It does seem at times I live with ghosts, and frankly I think celebrating a “Day of the Dead” is a great idea. I also enjoy Halloween and watching the old black and white classics like “The Mummy, Dracula,” and others. But once Hollywood started throwing in all the blood and gore in color I said no thanks. Not my thing at all. There is more than enough violence in reality without subjecting myself to such things on screen.

It may be my Indian heritage is the reason “Thunderheart” is a favorite film of mine, but I don’t believe anyone receives a vision by seeking for one. If there are such things, I believe they come unbidden as with the prophets and others in the Bible. Neither do I credit the various methods by which some claim to have access to the supernatural or those gone on before us. But I do credit the “Universal Lyre” of poets; I credit a “Sea of Consciousness” that would account for what seems to be telepathic communication between some individuals. And in this sense, the spirits of our departed loved ones may remain in communication with us. In the words of Jesus “It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing.”

Many people believe in ghosts, and since the most ancient of times these have been the stuff of both fancy and literature. Even now there are the various people that make claims for such beings. But I have never seen a ghost, nor am I at all sure I want to see one. I grieve for departed loved ones, but I’m not going to ask that they appear any more than I would ask for a vision. For whatever reason, if there is a hereafter it is designed in such a way that the departed have no physical contact with us. And I must assume if there is a God this is the best way of handling life and death.

I do believe the spirits of my departed loved ones and friends remain with me, and I find comfort in believing this. Though I ache with grief over my daughters Diana and Karen, wishing fervently I could put my arms about them and tell them how much I love them, as with my other loved ones it seems none of them have ever really left me. It is as though apart from not being with me physically they are still here; they haven’t really left me at all. For this reason I talk to them, but I don’t expect any audible reply. It is a confounding thought; what would be my reaction if one of them were to speak to me? I have no idea? But my belief that they remain alive here with me, as though this were a normal part of the hereafter, that they may see and hear me often gives me pause to consider the things I say and do. I would no more want to disappoint or shame them now than when they were here with me in body.

There is something to be said, in my opinion, for the philosophy of not offending the spirits of the departed. And if you believe as I do that when we depart these bodies we will once more be with our loved ones, if you have been blessed as I have with so many loving people now gone on before you, why not live in a manner that does them honor rather than hurtful things that would do them dishonor. Even granting we may still have our disagreements now as then, I needn’t worry about offending or disappointing God or angels so long as I live in a way that will not offend or disappoint these precious loved ones.