Autumnal Reflections

 

(Photo by Richard Ricciardi)

Leaves are often bursting with beauty just before they fall.  Humans also experience bouts of beauty before they finally detach from life in this world.

Contrary to popular opinion, dying is not just a fearful affair. According to Dr. Christopher Kerr, a decades-long hospice physician, this final phase can provide a “unique vantage point” that “changes one’s perspective and perception.”

In his study of “more than 1,500 end-of-life events,” Kerr found that “most dying patients” experience intense visions and/or dreams that provide transformational closure.  These experiences are marked with clarity, rather than with the confusion that often accompanies medication-induced states.

Although sometimes wracked with cycles of guilt and remorse, such processes allow for the release of unresolved relationship traumas, which often results in loving feelings of peaceful completion. 

Resources

End-of-life doctor reveals what people say right before death

Religion Gone Mad

People's Crusade of 1096
(Public Domain)

People who say, “You can’t live with it,” often forget to add “but you can’t live without it.”  This can be true for many of life’s essentials: water can flood homes as well as quench thirst, air can hurl trees as well as fill lungs, and religion can help to sin as well as help to save.

The kind of religion that helps to sin is the kind that falls very far from its holy roots.  It’s the kind that human history has borne way too often.  It’s the kind that has fostered the Salem Witch Trials, the (so-called) Holy Crusades, the Branch Davidian Disaster, the Thirty Years War, the Mass Deaths of Jonestown, and many other such tragic events.

Yet the misuse of religion does not mean that religion itself is no good.  Much like water and air, religion can be essentially life affirming when not tainted by humans gone mad.

Resources

https://www.msn.com/en-us/video/peopleandplaces/10-worst-things-religions-have-ever-done/vi-AA1FKd6K?ocid=winp2fptaskbar&cvid=8853bb290dca43bfb6619593424fe482&ei=31

  

Funeral Surprise

 

(Photo by Airwolfhound)

Imagine attending a dear one’s funeral.  As the outdoor ceremony proceeds, you can’t help but notice a commotion overhead.  Hoping to catch a glimpse of his ascending soul, you glance skyward.  Instead you’re showered with rose petals and US currency.

Come to find out that this was your friend’s final request.  Having been a successful businessman, he wanted to share “5,000 in cash” with the help of a handy helicopter.  His funeral attendees were invited to partake of this free-floating bounty.

All this occurred within a busy section of East Detroit.  Yet iHeartRadio was happy to report, “Despite the potential for chaos, the crowd remained calm and respectful.  All’s well that ends well!

Resources

https://www.iheart.com/content/2025-07-10-dead-mans-life-savings-dropped-out-of-helicopter-fulfilling-his-dying-wish/?mid=1513639&rid=98364581&sc=email&pname=newsletter&cid=NATIONAL&keyid=National%20iHeart%20Daily%20NewsTalk&campid=headline7

Confession: Accountability or Forgiveness?

(Public Domain)

Many organizations uphold the power of confession, including grade schools and Alcoholics Anonymous.  That is why there are lunchroom monitors and Fifth-Step partners. If you always dance as though no one were watching, you may eventually trip over your own two tootsies.

Yet when it comes to spiritual absolution, there are some stark differences among religious perspectives. Catholics, for example, believe that “confessing sins to a priest is a sacrament” because “priests have been given authority by Christ to forgive sins.”  Protestants instead attest to “the priesthood of all believers,” and state that confession among believers yields accountability rather than true forgiveness.  That is why Protestants confess directly to God, rather than to priests and/or saints.

Nevertheless, human-to-human accountability can go a long way toward keeping destructive behaviors in check.  Coupling this with confessional prayer can be a source of incredible strength. 

Resources

https://mikesignorelli.com/the-7-key-differences-between-catholicism-and-protestant-christianity/?gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22485390191&gbraid=0AAAAAoWiDOzc4XgUJqw2x4SW-7Pao9bKU&gclid=CjwKCAjw4efDBhATEiwAaDBpbh7_yBJOy6eCy5JkQKddMoAzhKQ31mjVUTe3KdOxApQzEAOyFshu9xoCciEQAvD_BwE

Chasing Heaven

(US Naval Academy, 1890s)

Although there might be more than one way to skin a cat, the pathway to Heaven remains decidedly straight and narrow.

Nevertheless, humans have tried to find upsy-daisy shortcuts throughout the ages.  One such contrivance has been the sport of extreme pole-vaulting.  Not content with simply bouncing about from one ground-zero to another, the Dutch have been leaping skyward for centuries.

They don’t let a little thing like a canal get in the way.  This potential deterrent simply adds to the thrill of defying earthbound forces.  After soaring to “the height of a four-story building,” it’s then time to hope for a smooth landing.  If all goes well, you walk away unscathed.  If all does not, you either walk away wet or not at all.   

Resources

https://news.yahoo.com/news/sports/article/dutch-canal-leaping-pole-vaulters-053959922.html       

Learn Your Urn

An 1889 word to the wise...

Today’s thrift shops have become a counterpart io yesterday’s Macy’s or Gimbel’s.   Just as those two giants did not habitually share information, neither do average folks while dropping their household dispensables into anonymous bins.

All well and good until one such donation happens to contain a sprinkling of human remains.  This occurred at a Goodwill shop in Vancouver, Washington.  When said urn with its unusual contents was discovered by a curious employee, the local police were alerted.  Attempts at locating its past owner appear to be met with dead silence.

As if that weren’t enough, another thrift store wound up with a locket containing – you guessed it – more of same.  These heart-shaped cremains indefinitely hung above the unwitting buyer’s sink, who referred to them as her “spooky little friend.” 

Resources

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/reminder-check-urns-cremated-remains-donating-resale-shops-201426653.html

What we think we know

 

Fruit Bat
(Photo by Lietuvos zoologijos)

We not only think we know what we think we know, but we also continue to pass it on for decades.

Take “blind as a bat” for instance.  Are bats really blind, or is that just something optometrists use for effect?  It turns out that some bats are more or less blind, whereas others are less so than more so.  Fruit bats are said to “have huge adorable eyes that work very well. “

And how about those buckled top hats that “Pilgrims” wear within many a school play, along with all-black outfits?  Did European denizens of the “new world” really sport such garb while chasing down summertime deer?  Or did they instead don multi-colored linen shirts and shifts?

So is the Great Wall of China really visible from space?  It might just depend upon how well “visible” and “space” are defined.  “NASA has gone on record saying it’s not visible from the moon and barely visible from low-earth orbit.”  This popular trope is likely just a PR stunt to promote human dominance over all else…

Resources

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/15-myths-american-schools-still-teach-that-are-totally-false/ss-AA1Fh2dq?ocid=winp2fptaskbarhover&cvid=d47dd4aaf03c48beb5844410eeec57af&ei=38#image=15.