While poking around on one of my favorite Facebook fan pages-- "Creepy, Old, Abandoned Houses"-- I jumped in on a discussion about having expeditions to explore some of those hauntingly beautiful ruins with the joke that I'd love to go if there were ghosts. Someone else mentioned a great ruin known as the Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells, TX, just outside of the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. Curious and always loving a lovely ghost story, I looked it up on the Southwest Ghost Hunters Association's website (which is very interesting since they post the history of the location, all the legends, their own paranormal investigations, and whether or not a "true haunting" is likely or mythbusted.). Whether you believe in ghosts or not, the story is fascinating. But it got me thinking beyond that.
We know there's Heaven and Hell for sure. But the period between our death and going to one of those two places is a mystery. The Bible never really makes any clear statement about exactly what happens. For example, in 1 Samuel 15, Saul visits a witch to seek council from the departed Samuel. When the spirit of Samuel rises from the ground, he says "Why have you disturbed my rest?" This in conjunction with verses in the New Testament (Revelation, specifically) would lead one to believe that from the time we die until the time Christ calls the believers to be with Him in the clouds, our spirits will sleep. This is further referenced when it is said in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 that "For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first." There are also mentions of spirits of the departed roaming the earth before the second coming. All this would make you believe that death is merely a sleep until that day.
On the other hand, in Luke 23:43, Jesus tells the robber to his right that he is forgiven and that "today, you will be with Me in Paradise." I know the Bible will never contradict itself--we simply do not understand. But this passage when put in context with the others is confusing. I wish I had a pastor to explain it to me.
BUT! on to the original subject: Spirits. We know they exist--there's one in each of us, and, if saved, we have also the Holy Spirit dwelling within us. If death is merely a sleep until the end of days, couldn't, logically, there be restless spirits who have post-mortem insomnia? After seeing the SGHA's supposed "photos" of what might be spiritual energy-- "orbs" they call them, invisible to the naked eye, honestly admitting that they could be nothing more than dust particles enhanced by fancy cameras-- I don't necessarily believe that these hypothetical ghosts could be seen. There are only a few examples in the Bible where it refers to spirits walking visibly among us. That must mean it's a rare happening. It, however, doesn't mean that insomniac spirits DON'T walk among us. They just can't be seen. Or, at least, can't be seen by normal people.
I'm not suggesting you grab a candle and hold a seance by any means. Only the spirits of the living, which we know are among us, are of our concern. It is, however, interesting for me to think about others slipping around us unseen.
I think too much.
I will also probably be musing a lot about spirits, myself and others', in coming posts as they interest me profoundly.
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