Re: Next, on the Oprah Winfrey Show

Tommi, one of the most challenging aspects of any faith is to let go of our personal control. What I think, what I feel, and what **is** have to be separated and examined, carefully. Please, forgive me for this long response because I had to contemplate this, a bit. THank goodness for snow, right?

I don't know many, many, many things. I do know that contemporary medicine and Science want to explain the process of dying (the long tunnel) and it's many manifestations via physiology. Synapses are firing, things are shutting down, etc., etc., and this happens when that happens, and BAM! The organism ceases to exist. For me, I choose not to believe this because the human soul is pure energy.

Energy cannot be created or destroyed - only, transformed. Now, sit with that for a few minutes and contemplate the death and birth of stars and galaxies. These things die off, smash into one another, and are consumed by black holes. But, what is fascinating is that even star stuff is altered and transformed either into new stars or components that could support life in other systems. Then, apply that same principle to earthly organisms - spring flowers blossoming and tornadoes grinding up whole communities. These things occur as a matter of course and we human beings cannot see all ends because we cannot know what every end means. We don't know because we aren't supposed to know everything. There is a perfect symmetry to the Universe, even in its violence when stars collide or explode. Nothing goes to waste. Not light, not matter, not sound, not color.....it's all there for a purpose, even if the purpose is a transformation. How could I not want to be a part of that and to experience God's love at the same time?

A soul exists. It is that part of us that makes us each whom we are. Some people have troubled souls, and there are a few human beings that I (and, others) believe suffer an absence of a soul - psychopaths, for instance, cannot and DO not feel pity, empathy, compassion, remorse, or guilt. But, that is a scant number in the whole population. The soul is what makes a composition like Clair De Lune, or a painting by Renoir, or a vocal chorus that is the result of pure joy. Poetry, song, dance, love, tenderness, compassion........all tiny little glimpses of our souls.

Faith, in its very essence, is the willingness to let go - to give up all of my control issues and the fears that fuel them. This is a serious challenge and I have balked because I am one of those people that wanted proof, reassurances, guarantees, etc., and I still continue to do this enough that it's something that I'm working on, daily. Well.....all of those things combine to be the root of my control issues. Letting go is scary, on its face, but once I've accepted this task and gone through with it, it's indescribable.

So, as I have suggested to Trapper, if you find that you are uncertain, confused, perplexed, or even frightened by this whole thing, seek out someone with proper training and education that can explain these things, in depth, and also provide sound guidance. A priest, or a rabbi.......someone that is NOT thumping a Bible and talking about how sinful we all are and how we're all going to hell. God is Love, and Christ appeared to bring that message - to assure the world that God loved us all without condition. A practicing theologian or scholar would welcome you, and anyone else, who asks.




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