing my interest in afterlife matters with the instructor. I didn’t know it then, but it is now my understanding that this is more or less a taboo subject in hospice. They don’t want volunteers to be discussing afterlife issues with patients. They want that left to the chaplains.
HS: I’m sure you see the reason for that.
MT: Yes, who is to say the volunteer knows what he is talking about? He or she might be a hell and damnation type of person and really do a disservice to the dying person. Of course, I don’t think there are very many chaplains or ministers who are very effective when it comes to talking about life after death. So it is a lose-lose situation.
HS: I can’t disagree with you there, but how do you know your interpretation of what comes after death is any more correct than the hell and damnation preachers?
MT: I don’t know for certain, but it appeals to reason and can be reconciled with a just and loving creative intelligence rather than an angry, vindictive one. And it just makes so much more sense than the humdrum heaven and horrific hell offered by orthodox religion.
HS: So you think everything must make sense?
MT: Well, not really, I don’t think we can really make sense of God or comprehend God, but ruling out nonsense is another issue and so much of what orthodox religion offers just seems like nonsense that discourages people from believing.
HS: Refresh my memory. What do you see as the biggest difference between what you believe and what is taught by orthodoxy?
MT: First of all, orthodox religion holds that blind faith is all that is necessary. All well and good for the Philistine who does not think deeply about such matters, but blind faith doesn’t do it for most thinking people. There is some pretty good evidence available to everyone which suggests that our consciousness survives bodily death. That evidence can really help people move from blind faith to true faith, or conviction. Once a person has that conviction, it is much easier for him or her to live a more spiritual and less materialistic life.
HS: Most of that evidence has been around for some time and has been for the most part ignored. Why do you think that is?
MT: It was rejected by the churches because they saw some of it conflicting with established dogma and doctrine and it would have usurped their authority. At the other extreme, the scientific fundamentalists rejected it because it couldn’t be tested by hard science and conflicted with what they had come to see as natural law.
HS: I agree with you there, too. You said, “first of all.” What else?
MT: Having a strong conviction that we live on in a larger life is just half the battle. You’ve got to be able to visualize the afterlife to some degree and realize that it is not that humdrum heaven and horrific hell taught by orthodoxy. It is pretty difficult to look forward to spending eternity floating around on clouds, strumming a harp, and praising God 24/7, which is about all that orthodoxy offers. To me, that is less appealing than extinction and nothingness. As a result, even those who believe in an afterlife, fear death.
HS: What do you visualize?
MT: There is an abundance of credible spirit testimony suggesting that we cross over pretty much as we are, that we build up a moral specific gravity by our actions and deeds in this life and that determines the plane, level, sphere, whatever you want to call it, that we end up in. However, we go on evolving and progressing from there. As Jesus said, there are “many mansions” on that side. In some ways our activities there are much the same as they are here. The thought world is the real life and all we are experiencing here in the material realm is just an illusory life.
HS: You mentioned Jesus. What is your take on him?
MT: I totally reject the atonement doctrine as one of those nonsensical and unjust things, and I don’t know if Jesus is God, per se, because, as I said, I think God is beyond comprehension. However, I do believe that Jesus was a highly evolved spirit who returned to earth to teach us or remind us that there is life after death. This message has come through in countless spirit messages. I see Jesus as the Chairman of the Board on the Other Side. If not that, at least on the Board of Directors.
HS: You know, Michael, I don’t want to inflate your ego, but I do think you are closer to the truth than those orthodox preachers. As you know, I’m not all that advanced myself, just a vibration above you, but from my standpoint it sure makes sense. But tell me, why not be content with what you think you know and let others discover it on their own?
MT: That’s what I have been wrestling with, HS. All I can say is that I feel impelled to share what I have found out with others. I’d like to think that you or some spirit guides above you are urging me to write about it and share it with others. I really believe that all the chaos and turmoil in the world today is a result of the failure of religion to offer the evidence for survival and to present an intelligent afterlife. Many people say they believe, but they really only hope. And the most they can hope for is to be spend eternity singing “Alleluia.” That’s not enough to deter them from striving to be one with their toys. The bottom line is that materialism prevails and has now regressed to hedonism.
HS: So you are going to continue writing a blog and writing articles for various publications?
MT: Unless you or someone higher tells me to cease and desist.
HS: It’s not like you have that big of an audience, Michael.
MT: Aren’t you the one who told me that seeds are being planted by many others and that those seeds take time to root and sprout? I think you also said something about little streams all coming together in one big lake.
HS: I was just testing you, Michael. Go for it.
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