My non-Christian friends thought it hilarious that I of all people had been thrown out of the church and denounced as being responsible for destroying the church and its subsequent closure. They gathered round giggling with delight, and waited for juicy details in response to 'oh my god, what the hell did you do?'. What I'd done was to try and support the pastor when he was going through a bleak time and wanting to quit. I felt the church's attachment to a large and abusive organisation was the Continue Reading

I've been Listening to Dr. Joe Dispenza recently, and his description of what happens to people in his meetings sounds precisely like what I saw happen to others, and experienced myself, in charismatic churches. His explanation, however, is entirely different from the ones given in churches. I've also seen footage of similar events in some Muslim sects - like the shaking, bending backwards, and being knocked to the ground by an invisible force. The more I'm seeing, the more I think that Continue Reading

As a result of asthma, I have felt very close to dying on several occasions in my life, and I have also had many incidents that mirror those of people having near-death experiences. In my case though, I never came close enough to death to have a near-death experience, and when I was having the experiences, I was almost always very much alive. I had the flu when one experience happened, but to the best of my knowledge, I wasn't ill enough for that to have played a part in what happened. On that Continue Reading

Shortly before the stroke that would lead to my mother's death, she told me that my dad had been to visit her. She was adamant it was real, and I didn't want to push the matter, assuming it was vascular dementia at work, even though the rest of her conversation seemed entirely coherent and lucid. I dismissed it because my father had died four years earlier. If I were having that same conversation with her now, I wouldn't be so dismissive, especially since I have heard my mother's voice recently, Continue Reading