In this weeks commentary there is a little tidbit about the people who can talk to the dead:
Simon Nicholson comments on Adam Marczyk's contribution to a recent commentary, in which he wrote: "The potential for this [talking-to-the-dead] talent, if it were real, is so vast that it would be a crime for the people who really have it to waste it on syndicated talk shows, where the greatest height they aspire to, is to tell someone that their dear departed Aunt Ethel, who had brown hair and a connection to the month of February, is doing just fine in heaven, thank you very much." Simon writes:
This reminded me very much of a personal experience I had some years ago. I was at the funeral service for my grandfather, with whom I had been very close. I was approached by a member of the family who was some kind of minister in a Spiritualist church. Doubtless he meant well; my grief must have been very obvious to see. He told me that I had to "let go" because by grieving for my granddad I was "holding him to this sphere."
While I was trying to formulate a reply, he went on to say that Fred, my grandfather, was with us at that very moment, in fact, although I couldn't see him, he was standing just behind me. This relative, apparently, had "the gift" and could see and hear Fred, and wanted to pass on his messages to me. He launched into the usual platitudes, Fred was happy, there was no reason for me to grieve, death was just "moving into a different room," and so on.
I'm afraid that my emotional state at the time did not predispose me to tolerance, even if this chap was trying to offer comfort. What got to me was that my grandfather and I had discussed exactly this scenario, and he had said that if ever he found himself "on the other side" he would do his damnedest to communicate some concrete information, some proof, rather than silly assurances that he was happy. I asked the spiritualist to confirm what he was saying � he could see and hear my grandfather, he could communicate with him? Yes, he could. So could he pass on a message to granddad from me? Again the answer was quite a confident yes. Right, I said. Could granddad explain to me again the derivation of Kepler's Second Law?
The guy looked really surprised. I don't know what he thought I was going to ask, but evidently he wasn't prepared for anything so specific. Apparently, this resulted in my granddad looking "hurt and confused." But, I said, this had been the subject of one of the last conversations we'd had. Granddad had been prepping me for a physics exam. Surely he remembered.
Then the guy made a stab in the dark. They don't need electricity over there, he said.
Now, my granddad had been an electrical engineer and inventor, so this chap was obviously making a guess that Kepler's laws had something to do with electricity rather than planetary motion. My stony response threw him a little, but he soon recovered, and went on to explain that people are often confused and forgetful when they first crossed over. Besides, "such things just don't matter over there," so "materialistic" questions such as that have no meaning, and only make the spirits sad.
That seemed to be his ultimate cop-out to all failure to produce any tangible evidence of genuine communication. My granddad had been an intelligent and articulate man, but apparently in the afterlife we become all daft and can only speak in gooey platitudes! Non-existence is a harsh concept for some to embrace as the state that follows life, and I can understand the wish-to-believe in some kind of continued existence, but if interest in science and truth, and all evidence of a focused, aware intellect evaporate on crossing over, then it seems to be a fools paradise indeed!
I took my leave with something of a snarl. The experience had left me angry, and it still annoys me to hear of charlatans churning out this familiar drivel. I often find myself wondering about the motivations of that chap. As far as I know, he has never charged anyone for his services, so he is not in it for profit. Obviously he could be after the ego-boost of having a special talent or gift, and the adoration of believers, but surely he must know what a fraud it all is, or can self-delusion run so strong that he really thinks he is getting messages?
Before you believe in something, question it. Because someone say's it's so, it doesn't always mean it is so. Thats all I'm saying.