I can’t imagine my life without God.  I don’t want to ever feel differently.  Even though terrible things happen, they are the fault of people. Some may say, “How could God let this happen.”  But God can never be responsible for the evil that is perpetrated by people.  It is people that cause these things to happen.  All we can control in this life is our own behavior.  And our behavior can either harm or help any situation in which we may find ourselves.   

If enough people believe in the goodness of humanity, this may not be the ultimate answer to any problem, but it is a step in the right direction.  Striving to be such a person may only be one small action in the scheme of things.  But all any one person can do is control one’s own actions.  And it does make a difference even if we can’t see it.  Believing in the good can never do harm, but may be a catalyst for even great things to happen.

A person does not need to believe in God to be a force for good in this world.  Belief in God is a gift.  It is unlikely that any person would  believe in anything without being exposed to it.  We are all born into different families, with different beliefs or even no beliefs.  That is where our life begins.  What happens after that is usually determined  by our parents and/or other adults that come into our lives.

Belief in God is a gift.  And I believe in the goodness of humanity.  One does not have to believe in God to be a good person. And people can believe in God and still do horrible things.  But as for me, no matter what may happen, I can’t imagine my life without God.

“What happened?” I said to myself.  I clicked on what was supposed to be my blog site, and a message appeared saying: Error 22.  Huh?  So, I proceeded to ask WordPress (what I thought was the host site), what happened by typing out that question, and asking for help.

At first, I thought it was because my credit card had been breached, and they would not have been able to collect the automatic payment.  But then, I should have been notified. And I thought it wasn’t due yet.  Since then, I found that I was right on that count.

Well then, my attempts to find help were only giving me ideas of what could have happened.  It was not helpful at all for various reasons.  Finally, I tried to check out a site that I thought was a long shot.  I found out that the sites were connected and I could actually call and talk to a person for help!  Finally, I felt relieved and was able to talk with someone who was going to work on it for me.  I was told it may be 24-48 hours. Okay.

Well it wasn’t working again, after the 2 days had passed.  I called my daughter who is savvy with computers and very good at solving problems.  She made a call and it was supposed to be back up and running in 24-48 hours.

Well, it came back on and seemed to work for a short while and then it disappeared again.  We are still trying to solve this problem.  I have been so discouraged and she has been at work a lot.  But tomorrow, she will be back at it, with me trying to understand at least some of this.

And so, because I have not written or posted a blog since then, I thought I had better explain what happened to whomever has been kind enough to read them on a regular basis.  They probably think I quit.  And, rightly so.

I hope my blog will be back up and running soon.  Thanks to whomever is reading this.  I appreciate it very much!  I will be writing and only posting on my regular Facebook account until then.  Thanks for reading this!!!

Sincerely,

Lora Marie

A vision is the act of seeing, sight.  But another type of vision can be seen in dreams and even while fully awake.  I can remember so clearly the day I had my first vision after my son Seth died.  I clearly saw my son and my father above in the sky, looking down at me.  They had their arms around each other’s shoulders.  They were standing there with love and compassion for me with expressions on their faces that said to me, “Please don’t be sad.  We are fine.”  In the midst of my grief I felt comfort that helped me through the days of his viewing at the funeral home, at mass and throughout those first days of being without him.

That was only the first vision I had.  There were more of them that first year.  And each one affected me in a different way.  And they were powerful. I know that many people may think that it didn’t happen or that I was making it up.  But that doesn’t even matter.  Each one helped me grieve in a positive way.  They supported me by happening when I least expected it.  And each time, a sense of peace descended on me.  He was fine.  There was and still is a comfort in remembering each one of them.  And I am still so grateful, 25 years later.

Seth and I are still connected in many ways.  And I am so fortunate to still have my daughter and to have 3 grandchildren whom I cherish and love with all my heart.  These are the bonds that sustain us in difficult times.  My husband and I are so grateful to have them live close to us.

It’s interesting that those are the only visions I have ever had.  They only appeared in that first year.  But that’s okay.  They happened when I needed them.  And for that, I will always be grateful.

“Why?” is the favorite question of children, especially when they are very young.  To them, the whole world around them is mostly unknown and they are curious about everything.  And really, that’s the motivation for learning about anything.

As we age the curiosity is still there, but life’s challenges and problems get in the way of learning, just for the pleasure of discovery.  That’s a shame too.  But any of us can decide to run with our curiosity and discover what interests us at any age.  All we need is the desire to do so.

As I was thinking about what to write about, I realized that without curiosity who knows how many of us would even be here?  If people weren’t curious, we most likely would not have learned enough to do what we had to do to stay alive as a species.

That’s not to say that we don’t also learn from random experiences.  Those are the happy surprises that I love to have.  And it also helps if we don’t judge everything before we even experience it.

Of all the interrogatives, “why” and “how” are the ones that express curiosity.  That’s what makes them the ones favored by children.  Children have a natural hunger for learning.  If only we could keep that hunger alive within the daily grind of everyday responsibilities. 

But if we want, we can decide to purposefully learn by exploring the world around us in many different ways.   We have access to all sorts of media to learn from even if we can’t afford to travel.  And it’s always fun to go to a library and just begin to see all the ways of learning available for free.

Each of us must decide how we wish to live our lives.  But learning new things and asking “why” once in a while can make life more interesting for anyone.  And why not?