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Cemeteries I Have Known and Loved
By Steve Smith
As you are, I was.
As I am, you will be.
-- Tombstone Epitaph
Every year or two, when the time is
right, I set aside a couple of hours to walk alone through a cemetery.
It may sound morbid preoccupation to some, however I find it can be
helpful in troubled times.
These solitary excursions force me to confront my own mortality, and
help clarify my priorities. It is easy in the course of today’s
frenetic living to lose track of the people, values and lifestyles
that nourish our spirits and lift us above the din and shallowness of
21st Century living.
I once read a paper, written by an Orthodox priest, describing the
difficulty in converting contemporary men and women. It was his thesis
that before true conversion can occur, a soul often needs to be
planted and nourished in the seeker. He described the difficulty of
people without historical or religious context, exposure to the arts
and sciences or without personal or philosophical introspection to
understand even the simpler points of his church’s doctrine. I fear
his analysis is, in the main correct.
It is my sense and belief that many of us interested in paranormal
investigations are reaching for deeper spirituality, even if we
imperfectly understand the motivation for our reaching. We strive to
know and understand the reality and mystery of life, death, afterlife
and the nature of Spirit. Striving for understanding and meaning
separates paranormal investigators from mere thrill seekers.
I say this not out of pride or superiority, but rather to keep our
eyes on the prize.
Paranormal investigations have many facets; scientific, social,
metaphysical to name a few. The bottom line for many is spiritual; our
spirits in search of knowledge and understanding of Spirit.
Prior to the invention of the computer and digital photography,
authentic ghost photographs were very rare, and were subject to the
slings and arrows of merciless critics from all quarters. It was easy
for skeptics to maintain trickery was involved and difficult or
impossible for those accused of trickery to disprove the accusations.
Enter the digital age. Digital cameras add credibility to the art and
science of paranormal investigation, and bring us closer to
understanding the afterlife. This strikes me as of great value. It
gives us hope, courage and a sense of wonder about the survival of the
human spirit. It eases our sense of loss for loved ones that have died
or are dying, and it eases the fear of our own inevitable death.
We really are very fortunate to live in an era of technology that
gives us a look beyond the mist of death, and which causes us to
re-examine our beliefs and our place in the universe. Most of all, it
validates what we secretly already knew; cemeteries are where the
living commune with the dead.
Cemeteries….ya gotta love ‘em.
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