I tried to give today’s talk, but I could not. The realization of our son’s unexpected passing does not yet allow me to speak publicly. I appreciate your understanding.

Dear friends,

I want to let you know that Beth and I, and our daughter Audrey, were informed last Tuesday that our son, Ashley, passed from this plane. He lived in the Los Angeles area. The cause of death appears to be heart related, though the coroner’s report is inconclusive at this point. This is the kind of news no parent or sibling wishes to receive, yet here it is on our doorstep. This news has triggered an emotional journey ranging from shock and grief to feelings wafting in like a warm breeze that carries the promise of a new Spring of comfort and meaning.

Over the last forty-five years, I have conducted many funeral services, but always as the comforter, the pastor, the counselor, the one whose purpose was to inspire a higher vision of this sometimes baffling experience of life in a body. It has been my role to help others navigate through what can feel like an earthly maze, with each turn often leaving us with more questions than answers. I have done my best to show others there are answers, to step back and see life as the soul sees it–eternal, beautiful, meaningful, and lived with purpose.

I have also acknowledged the pain of loss, the feeling that even the broadest perspective of life and death cannot sooth. And now I am presented with this side. The mind floods with a mix of memories and the overwhelming sadness that we will never speak to our son again, never hear his voice, or feel the warmth of his hug. It is a void nothing can fill. The comforting words of family and friends are a much needed and appreciated healing balm that is so important on this unexpected journey. Ultimately, however, this is a path that every person in our place must walk alone. Beth, Audrey, myself, our family, and those who were closest to Ashley are, in one sense, walking through this together. Even so, we are each called upon to find within ourselves that fountain of strength, wisdom, and vision that enables us to rise from this darker pain of loss to the bright light of joy of what has been gained by knowing this beautiful soul.

It was at the moment of conception that Ashley announced to me that he was on his way. He arrived on April 20, 1978. I felt him as a very warm and peaceful presence, unlike anything I had experienced. At the time I did not know what had happened, but I soon found out. I experienced it once again when Audrey announced her coming. This time I knew our family was growing. When I think of this, I am reminded of a line from James Dillet Freeman’s poem, The Traveler: “Our life did not begin with birth, it is not of this earth.” I’ve always had the sense that our children intentionally joined Beth and me on our journey. Ashley now continues his life in another way, another dimension, and we will miss him terribly. But we are also grateful that he stepped in and shared with us this part of his eternal life. He leaves us with a gift we will always cherish.

Beth and I thank you for your prayers and positive thoughts in this challenging time. Ashley has moved into his next experience in living, and we see his every step lighted with the love of God.

YouTube: The Key to Overcoming Fear

I recently listened to the story a woman told of her childhood, explaining how she was taught to believe she was never enough. As she grew into an adult, she adopted the Christian faith as a way of making sure that she was enough to be saved and enter heaven. During a surgical operation she “died” and had an incredible near-death experience. What she learned was that she was not only enough, but she was also far more than anything she had ever imagined.

Most fear rises from the belief that we, in some way, are not enough. We don’t have enough faith, courage, knowledge, goodness, strength, or love to meet some demand. We note that this woman did not become enough to overcome her fear by practicing the teachings of a religion. She became enough by rising above her body-based self-image and seeing the truth of who she really was. She literally had to lose everything before she awakened to the reality that she was not given a spirit of fear but one of love and power.

The experience of fear is foreign to the soul. Most of us know what it is to be pushed to the point of not knowing what to do. And we most likely experienced fear with every step it took to get to this place. Then, almost unexpected, having lost hope, we discovered strength we did not know we had.

This brings us to an important point to consider. When we fear, we are, in one sense, protecting a weakness. When we find our true center of power, we turn the table on fear by expressing from a place of strength. The thing we need to remember is that this strength is inherent to our being. Like the woman who spent her early life believing she was not enough, we make the shift into realizing we are so much more. In other words, regardless of how things appear, we are enough right now. And the good news is that we do not have to have an NDE to find the strength to overcome any fear. We affirm it until we know it is true.

YouTube: Let There Be Light

Our fourth and final topic in the Advent series is intelligence, which manifests as order.

We’ve all seen patterns in nature such as the amazing design of the nautilus, the petals of a flower, or the colors of the rainbow. It is difficult to imagine there not being intelligence behind these orderly patterns.

Genesis opens with God saying, “Let there be light.” We know this is not a reference to the sun and moon because these come on the third day. The writer is affirming the presence of divine intelligence as a foundational aspect of reality. We should not think of intelligence as being created with this declaration, but only that the author is saying that intelligence is a fundamental aspect of God.   

Of the four spiritual resources—life, love, power, and intelligence—intelligence is one that is not equally expressed by all life forms. Its regulation appears to be tied to brain function. This apparently allows for endless diversity, with every species having the ability to successfully fill its own niche.

It is good for we humans to fully embrace the fact of infinite intelligence, especially when we are feeling at a loss for what we are to do next in our moments of uncertainty. We can affirm, let there be light, knowing that the full intelligence of God is responding even before we ask. Jesus alluded to the orderly aspect of intelligence when he said, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear (Mark 4:28). We affirm the intelligence of God is working through us now to establish favorable conditions in an orderly manner.

Because Advent is the lead-in to the mystical birth, or revelation of our own Christ consciousness, we can affirm that divine intelligence is very much alive and bringing to mind the right mental and emotional states that invite this higher awareness. This, of course, is not a seasonal aspiration, but the Christmas season reminds us of the spiritual truth we strive to express. As we affirm, Let there be light, let us do so knowing the light is already shining in full force at the center of our being. It is our privilege to let this light shine.