That Which We Cannot See

I wonder if all cultures of humans are like the one I live in where if you can't prove it and see it, it doesn't exist. I come from a science background and so I am very skeptical of what I cannot prove. Yet, I experience things that seem to be out of the realm of possibility.

As a country and a world, many of our inhabitants believe in some unknown force that is only seen by having faith. We look to them as our creator, our life force and the entity responsible for all that happens. We often call them God, the universe, source energy or we give them a name that represents this word. Yet, has anyone seen this entity of faith with their own physical eyes?

Many claim to see this force of all existence and spirituality all around them. In fact, if you're trying to win an argument as to its existence, the one without faith would appear to be the loser. And in many new age alternative circles of thought, they subscribe to the same thinking but do so in a much different way with a different language.

Maybe as humans, these experiences are real and are needed for our lives. It may be that we all just have different concepts and views for this all encompassing force within us. For each one of us is different and unique in our own way, so why could our central force of our life not be different?

I'm sure each one of us would admit that there is something within us that gives a sense of something greater in our lives. This part of us that helps us strive to be more than we can be and connects each one of us together in profound ways. Down through the ages, so much has been written and passed on. This has attempted to allow each person to understand concepts that were beyond comprehension.

Often things happen and we as humans find no way to make sense of them. Tragedies, trauma and natural disasters give us little hope as we wrestle with our fears. When we can't find a way to hold life together in our minds, we look to the unseen forces to give us meaning. Many times we blame the unseen force because it is the only thing that makes sense to our lives.

My mind though begins to question that what happens in our lives and our world, is it no part of what is supposed to happen? Is it not normal experiences that occur just as the sunrise and sunset in any given day? It may be. None of us can say for sure.

Throughout history though, many texts and stories full of tradition and ritual have been used to give a sense of balance. They have become spiritual traditions to help us explain that which we cannot see. In fact, these spiritual rituals are so much a part of our society that we are barely able to truly see them for what they are.

There is a part of us, a consciousness if you will, that keeps moving us to greater awareness. We all move towards it at a pace that is appropriate for our lives. Sometimes we claim some casualties along the way. And for each person, we need to determine what this consciousness is within us.

In the process of our discovery, may we not define this spirituality as others proclaim to us, but by that which seems to resonate within us. Let our minds, bodies, and hearts guide us as we consciously become more aware of what we do not currently see in our lives. For the more we become aware, the more we truly become humans in spiritual bodies.


Photo by NASA/courtesy of nasaimages.org.


*For more articles, check out the Mind Body Thoughts Blog

I Just Know

Deep within my body is a place where I go that helps guide me and helps me determine that which is unseen but felt. I know there are people who are skeptical about others who pick up other things in life. I pick up so much at times and none of it is spoken or written or exhibited. I just pick it up.

Often though, when I pick things up, I check it against that innermost place in my body. That place is deep within my gut which may also be referred to as the enteric brain but I have no idea if science really would establish that link or not. It is just a place that I feel it deeply and know without a doubt what is and what is not. It is a place that I just feel, sense and know. However, if you were to ask me to describe it, I would struggle immensely.

There are times when I pick things up that I don't get any internal bodily confirmation of it. So during those times, I'm more reluctant to give whatever information it is, much credibility. There are other times that when I get the information, I feel it strongly and immediately. There is no doubt within my mind of the significance of what I am receiving. Even in those strong reactions deep within me, I have times that without a shadow of a doubt, I know whatever it is, I am picking up.

Then there are the times that I hear something from someone or am asked something and immediately, I know, see, feel or sense what is true and what is not. I have had situations where someone was being told something and emphatically, I am hearing in my mind something that completely contradicts what others are telling them. Again, I have no way to prove this. It is what I feel and pick up deep within me.

I really try to pay attention to these insights as well because I'm finding that they hold very useful information for me or for others. For a long time I discounted all of this thinking it was my wild imagination and yet I had friends telling me that they were surprised at what I knew and that somehow I just knew things. I never thought about it much and if I did, it scared me so badly that I wanted nothing to do with it.

Of course I see people that give themselves titles and designations claiming they are psyhic or mediums or they can pick up things about others. And while I know there are many out there that can do this, there are many who struggle to pick up a clear signal. All too often, I see people claiming to know things but the information they are giving does not match up and many times, I feel that deep within myself. Who is to say, I'm right though and they are wrong? I try not to look at it that way.

One time at spiritualist organization, I had a great 5 minute reading by a lady who was a medium, that hit the nail on the head and was more accurate than I thought was possible. It was amazing just how much she shared with me and how much she picked up. All of it was extremely accurate as well and really did help me. I was never able to find out who this lady was of course because I would have liked to meet with her again. I know she existed but doing a search of her name turned up no contact information.

Of course, another time at the spiritualist organization, I had one of the mini readings by a medium and the lady used holding my hand to notice that I didn't have a wedding ring on. So she began to tell me that I needed to go out and meet women more, blah blah blah. She was so far from the truth if she was even connected to it. I am in a long term relationship and I have no desire to go out and meet women for many reasons. If that would have been my first experience with this type of information, I would have never gone back. Fortunately, I have experienced people that are not full of themselves but really do connect with a source that is unseen. A friend of mine ended up with a similar experience as well. In these situations, I'd rather have the person just look me in the eye and say, I'm sorry but I'm not picking anything up instead of performing in the way that they think I want them to. It would bring much more credibility.

Of course, when you connect with things that are unseen, it is sometimes hard to truly know what is real and what is not. Even if you know it is real, you have to be so careful in how your life's experiences and your own filters of the mind, influence that information and mold it into words that you share. Ego has to be really in check and one needs to be well grounded and connected to themselves in a deep way. Otherwise, who knows how the words of the information will come forth. Sadly, there are many who do not understand this but continue to act as if they do. Fortunately, there are true ones out there that really do understand this and have done the intense healing work on themselves.

In my mind, many of these things that people pick up and we look at as being special or strange, they should be more normal to the population as a whole. In our society though, we concentrate on working as many hours as we can to please the boss, running to this meeting or that meeting, enabling our children to be over involved in as many activities as they can and basically just making life into one busy long day after another. We fail to stop and connect to the earth, to things around us and to each other because that doesn't fit in our day. If you add into it, all the interference from electronic devices, cell phones and our world around us, we leave little room for the signals of the information to get through to us. In addition, there are many people who have been so hurt in life and are so stressed out, that their lives are anything but grounded.

Being grounded and in touch with the core of yourself gives you a true connection to things that much of this world just does not connect with. Indigenous cultures pick up on these things all the time as if it is as normal as a conversation with someone they meet. If we as a society stopped and became more grounded, connected and healed, we would experience so much more.

One final note in all of this is that so many who do pick things up try to package that up into a nice little set of beliefs and rituals which just get in the way of what is going on. The dogma people subscribe to or use to replace some other set of beliefs is so rampant in our society. It has no use in all of this. It is not founded upon anything but a person's belief system. Just because someone ditches the mainstream religions and is into the new age philosophy, it does not mean they have rid their life of the dogma. Often times, they have just replaced one set of beliefs for another and again, it serves no purpose in this. I'm sure many will argue that point with me but I just ask that people really question all that they believe and search for the true source of those beliefs.

My hope is that each person will be all they can be and discover all that they are. Today, you may be standing at the crossroads in life wondering which way to go but if you just allow things to unfold, you'll be amazed at all that is out there. Find the ultimate truth in the things that tug at your heart strings and see what things are at the core and what things are part of a belief system. We all have a belief system but if we allow it to cloud our views and thoughts, than it becomes a chain around our neck dragging us to the bottom of the ocean. Look for the truth. Search it out and don't stop until you do. Don't just settle for what someone else tells you. Find it out for yourself!


*For more articles, check out the Mind Body Thoughts Blog

The Secrets We Hold

Lately I've thought about all the secrets we hold as humans and they are many. Often times, we do not even own up to the ones that we hold so closely. Yet, they are numerous. Many justify these subconsciously in our minds every day and reinforce them through behaviors, beliefs, rituals and routines. The secrets can range from the more subtle to the extreme, from the almost innocent in appearance to the ones that would make a sensational news story on the nightly news.

In my own life, I've been told some whoppers! The secrets that have been carried down were once referred to me as "skeletons in a closet". I was told that often it is best to leave the skeletons alone because everyone has them. But is it really best to leave the skeletons alone in our closets? Who does that protect or benefit or hurt?

While everyone could make a strong compelling argument that holding on to these secrets is a way of protecting various people in our lives, the same case could be made that these same secrets hurt many more than they protect. We don't often think of that or of the people it may hurt when the secrets are formed. We don't often think of the future ramifications and the distortion of events that will occur with years of continued secrecy. It is as if, we are only trying to protect ourselves or someone close to us at the expense of others around us.

In my life, I have spent many years trying to uncover the hidden secrets in my life and of those around me. I have attempted to remain as an open book as much as I can and yet, I'm sure if I think about it, I have secrets that I have formed. And now, as I try to heal the intricate pieces of my life, there are many that are missing because they are locked up as secrets. Some of the secrets have gone to a grave and some will just never be told.

I can just hear the chatter going on in minds at this moment including, you should just move on, you should just let it go, you should not live in the past and so on and so forth. Those are wonderful statements for people who want to sweep the floor and push the dirt under the rug. However, I am one that would rather sweep the dirt out the front door, just not under the rug.

If you think secrets aren't as bad as I'm suggesting they are, than consider this.

Remember back when the Catholic Priests were being accused of child molestation? Each individual child thought it was just them and them alone. They did not realize anyone else had ever been molested by this person (generally speaking). So if they were ever to tell, in their minds they would question if anyone would ever believe them. However, when they began to expose the secrets, others realized they weren't the only ones and they began to tell their secrets. When the secrets were exposed in unison, it gave validity to what was actually going on. Otherwise, it would have continued to be covered up and allowed to continue.

For me, I was told when my grandmother passed away and I was just a wee little child, she was walking home from the neighbors house across the street and she slipped and died. To a little kid, that may make sense and a child may not be able to reason that this sounds ludicrous. And maybe this was part of the story but when you begin to lay in other facts around that event, you can see that there is probably more to the story. My grandfather was a proud member of the Masons who was an alcoholic. I remember my mom telling me stories of how he would spend more time with his Mason brothers getting drunk and drinking away what little money they had. I also learned that he was a mean drunk where he would hit and abuse his wife and my mom. This continued I believe until the day my grandmother died. Right after her death, my grandfather had an auction to sell off everything he owned and I mean everything. He then took the money and checked himself into a nursing home. Keep in mind, there was nothing wrong with him physically that he needed round the clock care. So he checked himself into the nursing home and laid in a bed hardly ever leaving his room for the remaining 10 years of his life. One could say he didn't take her death well and that could be but when you saw how the family behaved and that no one except my mom went to visit him, than you had to question a lot of things. Even the day he died, there barely was a funeral with anyone present. Again, the secret of how my grandmother died will never be proven for sure but I highly doubt she died because she fell while walking across the street.

Take another example with my older brother. On the night of my highschool prom, my parents received a call and had to travel 90 miles to Des Moines because my brother had just been accused of molesting two little boys that he was babysitting in the family that was giving him a home. I believe the family was either from the same church he went to or the Faith Baptist Bible college in Ankeny, Iowa he was attending. I have no idea what transpired because I was not there but I know that somehow the charges were dropped. Those two little boys had to grow up with the after shocks of what he did to them for the rest of their life while my older brother went free. Of course, if I would have been strong enough to stand up and tell someone, maybe I could have prevented others from being hurt. But it was my secret and the secret was not only belonged to my older brother but to my father as well. And one has to ponder just how many more there are out there that were affected by this secret.

For a long time, I began to go to therapy but I kept it a secret from everyone around me. Those at work were told I had something personal to do and I would try to schedule therapy appointments late in the day. My fear was that if everyone knew, they would think I was crazy and would think there was something wrong with me. It was shame, guilt and a poor self esteem that kept me from talking. It was more though because I had been conditioned to believe that if I exposed the secret, that my life would be in danger as had been proven on many occasions as a kid. As I got closer and closer to talking about some things, my secret came out in full force because even though no one in my family knew where I lived or that I was even seeing a therapist, I was so afraid to talk. I was afraid of the secrets I held. I was afraid of the power the secrets held.

I could go on and on with stories of many secrets. They are so numerous and are bountiful beyond comprehension to most people. As I try to piece things together in my life, to fill in the gaps that the years portray, I am met constantly with many secrets. For me, it is more than just needing to move on and to get over it. For me, so much of my past seems so disjointed. I have many questions as to where I come from, where I lived, how different memories even fit together and those things act as volcanoes in my mind, going off when I least expect them. It is about piecing my life back together where I have very little connected contact to it. Most people are able to talk to friends, family and relatives and reflects upon points in their life. For me, this is virtually non existent. For a long time, I wondered if I was adopted because all I know is the town I was born in and where I am at now in life. The things in between seem to have never existed. They were covered up by the secrets.

Most of my secrets were pretty dramatic but even the less dramatic secrets have an energy all to their own that robs us as being human. They make us less than human because shame, guilt, fear among other things, place a blanket over them. They hide them from our view. They alter us from reality. These secrets continue to not only consume us but perpetuate themselves so that they consume others in our path. Secrets not only affect us but they also impact so many others that we know intimately or we casually meet in our lives.

The purpose for writing all of this is that I hope each person reading it will stop and consider the secrets they hold in their own lives. What ones have you created? What ones were created and forced upon you? What ones do you know about and feel you are the only one?

I hope that you will ask yourselves these hard questions because the more light that can be placed on the secrets to expose them, the more freedom we will have as individuals and as a collective universe. In order to be truly human, secrets can not take up residence in our lives for they are an organism of poison feeding on our mind, body and spirit. May they be found out and may they be exorcised from all that we are. Let the secrets wither and die in the light of truth and knowledge.