Friday, January 06, 2006

8 Reasons Why I Believe in Ghosts

I believe that when we die we go to Heaven or Hell. I also believe in ghosts. Perhaps Hell is not a physical place but a simple separation from God and the ones we love, wherever that may be geographically and dimensionally, those there doomed to an eternity of desperation for acknowledgment.

Here are 8 reasons why I believe in ghosts.

  • When I was very little I shared a room with my brother. I have distinct memories of seeing a woman in a white dress come in our room and sit on the edge of his bed for a few moments and then leave. She never seemed to notice that I was there - she was only concerned with my brother. Many years later my brother told us all that he used to have dreams about a woman in a white dress coming into the bedroom, sitting on the bed and doing something nurturing such as smooth his covers with her hands or stroke his forehead before getting up and leaving. When I told him I remembered her too, he looked a little paler. He dismissed it by saying it must have been Mom. But I remember her. She didn't look like Mom.
  • When I moved to my own room, I would sometimes wake up at night hearing a gentle but insistent tapping outside and underneath my window, as if someone were trying to get my attention. I never looked outside as I was afraid of what I might see (I had a wild imagination as a child and often scared myself with it). I told my folks and they assured me I must have imagined it. Later, as we discussed things as adults, my Dad told me he'd hear those taps as well. My room was located on the inside of an "L" in the floorplan of the house. He'd look out the window of the adjacent wing of the "L" when he'd hear them. No one was there.
  • Several times there would be a noise at the front of the house which sounded as if a child were running along a picket fence, holding a stick against it. It would travel from one end of the front to the other. We would look outside as it happened. There was nothing there.
  • My family had a border collie as I was growing up. He was the most loving, gentle, unthreatening animal I have ever known. One evening as we all watched television, the dog startled. He got up and moved in a slow, protective stance toward the front of the room. He looked down the hallway with great intent. His hackles raised and he emitted a low, guttural growl as we'd never heard from him. He held this position and body language for a good minute, and then relaxed. He turned around, tail wagging as if to say, "Okay, we're all safe now!" The light was on. Whatever he saw, we did not.
  • When I was a teenager, I was home alone one afternoon and was doing something in the kitchen. The basement steps came up into the kitchen and the door was slightly ajar. As I was doing whatever it was I was doing, I noticed what sounded like faint shuffling in the basement. I froze and listened. The shuffling became light footsteps ascending the stairs. As the footsteps reached the top of the stairs, the door gently opened as if someone were walking through. Yet I was still alone.
  • When I was in college I lived in a duplex with 2 other fellow students. My bedroom was upstairs at the end of the hallway, by the bathroom. One night I was up late reading in bed, and was in the house alone as my roommates were both out. The sound of footsteps coming down the hall towards my room caught my attention. I figured one of my roommates must have come home and I hadn't noticed. I looked at the door as the footsteps approached and stopped in front of my doorway. No one was there. I wondered if I was simply hearing traffic through the floor from next door but the other side of the duplex had been empty for a few months and I doubt if the landlord was showing it to someone at 2 in the morning.
  • In this same house about a year later, I was watching TV with my boyfriend. He had his arm draped over me and it lay casually next to mine, spoon style. I was distracted by what felt like a feather being run across the top of my forearm. I glanced down, moving only my eyes, and saw nothing. I casually blew it off to imagination, and then my boyfriend said, "Did you feel that?" No more than a beat later, footsteps with no visible owner gently passed between us and the television.
  • My husband’s and my first home had a lovely finished basement – beautiful plush carpet, tongue-and-groove honey wood walls, entire space open. We spent a lot of time down there, entertaining as well as just hanging out – it was our main living area. We would often get up in the morning to find the overhead lights on downstairs. My husband accused me of not turning the lights off when we came up the previous night, even if he was the last one to come up. I accused him of sleepwalking. It was amusing at first but it went on and became a little annoying. Sometimes we’d even notice them on when we’d swore we turned them off earlier in the same evening. One night we were downstairs watching television. Out of nowhere, the overhead lights came on. The switches were on the other side of the basement. We were alone and all the doors and windows were locked. Incidentally, it never happened again after that.

17 comments:

Nelly said...

I'm totally freaked out after reading this post. You definitely have some spirits around you. You should go to a Montel show when Sylvia Brown is on!!! She would probably tell you some pretty interesting stuff.

Lori Stewart Weidert said...

When I first moved into my house, the furnace and A/C would turn themselves on intermittently, I would come home to find the house cooled to low 50s or steaming at 94. I would find the water in one of the bathrooms running full blast, and finally one evening, while I was standing alone in the kitchen, just thinking, an envelope just slid across the entire length of the counter. All the windows shut, no breeze, no fans...it didn't flip and flop and fly over, it was as if someone pushed it.

My son freaked out so much he slept at friends' houses for the next 3 nights.

Kinda cool, I'd like to see more.

Michelle said...

Okay, I'm sufficiently freaked out now. ;)

I had some experiences as a teenager but I've since debunked them, so I won't mention them.

I'm wondering though, what triggered this topic.

Anonymous said...

:D

Oooh, you and I need to discuss our interests in this particular subject.

Of course, you know that my grandfather passed last week - well, on my first day back to work after that, I was showering in my bathroom. I had shut the door so the dog and cat couldn't disturb me (the cat likes to drink from the faucet in there). I was wrapping up my shower when I heard the toilet flush. I figured my sweetie must have come in and used it, but while I was drying off (and the bowl was filling back up), I hollered to him to see if he had come in. He was in the other side of the house!! He accused the cat, even though she was laying outside the door at the threshhold when I opened it, waiting to get in.

I have others to share sometime.

Bill said...

The Bible talks about this stuff. I would not call them ghosts per se; they are one of two things. They are either angels or fallen angels (demons). Don't freak out....let me explain. We know that God is love and that love casts out all fear. If these ghosts bring fear then they cannot be of God and we have to conclude that they are fallen angels. If they cause you to focus on the Lord then they could possibly be angels. There are examples all throughout the word of God of things like this. There is the time when Elijah and his servant were surrounded by an army and Elijah prayed that God would open up the eyes of his servant to see all the angels and God did. There were thousands of angels there.

There is the time when King Saul went to a witch of some sort and had Samuel the prophet come back from the dead to speak to him. Most scholars believe that it was a demon coming in the form of Samuel.

There are examples after examples in the Word of God. In the book of Acts there were two non Christians casting out demons in the name of Jesus who Paul preaches. The demons said, “Jesus we know and Paul we know, but who are you?” Those same demons then proceeded to beat up and strip the men of their clothing so that they fled for their lives naked.

We also know that as a believer “demons” cannot hurt us. We have power over them and ultimately will sit over them as their judges on the Day of Judgment. We as believers have the Spirit of God himself inside of us and need not be afraid of these fallen angels. They do bring fear, but like I mentioned in the beginning of this post, “Perfect love cast out all fear”. God will remove the fear.

I too have personally come into contact with demons in my life…and at times it was scary. But every single time, the Lord has delivered me from the fear and I grew deeper in my faith as I have seen this stuff not only in the Word of God but in my experiences as well. So don’t be afraid…..and always subject every experience to the Word of God. Does that make sense?

One third of heaven fell with Satan. That is a lot of fallen angels. I believe that it could easily be a million times more than the 6 billion people that are on earth today. But two thirds did not fall so the ratio it pretty good.

I believe that fallen angels are everywhere; we just don’t see them or feel them most of the time. And in those times that we do see or feel them, I believe we do for a reason. And that reason is to pray. I have seen demons walk through my hallway at my old house and walk into my kids room while they were sleeping. I saw it, my wife saw it and even my sister saw it. This was almost a nightly practice. Did I freak out? At fist yes…..but then the Lord showed me something. Those demons were doing that even when I didn’t see them….and the Lord allowed me to see them so that I could pray for my kids and ask the Lord to remove them. And you know what? The Lord did remove the demons, I prayed for my kids when I would normally be watching TV and end the end the Lord brought me closer to him and closer to my kids as I was able to pray for them and defeat the enemy of my soul in the spiritual realm. I am thankful that I was able to see them. So don’t be afraid….just pray whenever you come across them in the future.

clew said...

WOW Bill, thanks for the above post!!!

Just wanted to clarify that with the exception of when I was little and the rapping kind of spooked me out, I have never been afraid of these things. I just accept them as part of the fascinating world we live in. :)

I was raised in a Christian home and am familiar with all you speak of here. I don't claim to know where these particular beings' loyalties lie, so I simply use the term "ghost" as an easy catch-all for the sake of storytelling. Simultaneously, my folks raised us with the philosophy of having an open mind towards things - just because we dont understand the origins of a phenomena doesnt mean there's anything to fear.

Being washed in the blood has its protective advantages. :)

Cheryl said...

Creepy... I've experienced many of these things also. I was raised in a house that is in complete agreement with Bill's theory, and I do think that some of the "ghost" experiences I've had were "demon" experiences. However, I also believe that there is some evidence in the Bible that some souls may be in a sort of limbo for a while--ie. Re. 20:13 There's a Biblical interpretation that death and Hades may not be the same as Hell. I kind of tend to go with that, but it's all quite confusing. Whatever the case, there is certainly a spiritual dimension out there that I know I can't explain away. And I agree with your washed in the blood assessment!

Bill said...

Wow Cheryl, I never looked at Rev. 20:13 that way. It is a very interesting scripture to ponder in that context. Thank you for the thought provoking reply. I am not dogmatic on things that I have very little insight on. I am open minded and appreciate your thoughts as they make me think about this even further.

I would add a few things though. We know that Revelation 20 is still yet future and has not happened yet. And there is one story in the gospels that is not a parable that talks about people after they die. It is the story of the rich man named Lazarus in Luke 16:19-31. And in there the rich man begged Abraham to let Lazarus into Hades so that he could give the rich man some water on his tongue....and Abraham replied in verse 26, "And besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, so that those who want to pass from here to you cannot, nor can those from there pass to us."

And then the rich man begged Abraham to send Lazarus to his family and according to the context of the rest of the story, it is impossible for a man once he is dead to do so; unless he is risen from the dead and brought back to life and is in his original body like the other Lazarus and the few others that were raised from the dead by Jesus and Paul etc. Whatever the outcome, this is definitely and interesting topic and I do not have all the answers at all. I am intrigued like the rest of you and open to any sort conclusion as long as it is subjected to God's eternal and never changing word. Again, thank you for the incredible thought provoking insight.

Clew, you are sweet. I am glad that we came across each others blogs. Thank you for being real and honest. I think that is what is so cool about you. You blog what you have experienced (as do I) and you are real about it. Thank you.

Pirate said...

spine chilling when i read these. I believe there are ghosts as well.

Hamartia MacGuffin said...

Some people are just magnets for this type of energy, and Clew, you appear to be one of them. I have several such stories myself, dating back to my earliest memories.

Only one of my experiences was ever negative:
I was about 13 or 14, and home alone after school. I was sitting in the living room, doing math homework, comfortable as you please. With no explaination, I was suddenly nauseous and dizzy and felt the most horrible feeling of dread. Completely painc-stricken, totally engulfed in terror - and for no discernable reason. I was suddenly gripped with an overwhelming dire urge to get the hell out of that house as quickly as possible.

I jumped up and ran to the front door, but the lock was jammed, and the door wouldn't open. I ran to the back door, out into the garage, where I hit the garage door button and ran to it, sliding underneath Indiana Jones-style in my desperation to get out. The moment I was in the driveway, the dizzyness, nausea, and panic instantly went away.

I stayed outside until my parents came home, about an hour later. My dad went to check the front door, which he found unlocked and slightly ajar.

This "panic attack" had never happened before, and has never happened since.

Rebecca said...

I absolutely believe in ghosts, I always have - I always will. I've had many experiences similar to yours, and maybe I'll post about them some day.

My son, to this day - talks about "an angel" he saw in his room when he was a baby. He told me about it a year and a half ago - and he told me that it was when he was too little to talk, and told me how I came into is room because he was crying, and I thought his mouth hurt so I gave him medicine. His story has never changed, and he brings it up at the most random times. I also believe that when we're younger, we're more susceptible to seeing things from other dimensions, because our minds are open, allowing clarity of vision on all levels. Or maybe some just have a gift.

Either way - I do believe, and I'm comforted by knowing that there are others from before us lingering. It's not a scary thought for me...and besides, we're all just energy anyway. It sort of makes sense that energy would linger, doesn't it? :)

PS: I didnt think you deleted comments, I just thought Blogger was acting up! :) Hugs!!!

Anonymous said...

i agree with cat, some people just have a 6th sense about spirits. thats what i refer to them as is 'spirits" and i believe that they exist. I believe in the bible, and they existed in the bible, so why wouldn't they exist now? there is nothing in the bible that says they aren't around anymore, or won't BE around anymore. I've also heard some people who had bad experiences, demon things, i've never had either. i'm not one of the people who can sense these things. i'm not sad about that. it's okay with me. but i admire you for resting on your faith, and not being afraid of these things. also i admire you for sharing this, it takes courage, because a lot of people could accuse you of being nutty, and they didn't, everyone here is very supportive.

Bougie Black Boy said...

okay. now i have the guts to write mine that i've been hesitant on doing.... i'll definitely refer to this particular posting once I do... this is one of your best. . .

Some Random Girl said...

I hear noises and smell smells in my house. Things move or disappear that we know we left in a certain spot. Sometimes locks are unlocked and I see shadows or a form out of my peripheral vision. I think I am the only one in the house tuned into this because this is not my first experience with some sort of supernatural "feeling".....

It's hard not to be scared. I whisper it to my husband when someothing weird happens...I wonder if he thinks I'm crazy?

Josie said...

Hi I'm 12 and live in London :). When I was in Bali one year (when I was about 9) I was waiting to go on a water slide, there were lots of winding steps going up to the water slide but it was all outdoors. I was staying in a resort on a mountain next to a supposedly 'haunted' temple. I didn't want to believe it because I always freaked myself out. You guys will think I'm crazy, but I remember what I saw so well. It was so vivid and I feel like I saw it yesterday. It happened in broad day light and as I was waiting for my dad to go down the slide with me (as he was putting on sun screen) I glanced up the stairs. (This will sound like I made it up) standing there was a man dressed completely in white. White robe, he had completely straight white hair. His face looked like he had put white powder all over it. He was tall (this will sound stupid) he was holding a lamp! You don't have to believe me since I'm a kid, but I know what I saw, and I think I should have the opportunity to be believed too. I don't know what it was, but when I glanced back to my dad and looked back, it was GONE! The reason why I am looking at this site is because I'm doing an essay in English. All of your posts are really interesting :) Thanks!

Anonymous said...

i have had a similar experience with a woman sitting at the edge of me and my sisters bed when i was young. she also seemed to disregard the fact that i was there and just watched my sister sleep. my sister would always tell us about the woman she could see in that house that was the only time i ever saw her.

Anonymous said...

i have had many occurences in my life and recently had a big spiritual struggle that i believe to have been demonic. but as for ghosts or spirits i have recently started wondering the same thing you have stated here about "hell" it might would explain the ghost thing a bit i think. of course i am not going to be so proud to say i am sure about that.