A Place to Start
Spirituality is one of those things we all tend to skirt around, wanting neither to tread upon another’s toes nor to put ourselves out on that proverbial limb by expressing what we believe. Whether we are right or wrong, whether what we think makes sense or does not, we are typically cautious about sharing it. We often limit what we share with our closest family or friends about our thoughts on those things we don’t understand. It’s something we have been taught not to speak of and not to explore. Why? There are probably as many reasons as there are beliefs, but the hush-hush only leads to more profound confusion, and all that unknown fodder can lead to some very adverse outcomes. Because, for as many of us who quietly go about our lives, believing or not believing, there are (possibly) just as many who would raise their voices to defy all sense of proportion, and there are still others who go to extremes most of us might consider cataclysmic.
We’re the Same
I am an average person living a so-called average life. I have neither a doctorate nor a degree of any variety, but I have more than a few years of life experience. I have laughed, and I have cried; I’ve been married and divorced; I’ve been blessed with family and friends, and I’ve suffered loneliness, depression, and the misery of guilt. I went to public schools and church on Sundays. Nothing in my experience makes me an expert of any kind. You might say, I’m just like you, and you may be much like me in many ways. We share a commonality in that, outside of external differences, we are all human. We’ve lived, breathed, laughed, cried, and suffered like a billion others.
Our cultures may be different, and our neighborhoods, backyards, places of work, and worship may vary, yet, like me, you’ve possibly experienced something during your years of life on this fragile planet that you simply could not explain. You may have wondered about the same sorts of things I wonder about, and you may have questions for which there are few answers.
A Premise
I firmly believe that the unexplained exists for the purpose of exploration. It is there to question and consider, not to fear or to quash into silence, and certainly not to dismiss. The unexplained and the unexplainable are simply the margins of the page. The blank space that only some have written their thoughts into is a space where what seems implausible can also be possible. It is the realm most do not wander into or notice, but it is where all things are, at the very least, possible. Let’s keep an open mind and explore these possibilities.
Throughout this series, I will ask many questions and present you with many unexplained, curious, and unproven notions. Some may be unique to specific individuals, while others are common to most human beings regardless of race, creed, language, or social bias. Within this series, we will cross over the threshold of what can be proven with scientific evidence and step into the domain of what is possible.
What is Possible?
The standard definition of the word possible is: something that may or might exist, happen, be done, be used, etc. It is something that may be true or concern something for which there is no contrary evidence. It is, for all intents and purposes — or at least for the intents and purposes of this series— something that has not been proven or disproven.
Throughout this journey, I will shine a small light on many unexplained phenomena. Not to provide scientific evidence or irrefutable proof but to open the door to exploration. I might offer what I think about these unproven notions, but merely as food for thought, as a starting point for consideration and conversation. I may illustrate the idea through a brief fictional caption or short poem.
What I will not do is provide any definitive answers. This journey is not about answers. Instead, as the title suggests, it is an exploration of the unknown. It is a book filled with questions about what may be possible. I have chosen to share the wanderings and wonderings of my mind rather than keep to myself because, among the many things I accept as truth, we learn through sharing. We are guided toward understanding by sharing our thoughts, feelings, hopes, and fears.
Walking With Me
As you delve into the shadows of the unknown through this series, you will come upon lampposts, little glimmers of light in the form of questions. These glimmers are part of the expedition. They, in fact, ARE the expedition. Outposts are where you can and should stop and take a few moments to look around. Consider where you are, where you’ve been, and where you are going. Your role in this journey is not passive. You are an active participant, contributing your own thoughts and reflections to the ongoing exploration.
There may be naive questions, tedious questions, ill-phrased questions, and questions put after inadequate self-criticism. But every question is a cry to understand the world. There is no such thing as a dumb question.
Curiosity versus Cowering
Imagine how little we would know if we kept everything to ourselves and upheld the axiom to never discuss this, that, or the other thing simply because it may offend someone. We would be mired in the medieval landscape of inquests, witch-hunts, and horrors. Yet, even in one of my favorite holiday movies, The Polar Express, the train conductor carefully stops his passenger from sharing his beliefs, saying:
It’s nothing I need to know.
Somewhere along the way, we have become timid of spirit, whereas once, we were unabashed and fearless. The Crusades are a perfect example, and while it is fundamentally wrong to force anyone to convert their beliefs to match our own, the fact that we once held our beliefs so vitally important that we went to such extremes is my point. Now, we are often vigilant in concealing them, which speaks volumes about our shift to a more cautious way of believing. At some indeterminate point, we learned to suppress the wonderings and wanderings of our thoughts. We were told not to talk about things we didn’t know about. This series is a call to return to that fearless spirit, to embrace our wonderings and wanderings, and to cultivate an open-minded curiosity about the unknown.
Consider the Unknown with Me
Believe what you want. I am not here to tell you that you are wrong or right. My only hope is to raise a few questions along the way and offer the opportunity to explore and contemplate the possible.
By ~Morgan~
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Interesting topic. I do think humans have a spiritual side that is too often neglected. I do believe what the Bible has to say about the afterlife and Heaven, but as you pointed out, you can’t force your beliefs on anyone else or force anyone to believe the Bible. I find Greek and Roman mythology (and mythology from other cultrures) fascinating. I think most people wonder about creation and the afterlife and spiritual realm, and it’s natural to have questions, even if there are no definite answers.
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Being curious by nature, I think it’s inevitable that humans will wonder about the imponderable; and perhaps that is the entire reason the mystery is there 😉 to get us thinking about something we would otherwise neglect or discount. I hope you will enjoy the continued discussion, Michelle and add your thoughts to the discussion. Thank you!
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An interesting topic Morgan, one that many people feel might cause a derisive reaction were they to admit that they place any stock in life after death. I think a lot of people who have lost loved ones want to believe in an afterlife and even the possibility of commutation with someone who has died. Thank you for opening this very controversial issue. Well worth a discussion!
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I entirely agree Holly, so many people are ostracized for what they believe, but we all, in the end, believe mainly the same thing. I don’t wish to illicit any negativity through opening the conversation, though sadly that is often the case; yet it is a discussion worth holding. I hope you will enjoy the additional posts and will feel free to add your thoughts to the conversation.
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I think we would like to think there is some way to communicate with a loved one who has passed on. Two years ago a very special friend of mine passed away. A bird nested in my patio eave that winter, stayed for four months. Somehow when I saw the bird I made a connection, I know it was not the “spirit” of my friend or a sign, but It was so coincidental and unusual, having not happened before or since. It was just a result of missing my friend and this very eerie feeling, I think I just wanted to remember him and this beautiful bird appeared and stayed.
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I wrote a poem to my father who died when I was just 3. I can barely remember him, and in the poem I say that I hope Heaven is true so I can meet and get to know him.
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Heaven is true and You shall! Just do a search on YouTube for After Death Experiences …there are so many videos about people who have had NDEs and their experiences. It’s SO uplifting ❤
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You already know I’m a believer in the beyond and those who still linger behind. Lately, I have been finding coins about my home, some say a sign that a loved one who has passed is watching over me and making sure I I know. I’ll take it. I love this series. Glad to see it brought back to life ❤️
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I never heard that saying about the coins, but I have frequently found coins in my path throughout my life…and most vividly I remember finding 7 pennies shortly after a very painful separation. It made me smile then, knowing the significance of that number, and it does even more so now 🙂 Thank You for adding your voice to the conversation…enjoy the upcoming posts and please feel free to continue to Share 😉
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Interesting post, Cynthia, and a fascinating conversation. I used to believe quite adamantly in certain elements of spiritual existence at the exclusion of others. I believed quite firmly in life after death and denied the existence of a sentient god with the same vigor. As I grew older, I came gradually to the conclusion that I don’t “know” these things. Really that I don’t know much of anything. My understanding of the universe is incredibly limited by my organic brain and its ability to perceive and create order.
What developed over time, with the realization that my perception of what “is” is so limited, is a belief that anything is possible. God might exist, it might not, afterlife may exist or may not, we may be an alien experiment, there may be parallel realities, ghosts, guardian angels, lingering souls, magic, energy guides, time travel, evil spirits, rebirth, a collective consciousness. I don’t know, so how can I confirm or deny?
This openness to possibility has been quite freeing. I don’t find myself having to argue a position or defend a belief. I’m free to live based on the present, the now, according to values that matter in this reality, values of love, kindness, thankfulness, generosity,forgiveness, and compassion.
I hope this added something to the conversation. Thanks for the opportunity to share. 🙂 ❤
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Your thoughts do indeed add to the conversation, Diana and I am so happy you shared them. I agree with you that the possibilities of what may truly exist or what in reality may be far exceed what we generally accept and that is the mystery that fuels curiosity. Yet I also agree that this reality and those values you mentioned are equally, if not more important, to Live Peace and Harmony in order to engender it around us.
Thank You for sharing your insights. I do hope you will continue to do so as the series progresses. 🙂
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Very interesting indeed. There is a lot of evidence, of their existance. However I think it would be difficult to have a conversation with a spirit. One thing is for sure, writing about them, and reading about them often produces excellent literature.
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I have always been intrigued, so dove into this series with an open mind and curious spirit…or perhaps the opposite. A Curious mind and an Open spirit. Either which, I appreciate you adding your voice to the conversation and hope you will find the upcoming posts equally interesting.
I think you are correct…conversing with those we do not speak of would be/is the most difficult thing of all.
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All humans believe something about “spirituality”or whatever one chooses to call it even if they are not a believer in God or some other divine being. The fact that they don’t believe in such things as those that you mentioned is in and of itself a belief. Their unbelief is a belief because they BELIEVE that there is no God. And so I find it fascinating that humans are hard wired to believe in something or the lack of it and of course for me my belief is in Yahweh, the Creator of all that is. But I don’t want what I believe to be an affront to anyone else. Scripture tells us we are to try to make believers of all men and if someone would like for me to explain to them what Christianity is all about I am more than willing to do so. But I also respect their unwillingness and thus leave it up to the Lord to soften their hearts and open up an avenue for an encounter with His presence. As believers all we can really do is sow the seeds of our faith, and then let the Lord water them, and then sooner or later just like the seeds I sow in my garden they germinate and seek the light. So not only should we sow seeds, words of faith and belief, but we are also to be the light those seeds need to break their shells, germinate, and then blossom into all they are meant to be. As an ex-teacher I find that teaching by example is far better than throwing words at people. My faith journey was derailed in my early twenties for several reasons, and for a long time I turned my back on the Lord. I still believed in Him; I was just angry about things that had and were happening in my life. Then with help from a mentor who encouraged me to at least start going to church and listening, the journey began again. But the greatest teacher has been my garden which I started late in life. After watching season after season pass over it and seeing so many miracles and such amazing beauty, I came to realize that we are not the result of a random explosion of atoms. Certainly there is both good and bad in this fallen world, but that doesn’t limit God’s love and compassion for us. Trials can be and are great teachers that bring wisdom and deepen our faith in Him for He sustains us and gives us the strength to endured the hard times and I always find some kind of rainbow shen the storms have come and gone. So it is that I find divine purpose in everything and in every aspect of life and I’m blessed to witness it day in and day out. I have been the “prodigal son” as it were as well as the lost sheep, and Jesus never lets any of us go so far that He can’t find us and lead us home if and when we are willing to rejoin His flock. That’s why I share my belief and my stories of prayers that worked and miracles I’ve witnessed and pray that it brings whoever’s listening to their own encounter with the Lord of Lords and Lover of our souls. Love, Natalie 🙂 ❤
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Thank You Natalie, Thank You ever so much for Sharing your Seeds of Belief here and adding to the depth and scope of my humble post. I do agree with so much of what you are saying and my Spirit smiles to hear your echo of this Loving Kind Truth. Blessings of Light, my Friend. May those seeds we all sow Reach for the Light and Blossom into a Beautiful Garden 🙂
(you did it again…)
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The word ‘belief’, by its very nature, implies a choice…we can choose to believe in something or dismiss it…and such belief is based upon subjective experience. Whether such experience is gained consciously or unconsciously perhaps does not matter. To be ‘able to believe’, as you put it, is no more than the openness to learn by experience.
Faith accepts through an unnamed ‘knowing’… and, as you rightly point out, few these days are happy to admit to either. Those who do so are often dismissed as cranks or weak-minded…or are the blinkered extremists who see only one path as righteous; their own.
I make no secret of having spent a lifetime studying the Mysteries; not just through books, but through living their teachings. To say that I have spent decades studying magic condemns me to the lunatic fringe in the eyes of many or they see some kind of ‘witchcraft’ or misguided jiggery-pokery. When I write or speak of that Sentience I choose to call the One, or God, such words can be triggers for reaction in others who apply their own definition rather than seeking to understand another perspective.
Words are not the best way to explore the Unseen in any of its manifestations… though they are all we have with which to communicate ideas. Semantics can start wars.
For myself, the Unseen, to use a blanket term, is simply a natural part of our lives that we do not as yet understand. The survival of the soul is, for me, unquestioned. The survival of our individual personalities is another matter entirely.
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Thank You so much Sue for sharing your valuable insights here. I agree with so much of what you say and appreciate you adding your voice to this Conversation, as I hope it shall be; as it really ought to be.
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My pleasure, Morgan. I hope the conversation takes flight.
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I do as well 🙂
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So great to hear from Sue from beyond the veil. I miss her wonderful words.
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There are many things we can’t explain. A lot of people will say that therefore they don’t exist, but absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.
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” absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. ”
I absolutely love that!!! And you’re so right. We didn’t know about Dark Matter in the universe until about 20 years ago. That doesn’t mean it didn’t exist before then, we just didn’t know it was there !
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