In preparation for an upcoming interview about my book, Chasing My Father, I have a list of questions that I’ve been asked, and I’ll be sharing my responses here on my blog.
Question #1. Your book opens at your parents’ gravesite in St. Joseph’s Cemetery in Perry, NY. Do you really believe that you can communicate with the dead?
Yes, I believe that we can communicate with the saints who have gone before us. It’s not as if I can summon up dead people and talk with them anytime I want, but I feel my parents’ presence and hear their voices when I’m standing at their graves. I believe that people who we were very close to when they were alive reach out to us at specific times in our life to help us see God’s kingdom here on earth, and to comfort us when we are going through trials.
There’s a Bob Dylan song, Death is Not the End, and it has these lines:
When you’re sad and when you’re lonely
And you haven’t got a friend
Just remember that death is not the end
Oh, the tree of life is growing,
Where the spirit never dies,
And the bright light of salvation shines
In dark and empty skies.
I believe that death is not the end for us. We know that Jesus Christ has won the victory over death and that gives us hope. The people who have gone before us become a living, “stained-glass window” through whom the light of Christ now shines on us in a variety of shapes and colors.
We have evidence in Matthew 17:1-18 where Moses and Elijah came back from the dead, revealed themselves to Peter, James and John, and talked with Jesus on the Mount. God sends those who have died before us as messengers, so that we might believe.
I hear my parents’ voices when I visit their gravesite. They describe what heaven is like, and how they have been healed. Just as in Revelation 21:4, they tell me that there is no mourning, no crying and no more pain, and all broken relationships are healed in heaven. It’s comforting to know that even if I can’t see them, death was not the end for them.
Recently, a number of books have been written that describe near-death experiences where people have been lifted up to heaven and then come back to tell about it. If we believe these accounts, why wouldn’t we believe that those who are in heaven can come down to visit us occasionally, too?
Blessings,
Agatha
A Note to My Readers: Have you read Chasing My Father? If you have a question, please enter it in the “comments” below. Click on this link for ordering information for the book.
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