D, a high school friend, called me up yesterday afternoon. She told me a bad news – J, a high school classmate, died of heart attack. J was D’s boyfriend during the secondary school years. And he was one of my crushes, too, not because he was good-looking, but because he was a smart lad.
D talked to J last March, 2006 persuading him to get a credit card. J called her up via the cellular phone and welcomed the idea. He asked her to visit him in his shop because he wanted to see her. D replied when she’d have the time, she will bring me and A (another friend.) It was only yesterday when D thought of calling J up again. The daughter told D that her Daddy had passed away last November, 2005 to D’s surprise.
D frantically told me everything. And I replied how it could be possible that she talked to J last March, 2006 if he was already dead. During the time, I was already having goose bumps and I felt like my head is bloating. Is she for real? Is she playing games with me? But no, she sounded serious and nervous at the same time. And she added, “This is the second time. Before, I also saw my first boyfriend at a mall and talked to him only to find out he was already dead for three years.”
Creepy, I know. But what is playing off my mind is the truth behind the allegation. D is not a hallucinating drug addict. Maybe a little disillusioned but not mentally ill. Maybe she is fond of taking people for a ride in some occasions but not this kind of prank. She sounded real and she seemed disturbed by the experience. Who would not be disturbed?
I read stories like Firecracker but do not believe entirely that there is a possibility of seeing ghosts. I took it as something of a mind yield – like someone must be thinking so much about a certain person that he/she was able to see or talk to them even if they are already gone. But how do I know? How do I know if there are people who can really see the dead? Is that some kind of a gift – to see dead people?
There is a verse in the Bible (Deuteronomy 18:10-11) that says, “Let no one be found among you who sacrifices his son or daughter in the fire, who practices divination or sorcery, interprets omens, engages in witchcraft, or casts spells, or who is a medium or spiritist or who consults the dead.” Does this mean that there are those who can communicate with the dead, or that they have some kind of a gift of seeing and talking to the dead?
I refuse to be given such a gift. Just thinking of it makes me shiver.
IMHO, that verse does not prove that the dead talk to the living. you can consult the dead for inside information about the stock market but that doesn't mean that they are going to talk back to you.
ReplyDeleteStories like this have always fascinated me about the after life. If I were to go by what I remember the Bible saying, then there are no ghosts. Only two people in the Bible have come back from the dead and made an appearance, Moses and Elijah (not counting Jesus). In the Bible, there is nothing said about how Moses and Elijah died. I think both seemed to have been taken by God physically in one way or another. I believe those "ghosts" that people see these days are either the product of our minds (don't underestimate the power of our minds - those neurons firing and all - God created it, after all) and spirits pretending to be ghosts of our loved ones or "angels" or God himself sometimes to confuse us into believing things that are not in line with God's teachings. The Bible does say that the devil will come as an 'angel of light' to confuse people about the truth. But that's just my take on things based on the things that I've read all these years and on what the Bible says. The paranormal has always fascinated me since I was a kid, so I really made sure I did my own "research and investigation" if I can call it that. :)
ReplyDeleteLOL TK, i saw it as something like when you consult, you discuss. but you have a point there.
ReplyDeletehi, madmuse. i visited your site and found it very nice. if i have ample time one day, i will be back again and join in some of the discussions in your posts.
you have nice arguments:
- only two people in the Bible have come back from the dead and made an appearance, Moses and Elijah
- those “ghosts” that people see these days are the product of our minds
- those are spirits pretending to be ghosts of our loved ones or “angels” or God himself sometimes to confuse us into believing things that are not in line with God’s teachings
- the Bible does say that the devil will come as an ‘angel of light’ to confuse people about the truth.
i am not a believer of ghosts but like you i am also fascinated (and terrified) by the paranormal.
I believed there are gifted persons who can do that. My sister is one of them. He can talked to my father but in her dreams. It's in my semana santa post.
ReplyDeleteHappy mother's day!
according to the Bible, man is composed of three: Spirit, Soul and body. if a man dies, his spirit will return to God, the body returns to dust and the soul cling to the dust.
ReplyDeleteIn other words, there's no ghost actually.
consulting the dead is already practiced even during the ancient times but God forbid it because, it is not actually the dead who communicate with the medium but the devil.
The book of psalms and Ecclesiastes will tell us that Dead can no longer praise God nor know anything about those who are still living.
If we will consult the Bible, Ghost, Purgatory, and anything related to these are teachings that go against the truth written on the Bible.
Anyway, I will post an article about the truth on Ghost with complete Bible quotation.
I posted a post entitled "When Man Dies what happens?". It's the post I promised on my above comment, with complete bible verse quotation.
ReplyDeleteI can't post a link here, just visit my blog.
Happy Mother's Day, too, ann! it's difficult for me to believe that we can talk to the dead. the scriptures do not tell anything about it.
ReplyDeletethat is more scary, sel. when a spirit talks to the living and pretends he/she is a loved one or a friend or someone he/she knows, and is the devil, the living is put into a trap. i think the enemy has that capacity to fool, after all, he roams to inflict pain and to kill.
Hi Bing,
ReplyDeleteHappy Mother's Day to you.
Hi Bing. Many years ago, I asked a Catholic priest (a really good one, very devout and very well respected in our community) if it is true that dead people come back. He said yes as long as they have "unfinished business" here on earth. He proceeded to tell us several anecdotes about the dead communicating from beyond - gave me goose pimples! Jaime Lichauco also wrote many times in his column about dead people communicating through cellphones. As for me, I'd rather have messages from the dead than from any creature resembling the devil (ala The Exorcist). Mas nakakatakot yun! ... Happy Mother's Day!
ReplyDeletehi, agring! thank you! and the same to you!
ReplyDeletethanks to you, too, bugsy! the story in the bible about a rich man wanting to go back to earth to warn his brothers tells otherwise that the dead can go back to earth. yes, of course, i'd rather talk to the dead than to the devil. but what is scary indeed if the devil is in the guise of a loved one.
hiya bing. interesting story. there are lots of stories about the dead communicating with the living, the bible notwithstanding. ghosts have been with us (humanity, I mean) since time immemorial, antedating all organized philosophical systems - even Catholic dogma. I suppose you could say that the belief that something of us survives death is one of the oldest philosophies. If nothing else, it is certainly the most persistent. Myself, i think that ghosts are a trick of the mind - some deep corner of our psyche that tries to tell us something using the form and voice that will best grab our attention. Sometimes, that will be a departed love one, sometimes it can be something from our worst nightmares. The bottom line is that the message is sent and, with any luck, understood. Maybe, the chance to 'communicate with the dearly departed' then is not something to be afraid of, but something to be welcomed as link between the world we are aware of and an inner awareness that isn't cluttered by the world.
ReplyDeletehttp://theoryoneverything.blogspot.com
If ghosts doesn't exist and is a figment of one's imagination, then how come every culture on earth have their own version in their ancient literature of this phenomena? Mass hysteria?
ReplyDeleteIt's so easy for us to discount something that we do not understand... or may not be able to.
hi snglguy. on the off-chance that you were responding to my comment ... i didn't say that ghosts don't exist. i think they do, but i don't think that they're spirits - at least not in the way that we usually think of spirits. If you can mosey on over to my blog (http://theoryoneverything.blogspot.com), i have a more detailed explanation of my theory there that, i think, will explain exactly why ghosts exist in every culture throughout history. But, in case you don't have time, here's my explanation - short and sweet: its because the human mind has workd in the same fashion throughout history. the knowledge changes, the social context changes, but the basic operating system stays the same. Like computers. you can upgrade your OS, but your motherboard still works the same way. :)
ReplyDeleteCheers, snglguy!
Happy mothers' day bing!
I guess it is all happening in her head or dreams! I think she deceives herself and the others too. But I am convinced she believes her own stories.
ReplyDeleteSome things are really hard to believe until you're the one who's involved in an implausible event/situation.
ReplyDeleteMaybe your friend has opened her third eye without knowing how to control it?
anyway, happy mother's day to you.
very interesting, comelecako. while i dont have something in my mind like that of your theory, it interests me to know that we have somewhat the same belief that this could be a product of the mind. while a lot believe, like single, (no offense) that they are not, i tend to stick to it. the generations had produced different forms of ghosts - apparition, wraith, doppelgänger, which seemed to have come from primitive beliefs, religions, and civilizations (a transformation into varied forms of ghosts).
ReplyDeletesingle, it is not easy for me to believe things not based on facts, and things that i havent experienced. true, there are stories and claims. but how do i know if they are true?
maybe, sidney. :-)
hmm.. heard of that before, malaya. there are also stories that there are individuals with a third eye. what i do believe is we are created like little gods, and we are given our own special gifts. dunno if seeing the dead can be called a gift, too, and if that is what they call having a third eye.
alles gute zum muttertag ate bing :)
ReplyDeleteMabuhay mga Nanay! Saludo kami sa inyong lahat! Hinding hindi namin kaya gawin ang mga kinakaya ninyo sa araw araw!
ReplyDeleteBut then, how do we know it isn't? I still maintain an open mind to these sort of things... after all, it is easier to say that it is a product of one's imagination.
ReplyDeleteBTW, no offense taken... :-)
same to you ba ang dafat isagot, neng? he he
ReplyDeleteSalamat, TK. (bow)
as i've said, the bible does not say anything to it - that the dead can go back. thanks, single, for sharing your views. i appreciate it. ;-)
"Soul", or physical life, pertains to literal, physical death, and holy spirit," or everlasting life, pertains to the figurative usage of death. In the absence of soul, the body is literaly dead (Genesis 2:7). In the absence of the holy spirit, the person is figuratively, or spiritually, dead (1John 5:12; Ephesians 2:1,5).
ReplyDeleteDeath is the total absence of life,that the pervasive biblical metaphor of "sleep"includes the soul as well as the body and that the dead are "äsleep" untill they are awakened by Jesus Christ. That means the dead are truly dead and sleeping in grave/gravedom. Only at the coming of Jesus Christ will those who have believed in Him be made alive forever.
If you believe in ghosts then probably you will see ghosts. If you believe in God existed then you must believe Satan also existed. Satan is the god on this earth, the father of lies, the author of confusion. Why blames God? Why not Satan?
that is a nice statement about death, spirit and the soul.
ReplyDeletein saying that if you believe in ghosts you will see ghosts, that is just like saying it is a product of the mind, isnt it, agring?
Bing! That's a scary story! I'm getting scared sitting all alone right now at night. They say there are plenty of ghosts in Cambodia because of the genocide that happened in the 70s where about 2 million Cambodians were tortured and killed.
ReplyDeletenaku, alone ka pa. but don't let the imagination run, toe. try to divert your attention na lang.
ReplyDeletePerhaps someone should consult with SMART or GLOBE and obtain a call detail record of the phone call to find out if the call was placed indeed placed and answered at the said time and date. Or might be that the daughter gave the wrong month of his death. Far out but a possibility.
ReplyDeleteI realized that i can actually post a link here to my blogpost "When Man Dies What Happens".
ReplyDeleteI think it should be D who should do the investigation, bw. that is, if she didnt make all this up. the daughter is already 10 yrs old, and D said the wife confirmed.
ReplyDeleteyes, you can, sel.