Communication from the beyond

[Tybee]

Have any of you experienced coincidences that could interpreted as messages from the beyond?
I had an experience of this yesterday. I decided that I needed to copy a journal that my grandfather kept in his last year or two of his life, so that I could get a copy to my cousin, to whom I promised it several weeks ago. So I took the journal and went to Staples and copied it--in it he kept records of his contacts with family and friends, so that each time he would talk to someone on the phone or get a letter, he made a note of it. This was only a journal he kept after my grandmother died.

We are at the end of my own dad's life, and I took this from the house when I was there so that it would not get thrown out accidentally as my brother is cleaning the house.

So I copied all the pages and then got back in the car and said to my husband, "I wonder why I feel compelled to do this today; I know I feel like there are some answers there for my dad, as I read about his feelings at the end of his life," and then I picked it up and started to read the first journal on the first page out loud to my husband.

Only to find it was today's date--it was February 23, only 51 years ago.

To me, this felt like communication, a sign I was on the right track, or that they were right there, still connected.

[iris lilies]

That is a great thng to happen and interpretting it as communication from beyond enriches your life. Nice!

For me, it would be just a funny coincidence. I like those, too, and they enrich my life because they are interesting.

[Simplemind]

Call it fine tuned intuition or divine intervention, several times I have felt strongly directed to do something out of the blue. The reason for it has always become clear after it is done.

[rosarugosa]

I'm another one who would think it was a really cool coincidence.

[Rogar]

I believe in coincidences beyond what can be rationally explained and have a few stories of my own. However, I'm skeptical of communications from the deceased. Your story is a good one and certainly makes one wonder.

[ToomuchStuff]

I believe we are still awaiting word from Houdini. Also has anyone ever encountered dinosaur ghosts?
Coincidence, nagging feeling in the back of your head (subconscious) or some subtle notice of something wrong with your father saying the time is now.

[catherine]

I've had several similar "coincidences" and I'm very agnostic about how I feel with regard to messages from beyond. I tend to pray prayers of intercession a lot and if you are Christian, and especially Catholic, chances are you believe that Mary hears your prayer and passes it on the Big Boys. I pray prayers of intercession not just to Mary, or to my favorite saints, but last night for instance, I prayed a litany to Mary, to my favorite saints, and to my mother, grandmother, father, and others. So if I'm praying to them, I shouldn't be surprised to hear back from them on occasion.

Of course, most people here aren't Catholic and think my litany was a foolish waste of time and fell on deaf ears. I understand. But what about the secular netherworld--ghosts, etc? My MIL was certain she experienced ghosts in her house. She also swears she saw her dead mother standing in her room... much like IL seeing her DH at the washing machine. Mind tricks, or signs?

I tend to watch for signs, realizing that most are probably just coincidences. Or, most probably, our mind is doing what it does naturally--it seeks out patterns. It identifies a pattern and we interpret it as a sign. Maybe there are no signs from beyond. But I'm still going to pray to my grandmother tonight. And St. Catherine. And Dorothy Day. And Tony deMello. Oh, and I think I might add Marjory Stoneman Douglas. I never heard of her before the Parkland shootings, but she was one amazing woman.

[Sad Eyed Lady]

Tybee, I am a believer in things like this. It's not often and certainly not all the time. Not every time a butterfly floats by the window is it a message from our dearly departed, but there is so much more to the universe than we know or can see with our physical eyes and limitations. I've had things happen that I put to the "logical test" first and could find no logical answer. Some of these have been amazing, and even left evidence. So, without going into details, I believe that "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
- Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio

[Tybee]

I've had several similar "coincidences" and I'm very agnostic about how I feel with regard to messages from beyond. I tend to pray prayers of intercession a lot and if you are Christian, and especially Catholic, chances are you believe that Mary hears your prayer and passes it on the Big Boys. I pray prayers of intercession not just to Mary, or to my favorite saints, but last night for instance, I prayed a litany to Mary, to my favorite saints, and to my mother, grandmother, father, and others. So if I'm praying to them, I shouldn't be surprised to hear back from them on occasion.

Of course, most people here aren't Catholic and think my litany was a foolish waste of time and fell on deaf ears. I understand. But what about the secular netherworld--ghosts, etc? My MIL was certain she experienced ghosts in her house. She also swears she saw her dead mother standing in her room... much like IL seeing her DH at the washing machine. Mind tricks, or signs?

I tend to watch for signs, realizing that most are probably just coincidences. Or, most probably, our mind is doing what it does naturally--it seeks out patterns. It identifies a pattern and we interpret it as a sign. Maybe there are no signs from beyond. But I'm still going to pray to my grandmother tonight. And St. Catherine. And Dorothy Day. And Tony deMello. Oh, and I think I might add Marjory Stoneman Douglas. I never heard of her before the Parkland shootings, but she was one amazing woman.

thanks, Catherine, I definitely do this too, and address my ancestors in my prayers and ask for their help. I have been doing that a lot with my parents, trying to beseech them for help with my parents' new state of life.

[Tybee]

Tybee, I am a believer in things like this. It's not often and certainly not all the time. Not every time a butterfly floats by the window is it a message from our dearly departed, but there is so much more to the universe than we know or can see with our physical eyes and limitations. I've had things happen that I put to the "logical test" first and could find no logical answer. Some of these have been amazing, and even left evidence. So, without going into details, I believe that "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio,
Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
- Hamlet (1.5.167-8), Hamlet to Horatio
yes, it seems like the more we know of quantum physics, the more the idea that we are beings of energy and cannot thus be destroyed, seems to be based in science. . .

[JaneV2.0]

yes, it seems like the more we know of quantum physics, the more the idea that we are beings of energy and cannot thus be destroyed, seems to be based in science. . .

I agree; there is evidence, both quantifiable and not, that the universe is truly beyond our current ability to understand--which makes those who think they have a lock on the truth easily ignored, IMO.

The Universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose.
-- J. B. S. Haldane (British-born polymath)

As a friend of mine sat in his car, listening to a song that reminded him of his recently-deceased and much-loved elder sibling and feeling heartsick, he suddenly heard his brother's loud, gruff voice saying firmly "Get over it!" You can interpret that, of course, any way you want.

[LDAHL]

One of my late grandfather's favorite expressions was "Screw'em if they can't take a joke". I can't tell you how many times over the last half-century or so since he died, when confronted with self-important nudniks (sometimes with myself in the nudnik role), I have heard that phrase in that growling-dog voice of his in my head. I don't take that as a direct communication from the afterlife. Surely they have better ways to amuse themselves than to interfere in the affairs of the living. I do think the dead influence the living though the impact they made while they were still alive. This can be as simple as hard-wiring a certain memory that emerges in certain situations.

I think sometimes we impose meaning on events in ways that are very personal to us that give the impression of being supernatural. I think the explanation is often more natural but no less marvelous.

[Zoe Girl]

As a life-long experiencer of deja vu and vivid dreams and weird stuff happening, I think it is something. Now what exactly it is I have no idea, but it is something. And if it is our minds making too much of it but it is comforting I don't see any harm. Just don't invest your money based on it!

[ToomuchStuff]

yes, it seems like the more we know of quantum physics, the more the idea that we are beings of energy and cannot thus be destroyed, seems to be based in science. . .

Being of energy, and being of energy with intelligence/self awareness, etc. are not the same thing. Science says conservation of energy, doesn't mean consciousness.


Now what exactly it is I have no idea, but it is something. And if it is our minds making too much of it but it is comforting I don't see any harm. Just don't invest your money based on it!

As an agnostic, who has talked to some friends who had NDE's, I would agree if comforting causes no harm, fine. Where investing money or taking from people in the name of some belief's, can be harmful.

[Tybee]

Zoe, it's funny you mention investing. I would absolutely invest my money based on intuition. I would also invest money if God spoke to me and told me to do so, but that is within my belief system, that God does speak to people, and speaks to people about all sorts of things.
I guess we all view our experiences from our own belief system, and they do vary quite a bit.