Along the Path Blog

     A temporary move to an apartment complex was necessary at a time in my life when my children were younger. The youngest would make the move with me and the older children stayed with their dad and near their school. The move was short-term and therefore only the most necessary pieces of furniture were moved with me. One night, I knew I would be working late in the apartment, so I planned to stay all night and work some more the next morning. The beds had not arrived, so I took a light-weight mattress from our camper, along with a pillow, sheets and a cover for that night. Neither shades nor curtains covered the windows just yet.

     It was late when I finished cleaning and preparing the apartment for our occupancy when I made up my bed on the floor. It was not until then that I realized there was no privacy - no safe-feeling place to make a bed. It was a ground-level apartment with light from streetlights streaming through the low-hung windows in the living room. The bedrooms were dark with just enough light shining through the windows to make me visible on my mattress to any passers-by.

     The living room would have to do, though, so I settled on the corner of the room farthest from the windows and made my bed. Exhausted, I lay down and tried to go to sleep. I didn't actually feel fearful, but there was a nagging awareness of being exposed - like being in a fish bowl. People walking by my window late at night through the apartment complex could easily see me lying there. My anxiety finally gave in to my need for rest.

     I was almost asleep, in a twilight or hypnogogic state, when I became aware that I was not alone. I felt and heard someone breathing behind me. This was scary enough, but then I could feel the pressure of a body against my back.

     "Who is there?, I wondered. And, "how and when did someone get into the apartment? I know everything was locked; I checked each window and the only door before lying down on my mattress. What can I do?"

     I tried ever so hard to be invisible - I almost held my breath. I was paralyzed with fear, now, and I didn't dare try to move. I didn't dare turn over to see who was breathing down my back. I had to do something.

     "If I get up and run, could I make it out the front door without being attacked?"

     This went on too long, and then, at the height of my fear and anxiety, I saw an image in my mind's eye, and suddenly everything was all right. I became calm, and I understood. The image was "Smoky." Smoky was a dog - a wonderful boxer owned by my Aunt Lola and Uncle Tom when I was a small child. I loved Smoky. We played and romped around the farm house when I visited my aunt and uncle, and I always felt safe with him.

     How wonderful was the realization that, after all those years, Smoky became my guardian angel that night. He crossed a bridge from another dimension in hopes of making me feel safe. An angel named Smoky was my guardian - my protector.

     Our pets on the Other Side do visit us, some very often, and I believe they would do all they could to make us feel safe. Have you had a pet in your life that you feel would do that for you?

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The Aura: Subtle Bodies and Levels of Consciousness

     Life is continuous; there is no death, but a shift of consciousness to a level that is already a part of our make-up, and one that we have not often been conscious of using. If we use our color spectrum as an example of a continuum of vibratory frequency, there are colors below and above our visible spectrum that we are unable to see with our physical eyes. As we develop our inner vision, our ability to see dimensions beyond the Earth dimension is possible. Shifting into a new dimension, we term the afterlife, does not appear to offer a completely different experience for those of us moving from the Earth plane. However, there are adjustments that we must make that will involve the laws of those regions - laws which enable us to navigate easily - and to speak, see and hear more efficiently. Our earthly law of gravity is not in force there, so we will no longer have the resistance to it that depletes our bodies of energy and stamina.

     The astral level is the closest in vibratory frequency to our world and one that does not seem drastically different from Earth life, at least where human patterns and activities are concerned. Spirit beings found on this level remain there for varying lengths of time, however they can choose to move upward to other levels when they are willing to progress through various studies and service to others. A move in any direction depends on one's soul growth and personal level of consciousness.

(From The Great Transition: Bridges to the Afterlife, Chapter 5) 

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     A temporary move to an apartment complex was necessary at a time in my life when my children were younger. The youngest would make the move with me, and the older children would stay with their dad and near their school. The move was short-term and therefore only the most necessary pieces of furniture were moved. One night, I knew I would be working late in the apartment, so I planned to stay all night and work some more the next moring. The beds had not arrived, so I took a light-weight mattress from our camper, along with a pillow, sheets and a cover for that night. Neither shades nor curtains covered the windows just yet.

     It was late when I finished cleaning and preparing the apartment for our occupancy, and I made up my bed on the floor. It was not until then that I realized there was no privacy or safe-feeling place to make a bed. It was a ground-level apartment with light from streetlights streaming through the low-hung windows in the living room. The bedrooms were dark with just enough light shining in to make me visible on my mattress to any passers-by.

     The living room would have to do, though, so I settled in the corner of the room farthest from the windows and made my bed. Exhausted, I lay down and tried to go to sleep. I didn't actually feel fearful, but there was a nagging awareness of being exposed - like being in a fishbowl. People walking by my window late at night through the apartment complex could easily see me lying there. My anxiety finally gave in to a need for rest.

     I was almost asleep, in a twilight or hypnogogic state when I became aware that I was not alone. I felt and heard someone breathing behind me. This was scary enough . . . and then I could feel the pressure of a body against my back.

     Who is there? And how and when did someone get into the apartment? I know everything is locked; I checked each window and the only door before lying down on my mattress on the floor. What can I do?

     I tried ever so hard to be invisible - I almost held my breath. I was paralyzed with fear, now, and I didn't dare move. I didn't dare turn over to see who was there and breathing down my back. I had to do something!

     If I get up and run, could I make it out the front door without being attacked?

     Then . . . at the height of my fear and anxiety, I saw an image in my mind's eye, and suddenly everything was all right. I became calm, and I understood. The image was Smokey. Smokey was a dog - a wonderful boxer owned by my Aunt Lola and Uncle Tom when I was a child. I loved Smokey. We had played and romped around the farmhouse when I visited my aunt and uncle, and I always felt safe with him.

     How wonderful was the realization that, after all those years, Smokey became my guardian angel that night. He crossed a bridge from another dimension in hopes of making me feel safe. An angel named Smokey . . . was my guardian - my protector.

     Our pets on the Other Side do visit us, some very often, and I believe they would do all they could to make us feel safe.

     Have you had a pet in your life that you feel would do that for you?

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      It was the late 1980s, at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK and the audience was waiting for our famous speaker, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, to arrive. Attendees began checking their watches and a young man finally stepped onto the stage and explained that Dr. Kubler-Ross had a flight connection delay and asked us to be patient. She arrived 30-40 minutes later. Breezing across the stage, gasping for breath, she apologized for her delay and her attire (jeans, sneakers and her shirttail hanging out over her jeans). The audience loved her! She was authentic and had broken the ice and created a truly relaxed and empathetic atmosphere - no pretense. Her focus quickly shifted to the topic of the lecture. We were mesmerized by her mastery of knowledge about death and dying, by her charm and by her obvious sense of mission.

     Dr. Kubler-Ross, a medical doctor, psychiatrist and thanatologist, known for her work with children and AIDS patients, shared an experience that night that she said had made the afterlife a reality to her, a professed skeptic. She was presenting seminars on death and dying at the U. of Chicago and was at a point of making a decision to leave the university. While talking with a colleague in the hallway at the university, she noticed a woman standing in front of the elevator. She recognized the woman but couldn't recall how she knew her. Her colleague entered the elevator and the woman walked over to Dr. Kubler-Ross and said, "Dr. Ross, I had to come back. Do you mind if I walk you to your office? It will only take two minutes." She then recognized the woman as Mrs. Schwarz, a woman she had worked with and who had died ten months earlier. Mrs. Schwarz opened the door for Dr. Kubler-Ross and said, "Dr. Ross, I had to come back for two reasons: One, to thank you and Rev. Gaines - to thank you and him for what you did for me. But the other reason is that you cannot stop this work on death and dying, not yet."

     Dr. Kubler-Ross had trouble making sense of it all. She knew Mrs. Schwarz had been buried for ten months, and this went beyond the comfort zone of her belief system. She then found herself touching everything real to her - her desk, her chair, her pen, but the woman was still there. She was real, too. The scientist in her wanted proof that Mrs. Schwarz was in actuality there in front of her and she said, "You know, Rev. Gaines is in Urbana now. He would just love to have a note from you. Would you mind?" She handed Mrs. Schwarz a piece of paper and a pencil. Mrs. Schwarz took the paper and wrote a note. Then she got up and on leaving said again, "Dr. Ross, you promise." She didn't want her to give up her work just yet. Dr. Ross promised, and Mrs. Schwarz disappeared. Dr. Kubler-Ross kept the note to remind her of her personal proof of the reality of life after death.

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Thank you for checking in!

Ann

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