More Answers About the Afterlife

"God is Source Energy (all that is), and all the souls that exist are extensions of Source.... Each individual spirit (including you and me) is simply an extension of God. Even though we don't necessarily feel it as humans, we are eternally connected to God at all times. Even more accurately, we are God; that is, we are God in the same way that your arms and legs are you. You are not all that God is, just as your left arm is not all that you are, but you are most definitely one with God."

Answers About the Afterlife, Bob Olson, pp. 19, 20

I hope your new year is off to a promising start! I am so encouraged about the transfer of power in our government, and I'm looking forward to a more peaceful year, although I know it won't be without some tension. Perhaps this past COVID year can be viewed as a cocoon from which we'll emerge, like a butterfly, changed by the circumstances and events of 2020. Many of us spent so much time at home and often alone, that we had plenty of time, maybe too much time, to think about and perhaps reassess our lives, our goals, and what is really important to us.

Forgive my mixing of metaphors here, but it's as if the computers of our lives have been on the SLEEP setting for most of the year. With the promise of the vaccine, we could soon be ready to REBOOT with an UPDATE for a fresh new start. I've found that after an update on my computer or phone, nothing is exactly like it was. Sometimes it is frustrating to have to relearn certain processes, but then eventually the update proves to be an improvement. I'm thinking we can expect that life will never be quite the same as it was for us before the pandemic, but maybe our cocoon experiences will help us DELETE things that don't uplift us and UPLOAD more of what nourishes us! (OK, I probably I wore out that metaphor, but I think you get my meaning.)

I was in a Zoom writers' workshop recently where the leaders spoke about the world now having an opportunity to rebuild. They suggested that we could write a new narrative and vision about how we view our lives and asked what rewriting our story meant for us. The question was, "What do you want to rewrite in 2021?"

As I thought about that question, I listed the things I do want to do again, like get together with family and friends, go out to eat, and maybe travel more. One facet of my seclusion that I actually enjoyed was a less cluttered calendar. Most of the groups I'm involved with met virtually, but I still had many days with nothing scheduled. I had a chance to just do whatever I wanted. Fewer obligations and more time to follow my heart is what I want to sustain after the pandemic. My goal is to edit out activities or obligations that don't nourish me. What do you want to rewrite for 2021?

Thank you for reading my newsletters! What I write comes from my heart, and sharing my truth nourishes my soul. My hope is that you find inspiration in the thoughts and beliefs that I share. Please take whatever resonates with you and leave the rest!

In the October 4th issue of Just Who Do We Think We Are?, I introduced you to Bob Olson and described him as a private investigator who turned his skills in that field to investigating the Afterlife. His purpose was to find out what happened to his father after he died in 1997.

His research led to the publication of Answers About the Afterlife in 2014 and The Magic Mala in 2017. His investigation included work with mediums, some of whom he found to be reliable sources of contact with souls on the other side and some who were not, to say the least. His experiences with mediums led him to create Best Psychic Directory, an online directory of 800 psychics and mediums by location (http://www.BestPsychicDirectory.com) and Best Psychic Mediums, which is his "tested" list of psychics, mediums, and more. (http://www.BestPsychicMediums.com)

In addition, Bob Olson is the host of Afterlife TV .com (http://www.afterlifetv.com) with weekly shows in which he interviews guests, such as near-death experiencers, who are knowledgeable about and have written about the afterlife. Included below is a video of an episode in which he interviews Natalie Sudman who experienced a near-death experience when a roadside bomb exploded near her in Iraq.

In the October issue, I included four of the questions and answers that Bob Olson wrote about in his book. For this month, I chose four more, answered below with brief excerpts from the book. There are over 140 questions about the afterlife in this book answered with Olson's beliefs based on his 20+ years of investigation. If you are interested in more, I highly recommend the book. You can also learn more about him in the video below.

From Answers About the Afterlife

This question was posed in the October 4th issue also (available on www.shari-harris under the My Two Cents tab). I include it again with additional detail in the answer from Olson's book. Shari

Olson writes, "...I was thinking of God as a person. But all my research into the afterlife found no evidence of such an all-powerful father figure. Certainly, most of the people who had near-death experiences hadn't seen God the father. They saw spirits of all sorts. They felt the presence of God. But none of them could tell me what God looked like.

Moreover, those who claimed to have experienced God's presence all described God as energy, not an entity. In fact, God to these people was so expansive and infinite that they preferred the terms 'Source,' 'Universe,' 'Creative Intelligence,' 'Oneness,' and even 'Ultimate Love' over the word 'God.'

When I personally recognized this paradigm shift from entity to energy, thousands of little lightbulbs lit up in my brain, and the many questions I had about God and the afterlife were finally given light."

"This is such an important question that it has become the foundation of everything I teach. To state it in a sentence, the best way to understand the afterlife is through personal experience....

This might be getting a reading of spirit communication with a medium, having a past-life regression with a hypnotic regressionist, or having an out-of-body experience at the Monroe Institute.

This might also involve having an experience that does not involve a practitioner, such as doing daily meditation, visiting a spiritual place like Machu Picchu, or practicing inspired writing.

I recognized early on...that I was being taken down a path through three stages. The first stage was where I began, which I call the path of the skeptic....

Then I progressed to the path of the believer. Here, in the believing stage, we accept as truth the beliefs of other people. This is where religion resides because people believe what their religious leaders teach them....

At some point along my journey, I stretched into the path of the knower--I knew at a deeper level the answers to my spiritual questions.... And what I realized...is that knowing can only come from personal experience.

So skepticism comes from a refusal to believe. Belief comes from vicarious experience. And knowing comes from personal experience."

"The better question would be, what part of each religion is closest to the truth? What I can tell you is that every religion that promotes love over all else has got that part right, which includes peace, forgiveness, and compassion. And those that promote fear, judgment, separation, or hate have veered off course.

In all my work with mediums and channelers, I've never had a person in spirit tell me that there is one best or most accurate religion. What spirits indicate as important is that we love one another equally, unconditionally, and unselfishly, we forgive ourselves and other people for all wrongdoings (this might be the most difficult one), and we treat everyone with the same respect and dignity that we would give our creator (Source, Universe, God).

This doesn't mean we should allow others to abuse, hurt, or take advantage of us. Nor does it mean we don't protect ourselves and don't put people who are a danger to society in prison. None of this is about being a pushover, wimp, or doormat. It's about being loving in our thoughts, words, and actions to every human being on earth.

When deciding how to act and whose example to follow, the more accurate question to ask ourselves is, what would I do in this situation if I were acting out of pure love and in the best interest of everyone affected by my choice? Your answer to that question will lead you in the right direction every time."

"My experiences have shown me that we as spiritual beings live many, many human lives. Although the evidence is clear from mediums' communications with spirits and from what near-death experiencers have learned while in the spirit world, the strongest evidence that we live more than one life comes from past-life regression.

....The fact that millions of people all over the world have had this experience is strong evidence that past lives exist. And if past lives exist, then that means we live more than one life.

My own past-life regressions have taught me that we most certainly live more than one life. When I experienced these past lives--which is a multisensory experience where I could see, smell, taste, feel, and hear things--each regression brought me beyond belief into a 'knowing' that we live multiple lives....

The experience was so real and had such depth that there was absolutely no question that I had lived these lives as these different people."

Dr. Michael Lennox is a licensed therapist as well a spiritual teacher and astrologer. I regularly enjoy his guided meditations which invite the meditator to envision light enveloping oneself and expanding to include the world and the universe, helping to send love into the world and to raise the consciousness of all.

You may or may not be familiar with the seven chakras, which are considered energy centers of the body. They originated from several ancient traditions, and in modern times they are considered by some to represent the body's endocrine glandular system. In this meditation, Michael Lennox speaks of the seven chakras and adds seven more points of energy which extend beyond the body and eventually include the entire universe for a total of 14 chakras. I find his meditation to be helpful, but I know it may not speak to everyone. As I said in my greeting, please take what resonates with you and leave the rest.

Website: www.michaellennox.com

"Just Who Do We Think We Are?"

Shari's website under the "My Two Cents" tab.