The True Salvation of the Soul - Part 1
Sunday, July 7, 2013
DIGNITY! By Francis William Bessler Laramie, Wyoming 7/7/2013 Note: I wrote this first as one essay, but have decided to divide it into two parts: Act 1 and Act 2, as it were. The reason for that is that my life has taught me that as you act dignified, you can handle more dignity than before. It is like learning to walk before you can run - or learning to flop your wings in a nest before you can fly. Some us do not want to learn to fly, though. Some of us are content to just “flop our wings” and never progress to our full potential. There will be some who will not want to read any part of my “dissertation on life” as offered in this piece; but some may want to just review Act 1 and be content to just “flop their wings,” but others might want to do more than that and get more serious and do more than just flop their wings. Keep in mind, it is all Opinion, though. Let me begin with a song I wrote in 1983 I called LIKE A BIRD IN THE HEAVENS. I will offer the refrain and 1st verse in Act 1 and the refrain repeated, then a Bridge, and a 2nd verse in Act 2. Enjoy it - and all of my dissertation on Dignity - as you will. Thanks! Francis William Bessler Act 1: Getting Ready to Fly LIKE A BIRD IN THE HEAVENS By Francis William Bessler 1983 Refrain: Like a bird in the heavens, I am free to be. Like a bird in the heavens, I can fly to thee. Like a bird in the heavens, I’m in love, you see; for love is just being me. Look at the little birds. See how they fall. In seconds, they learn about flight. There’s a lesson so clear; it should bring a tear. Man’s still at war with his fears of the night. My Dad passed quickly from his last known Earthly Experience due to an auto accident on this day in 1966 - at the age of 59. My guess is that his new experience in what might be called the “spirit world” was probably framed within the notion - and spiritual attitude - of dignity. I say that because as I see my Dad, I see him as one who believed first and foremost in the rightful dignity of all. Even if Dad did not go straight on to a world of dignity in the spirit world, I am sure that would have been his destination. I think that if Dad did not experience sudden dignity - or WORTH - when he died, I do believe he would have entered that world very soon - simply because that is what he was about in life. I am currently reading a book by a very highly qualified neurosurgeon by the name of Eben Alexander. His book is called PROOF OF HEAVEN and it shares what Eben thinks are his experiences - not as a doctor - but as a patient - lost in a coma for 6 days, due to a mysterious E. coli bacterial meningitis; and on the 7th day he reentered his body and has fully recovered since then - which was November of 2008. Eben wrote his book in 2012. Not to offer you any details that you should not get yourself by reading his book, but Eben lapsed very suddenly into a coma on a Monday when he was fine on the Sunday before. Let us just say it was quick; and maybe the quickness of it had something to do with his impression of things, but almost immediately within a coma, Eben went through a rather typical “near death” experience. As a “free spirit” no longer attached to his body, Eben first went through a murky atmosphere to eventually burst into a world of complete light. He proceeded to encounter all sort of lovely creatures and spent some significant time with - and among - “spirit people” dressed in various bright colors. One of them told Eben: you are loved and cherished, you have nothing to fear, and there is nothing you can do wrong. What does this have to do with Dad - and Dad’s passing on July 7th, 1966? I think what happened to Eben - though temporarily - happened to Dad as well. I think the only difference is that Eben chose to “come back” into his body as a spirit soul whereas Dad did not come back. For Dad, it was his time to go on and drink deeply of the same “spirit world” that Eben only tasted. Well, that is what I believe. I think, though, the notion that both Dad and Eben shared - a notion and attitude of “dignity” - is what allowed both to experience the light world they did, assuming, of course, that both Dad and Eben did experience light. I do not believe, however, that everyone who falls into a coma or gets killed instantly all end up in a light world. I think it depends upon the soul as to how the soul will experience - either temporary death as did Eben - or permanent death as did Dad. Eben says that before his coma experience he was not even sure there is such a thing as a soul, but because of it, he is convinced that it is true that we all have souls which really represent our true consciousness. He says that souls probably produce consciousness and the brain only “filters that consciousness.” That fits in very well with what I believe; and it is that “separate consciousness” that determines if we will see light or dark when we enter a coma or experience permanent death. The reason for that is that we can only experience “in the spirit,” so to speak that which we really “know as a soul.” But knowledge of the soul is not truth that can be determined as fact - or facts - but truth that is known through attitude. It is attitude that is the true driver of consciousness; but it is consciousness that directs us in what ever life we as souls have. If my consciousness - or in effect, attitude - is one of seeing the world or existence in dark terms, then that is what I will experience as a soul, whether my soul is in a body or out of it. If Eben had been a different person in life and was really a sour doleful person who saw only the dark and never the light in his current incarnation, then he probably would not have experienced the light world he did in his coma. That is only an opinion, however. I can’t prove it one way or the other; but I am sure that Eben will agree that though he may have struggled to find the light in this world, he did find it; and it is that light that he found in this world that drove his experience in a coma - as it was Dad living in the light in his last incarnation that gave definition to his “destination as a disincarnated soul.” This may seem like gibberish to many, but I do not think it is. As I have often declared in other writing, I believe so called Judgment of the Soul to be nothing more than a soul having to continue as it is. If I am a soul who is determined that all is dark and there is no good in the world - for whatever reason - then my “judgment” will be that when I die, I will continue in that “spirit world” of darkness. It really makes sense when you think about it. I can “prove” what I am saying by just looking at everyday life. If I am a depressed soul on Monday, chances are I will continue being a depressed soul on Tuesday - and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday, etc. But if I am an enthusiastic soul on Monday, chances are I will continue being an enthusiastic soul on Tuesday - and Wednesday and Thursday and Friday, etc. By just looking at the “evidence” of everyday life, I can “prove” that my attitude will likely be my judge. Take that to the afterlife - and presto - you have a very good look at the afterlife. That is why I love to hear about the near death experiences of light minded people. To tell you the truth, I have never read about a near death experience of a usually depressed person, but in my admitted limited reading of coma related soul journeys, all have basically told the same story. They start out in some dark tunnel or murky surrounding, but very quickly, they emerge into a complete world of light - and they know that the light they experience in a coma is like Heaven - or some even believe, is Heaven. It is good to know! But the biggest reason it is good to know is that I know that my afterlife is entirely up to me - not up to the judgment of anyone else. I am the one who will determine if my afterlife is one of Heaven - or perhaps Hell. If my life was like Heaven before I died, then it is likely it will continue to be like Heaven when I reach that next stage of things. If my life was like Hell before I died, then it is likely it will continue to be like Hell when I reach that next stage of things. There are so many depressed and sad and lost souls in this world, however, who have no idea that their course as a soul can be so easy. Instead they adopt difficult laws and regulations of others as if those laws and regulations will “save” them. Enter those who use such “light souls” as Jesus - but know neither his light nor his ways. Jesus was - and is, I think, - a Soul of the Light. I think he came to try and teach us that we can be too - but we have to realize we have that wonderful thing called “dignity” to join the “world of the light.” That is all it takes - just dignity, just knowing you have dignity because you have worth as an individual creation of Life & God. If you have that, nothing else matters. If you lack that, nothing else will save you. It is as simple as that; or so, I Believe. In one of my favorite books - THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO THOMAS, Jesus says it this way. If you bring forth that within yourselves, that which you have will save you. If you do not have that within yourselves, that which you do not have within you will kill you. I call it dignity, an awareness of true self-worth - and it is as free as it is astonishing. Know you have worth as an individual simply because you belong to a Worthy Creation. Like Eben, Like Dad, you can live in a world of light and make it your purpose to stay in that light - or you can abandon a world of light and see only darkness and mischievousness and hate. You can strike out at an enemy because you believe that darkness must be obliterated by command - and become one of the darkness yourself - or you can insist that no one will derail you from your way of light - and then wherever you are - you will live in DIGNITY!
Thanks! (FWB)