When spirits return to comfort you

I had a good friend that was also a roomie for several years that passed away. He was incredibly religious, as was I and we both loved to listen to gospel music. The night that he died I had just checked in on him after his release from the hospital and prayed with him, but when I returned to his room about half an hour later he was already "gone".

In sharing our love for gospel music I happened to know that one of his very favorite songs was a song by the Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir. I had this song on a CD that I kept in my own upstairs bedroom.

The day after my friend passed away in my townhome I was feeling very shaken as I had actually had to help to carry his lifeless body down stairs when the local funeral home sent a female with a hearse who couldn't transport the body alone (he passed away at 2:30AM). All of a sudden I could clearly hear HIS FAVORITE SONG coming from my upstairs bedroom.

I went up in shock to see the CD player running. What was even harder to believe is that the song that started ("his song") was NOT the first song on the CD either.

A feeling of fear and near disbelief was quickly replaced by the only logical explanation: "Don" was letting me know that he was at peace at last and was letting me know that the spirit lives on after ones' last breath.

Michael in Corpus Christi, TX

beautiful story....my mom passed in 1982. i was destroyed, lost in
an unbelieveable haze. i awoke one early morning at 3a.m.. lo and
behold my mothere was at the foot of my bed dancing in a circle and
wearing a red dress. she disappeared and an older guy (no colors,
just grey) with a moustache, beard looked at me and said "you go"!!

naturally, i didn't get back to sleep. some years later while looking
at old family photos i saw this old guy i had seen that night. turned
out he was my ggrandfather on my dads side. all in all it took about
10 years for me to "get back to reality" but i credit that incident and
watching the birth of my son as the most pivotal moments in my life.

there is life after death, and they do care about us all.

Well that is an inspiring story. I do not have any personal stories, but i will tell you what my mother told me. This doesn't have to do with death, more about life. When my mother was about 9 she was run over by a car. She was behind someone's car in the drive way, she was lying on her stomach playing with her toys. She was small so the person did not see her. He got in his car, turned it on and ran over my mother. She says when she got ran over, she couldn't feel a thing, and when this happened time moved slo-mo she said. She looked up and saw too guys sitting on a fence, laughing at her. One was smoking a pipe and the other was smoking a Cigar. She said they were dressed like they were mafia, very 1940's kinda look. Now across the road my aunt was there, she turned around and saw my mother get run over, she started running and told the guy to stop. So the guy got out of the car, they both grabbed my mother form under the car, fearing the worst. But my mother could walk and said she was fine. Everyone was so freaked out my mother said. Later that day my mother asked why there two men laughing at her sitting on the fence on the left. My aunt told her there were know people there except for her and her friend. I though it was her Guardian angels. What do you think.

When my sister returned home from work, she discovered her husband dead in the chair, he was 59years old. He suffered from arthritis, other wise he was fine. His death was sudden and unexpected.
My nieces stayed with my sister on the night of her husbands death and at 4:00am the following morning, my brother in-laws alarm clock went off.
No-one had set the alarm. My brother-in-law used to work in the mines and he used to get up at 4:00am, but he had been retired for nine years, due to the arthritis, so there was no need for the alarm to be set at that time. My sister believes he was letting her know that he was still around.

reply to post by ministermike51


Cherish this moment of love from your departed friend, he left you a message to remember him by, in moments like this is when you realized that is more to death after this earthy life.

Very interesting story, ministermike.

I'm not religious AT ALL, but I do believe in life after death. I sense my mother's presence all the time even though she passed in the 70's. During the week after her death, while all the brouhaha over her will and the subsequent spreading of her ashes, her presence was not just felt by me, but her active participation in my decision making as well. She had her hand on my shoulder 'guiding' me during the events as they unfolded.

I DO NOT question the validity of what happened to you. In my experience, it is pretty much expected.

Your departing friend was thanking you and saying goodbye in the best way he could.

I am really not trying to cheapen your loss but there is something that strikes me as very odd about your story here mike. When you discovered that your friend had passed away what exactly did you do? Did you call 911 or anything like that? Because where I live the funeral home would not be the one coming to get the body from your house. It would be the coroners office. They have to take the body from the home and will only release it to a certified funeral home due to laws about burial on private property and what not.

Now as far as the CD player aspect of your story I can tell you that this was not the spirit of your friend. I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this. It truly pains me. The devil will use any road he can to break you down. And while this may seem like an uplifting experience, its not. This is a hazardous one. You say you are of a very deep faith. From yours and his choice of music I am going to go out on a limb and say that you are a christian and from your name I am going to assume that you have some sort of theological training.

At this point your beliefs are shaky and your faith is under fire. Do not fall prey to superstitions and false teachings. What does the bible tell us about this scenario? It tells us that when we die we either go directly to heaven or we are set aside to await final judgment. Not allowed to wander the earth.

I know that if you go back and look at my posts I have not always held such an attitude. But I simply state that those are before my conversion. And to those who will bash me for bringing Christianity into the conversation please remember that the OP brought up the fact that he is deeply religious. I am not going to argue the existence of God or the devil. I am simply stating what the OPs belief system states for his reassurance.

Also ministermike if you would like to u2u me about this I would be more than willing to talk with you there. Unfortunately people of the Christian faith tend to get flamed in the paranormal section when discuss beliefs based on biblical teachings.

[edit on 18-2-2008 by zombiemann]

reply to post by zombiemann


I have lived in a few different states in the US. I think the laws differ in regards to a coroner versus a funeral home being allowed to pick up a body. Unless it was a murder or some other sort of suspicious death, the coroner can sign a death certificate at a funeral home.

While I hope you don't take this as bashing, it seems to me you are all to eager to dismiss a lovely story as something evil. You might be very religious, which is fine, but until you die, and or experience something like this for yourself, you really don't know for sure what happens, do you?

Just because you believe that a person goes straight to heaven, or put in some kind of holding pen until judgement day, doesn't mean everybody else does. I know lot's of religious people that believe in things like this happening. One is my boyfriend, who is Baptist. As a matter of fact, he is going to a Church revival tonight. He's gone the last 2 days, and will go for the rest of the week as it is a week long event. He participates in everything to do with his church, yet also believes in things such as the OP described. So, what fits for you might not be the same for everyone else.

Enthralled fan,

I am basing what I am saying off of biblical teachings. Not what someones boyfriend says. Take a look at 2 Cor 11:14,15. And with that I am bowing out of the public side of the conversation. MinisterMike the PM offer is still open. I am truly sorry for your loss and please do not be hurt if I am unfamiliar with the laws in your area regarding the disposition of the deceased. I am more than willing to talk to you about this in private, but not out here in the open where it is to easy for false teachings to fall into the conversation. I do promise to back everything up with chapter and verse if you do not believe something I say

What do you mean biblical teachings? You do know most of the bible is inaccurate, the papacy has changed it over the years for their own personal gain over the people.

Originally posted by darcon
What do you mean biblical teachings? You do know most of the bible is inaccurate, the papacy has changed it over the years for their own personal gain over the people.

Care to back that up with a little documentation?

Originally posted by zombiemann
Enthralled fan,

I am basing what I am saying off of biblical teachings.

Notice the key word here? If you guessed teachings, that would be correct. You are basing YOUR beliefs off of an extremely edited book. Now if it were true, you would say you are basing it off of fact, which you cannot do.

I do agree that you need to take this to a private conversation, as you are pointing the finger at this being something evil, and taking away the beautiful memory that the OP has of his friend.

Now, if somebody approached you like you did to the OP after one of your friends passed away, wouldn't you think it just a tad innapropriate? How would you like it if somebody tied in the work of the devil with the passing of one of your friends? Think about it!

reply to post by zombiemann


Since you know about the Bible you read, you should know it's history.

The Council of Nicea decided what bits and pieces to put together in the book you like to recommend scripture from.

Originally posted by darcon
What do you mean biblical teachings? You do know most of the bible is inaccurate, the papacy has changed it over the years for their own personal gain over the people.

Originally posted by zombiemann
Care to back that up with a little documentation?

One should always be careful what one asks for in ATS.

I would like to address this issue so that people who discuss this and other paranormal topics don't feel like they have to bow down to twisted dogmatic nonsense in a teaching that is centuries overdue for an extensive overhaul.

Darcon is quite right.

It wasn't just popes but other political and religious leaders who twisted the ideas of the Bible around to suit their less than noble purposes.

One of the best examples of this pertains to the doctrine of reincarnation, which was accepted by most early Christians. It was eventually rejected by church leaders, under pain of incarceration and/or death for those who espoused it thereafter for centuries. That is why it is not taught today in Christian schools and churches.

You want quotes and reference links to back that up?

I will be happy to provide them for you and for all interested.

In the Sixth Century, all of the major passages in the Bible that espoused a belief in reincarnation were ordered by Roman Emperor Justinian to be removed This was followed by a period of censorship and persecution of those who didn't adhere to the laws of the church. There are still hints of reincarnation that have remained in the Bible but any open preaching of reincarnation was condemned by the government, starting under the reign of Emperor Justinian.

The first gospels must have contained teachings which the early Christians were prepared to preserve with their lives. Unfortunately they appear to have died in vain. Our orthodox versions of the Old and New Testaments date no further back than the 6th Century, when the Emperor Justinian summoned the Fifth Ecumenical Congress of Constantinople in 533 A.D. to expunge the Platonically inspired writings of Origen, an early Church Father, who had upheld reincarnation until his death three hundred years before.

Source: How The Early Church Suppressed Paganism and Astrology While Supporting Reincarnation

Reincarnation was a part of early Christianity. Most all Eastern religions believe in reincarnation, and Judaism is an Eastern religion. Christianity, coming from Judaism, also accepted reincarnation as a basic tenet. Until May 5th, 533 AD. The Emperor Justinian I, guided by his wife, called a council of bishops from the Eastern Empire. They gathered in Constantinople along with representatives from Pope Vigilius back in the Western Empire. At the Fifth Ecumenical Council, the Emperor announced he no longer wished to advocate the belief in reincarnation. This may have something to do with the idea that man can be "immortal" through multiple lives. Although this Council was well documented, the reason behind the Emperor's decision was never noted. After a show of hands, the bishops agreed with the Emperor. They found three chapters in the Bible mentioning reincarnation and decided to remove those chapters. The Pope agreed with the Council but did so only because he did not want the Eastern Empire to appear "advanced" to the Western Empire. Bibles were collected throughout the two Christian Empires, they were burned and completely rewritten removing the offending three chapters. As an outsider, I find it interesting that whims of one man can cause the word of God to be completely rewritten.

Source: When I Die Can I Come Back?

There is strong evidence (e.g. Dead Sea Scrolls) that Jesus of Nazareth was a member of the Jewish Essene Sect. It is speculated often that one of the main reasons the Catholic Church has chosen not to release all the Dead Sea Scrolls for public scrutiny is because they contain unequivocal evidence within them that Jesus was a member of the Essene sect and that that sect strongly believed in reincarnation. Reincarnation was a widely held belief amongst many early 'Christians' (as well as some Jewish sects, the Essenes, the Gnostics and some Pharisees) up until AD 553, when the 5th Ecumenical Council of the Catholic Church convened by the Roman Emperor Justinian at Constantinople declared the concept to be "an anathema".

Source: Bible Excerpts In Support Of Esoteric Concepts

At the Fifth Ecumenical Church Council at Constantinople in 553 A.D., under the reign of the Emperor Justinian, several books, including those on reincarnation, were removed from the Bible and many other changes in the text were made. Resisting these distortions, the Coptic Templar Order continued to preserve the pure teachings and records of the life of Jesus through the centuries.

Source: Coptic Fellowship Home Page

There appears to be some question as to the exact year that Emperor Justinian ordered all references to reincarnation to be omitted from the Bible (533 AD or 553 AD). However, all of them state that it occurred in the Sixth Century and during the Fifth Ecumenical Council.

Not until the fourth century, when Christianity evolved from harried bands of secret worshippers to an institution ripe for political manipulation, did opposition develop to reincarnation in Christian theology. The new Christian-State alliance, aiming for the cultivated dependence on the masses, felt threatened by those who believed in rebirth because such Christians tended to be self-reliant, free-thinking individuals whose subservience could not be guaranteed. Neither to be induced by promises of heavenly bliss nor intimidated by threats of hellfire, they were branded as heretics (the word "heretic" means, at root, nothing more pernicious than one who is "able to choose"). Nevertheless, there was no official edict condemning the doctrine of reincarnation across the Roman empire until the year 533 AD, when the Emperor Justinian issued formal ecclesiastical curses against the "monstrous restoration" of rebirth. This censure was followed by persecution to all who refused to surrender their convictions. Resistance, however, was so tenacious - particularly by rebel Christians called the Cathars - that not until the thirteenth century did the church's campaign of terror and slaughter effectively rout reincarnational thinking in the West.

Source: Life Between Life by Joel L. Whitton, M.D., Ph.D. & Joe Fisher, pages 62-63

Here's a page which addresses Emperor Justinian's specific edicts against the doctrine of reincarnation, from: Medieval Sourcebook: Fifth Ecumenical Council: Constantinople II, 553.

I quote:

If anyone asserts the fabulous pre-existence of souls, and shall assert the monstrous restoration which follows from it: let him be anathema.

Whoever says or thinks that human souls pre-existed, i.e., that they had previously been spirits and holy powers, but that, satiated with the vision of God, they had turned to evil, and in this way the divine love in them had died out (apyugeisas) and they had therefore become souls (yukas) and had been condemned to punishment in bodies, shall be anathema.

Reincarnation was part of the belief system of many if not most early Christians. It is not as prevalent today in "official scripture" simply because church leaders over the centuries desired greater control over the Christian population and felt that ending a belief in reincarnation was one of the ways with which to do this.

In short, church corruption is the reason why most Christians today - especially fundamentalist Christians - don't embrace a belief in the doctrine of reincarnation



[edit on 19-2-2008 by Paul_Richard]

There you go zombie, you wanted proof, proof you have. Thanks for backing me up Richard.

i lost my soulmate late last year,even though i still have family around the pain of losing your special one leaves you with a constant pain in your heart that will never go away on the earth ,he knows and is aware how im feeling from the messages that he has sent me,i believe in a couple of things might be coicedence,but not when you get maybe 20 or more just when i need them,sounds of him walking close,his voice,outlines of his body,too many to mention.

Originally posted by zombiemann

Now as far as the CD player aspect of your story I can tell you that this was not the spirit of your friend. The devil will use any road he can to break you down. And while this may seem like an uplifting experience, its not. This is a hazardous one.

[edit on 18-2-2008 by zombiemann]

I believe as well that the Devil CAN, HAS and WILL use any "deception" to further his agenda. Regarding the passing of a loved one, and the "absolute", well who are we to judge ?? As a hopeless romantic, I feel comforted in knowing that from time to time loved ones of mine communicate in within whatever means, way beyond my knowledge. I keep the hope alive that they hear me when I am in prayer as well.

The OP did not mention any sort of direct communication with his friend's departed spirit. I would think an evil spirit would've conveyed some sort of misdirection or ill will towards the OP, having him do something, etc. if you will.

The only thing more dangerous which I DO believe in, is following the practice of the occult. "Summoning of Spirits" etc. which is extremely dangerous. Believing that a loved one can "connect", I do not believe is condemmed within the Bible.