Miracle-Message of the Balloons
I was watching Justin Wilkerson's Magic for Humans (Netflix) show tonight and he said that he was only worried about death because he didn't know what was on the other side of it. I replied to him, aloud, "We're working on that." I meant that for centuries, nay millennia, occultists and mystics have pondered what is on the other side of death, and there is experiential evidence about the after-death state, presented most tellingly, dramatically, and convincingly in the book Surviving Death by Leslie Kean. It was published just a few years ago and ought to get more publicity and more people ought to read it.
My most recent confrontation of death was on April 5 this year when my cousin Sally passed from this world. She was a wonderful childhood friend. She had been hospitalized for weeks and I had been in touch with her husband, daughter and sister, and had been praying intensively for her. I hope that our collective prayers helped her and I believe they did, but it seemed to be the time for her to pass to another life, though during the time of prayer I vehemently believed that she could recover. That is one of the secrets of prayer, as taught openly by Jesus Christ: One has to believe that one's prayer will be answered. If it is not answered in the way one ideally hopes, then that is God's will, but when one prays one should hold out for the result desired. I desired Sally to be completely cured of the illnesses with which she was suffering, and affirmed that that was happening. (If you know the Gospels you know that this is what Jesus recommended.)
It did not work out that way. I do not blame the Supreme Lord. I believe and have believed since childhood that people do not die. There is a continuing life beyond this one. Various occultists have set forth what that is in varying ways, though there is general agreement about much, which could be set forth in another book, which I or someone could write if willing to do the research. Meanwhile Leslie Kean has given a great deal of evidence plus many thoughts about what it all might mean. Though that is not sufficient, it is solidly based, with ten chapters of her book written by experts who have thoroughly investigated the facts. Surviving Death is a book which ought to be read by many more or by anyone who cares about the topic. It is a major stepping stone toward whatever we may learn in the future.
In addition to the chapters written by experts, there are some of Leslie Kean's own experiences. Major ones happened after the death of her younger brother. She very much wanted to be in touch with him and assured that he was alive. As many do, she went to mediums, but selected them very carefully in accord with her well-honed journalistic skepticism. She is a fine investigator. On page 233 of her book she says, "Laura [the medium] said that my brother was handing me a red balloon. We then agreed (all 'three' of us) that a red balloon would be a concrete sign to be delivered by my brother from then on as a way for him to show his presence to me [along with the continuing electrical effects such as lights going on and off, which are described in the book]. Laura told me that I would see real red balloons within the next few days. I found that hard to believe . . ." Two weeks later, one evening, Leslie lit a candle for her brother Garry and asked him to do something physical as a sign of his presence. Nothing happened that night. The next morning, she "could not believe what I saw. In the tree outside my third-story New York City window stuck in the branches, were three red balloons and one black one, together in a bunch. I had never seen a balloon in that tree before, nor have I since. What are the chances of red balloons getting caught in the branches of the tree opposite my window at the same time that I asked for a communication--something physical--having established that this was our specific sign?" Leslie later received further evidences of her brother's survival and presence, which I shall not report here.
I had been praying during March for my hospitalized cousin Sally, while in touch with her relatives, also praying for her. It became a constant procedure While I did not cease from my other regular work, I would, almost every hour, when changing my focus from one thing to another, think of Sally and repeat a prayer or affirmation. I believe this established a connection between us at some level. I could almost see her smiling, gracious face as it was when I was a teenager and she a little younger. I called her older sister Kay and we discussed the situation and prayed together. Kay then went with her own daughter to see Sally on Monday April 5. Soon after that, in the afternoon, Sally passed from this world, as if she had been waiting to see her sister and niece.
On the early morning of Monday April 5 I noticed, out of my living-room window, something new across the way. I am on the third floor and the neighboring building has an apartment on the ground floor. The window was open, which is unusual, and I noticed a young woman moving around inside. A new neighbor! I continued reading the Bible and my other spiritual books as I do every morning. Then I noticed motion out there, and suddenly through the open window there appeared a colorful balloon attached to a string, fluttering outside in the breeze. It was multi-colored, with bright red as one of the most noticeable hues. I found this fascinating. Nothing like it had ever before been visible from my window.
Then around two in the afternoon I got a telephone call from Kay telling me that Sally had passed from this world. I looked out the window again, and sure enough, the red-plus-other-colors balloon was still floating in the breeze attached to its string.
The day after that, Tuesday, the balloon was no longer to be seen. It has not been there ever since, a whole month as I write. It was a one-day-only balloon displayed by a new neighbor outside my apartment on the very day my cousin Sally passed from this world. And I had read Leslie Kean's account of the signal of a 'red balloon' as the signal agreed upon by her and her brother to show that he remained alive and conscious. Icing on the cake: She saw the balloons from a third-floor apartment, and mine is also on the third floor.
I shall not try to explain this. It may be beyond human explanation. I am basically a religious being who believes the Deity is behind and aware of all things, so my basic interpretation is, "God in his mercy gave me this sign, knowing that I had read Leslie Kean's account, to show me that my prayers for my dear cousin Sally had not been in vain. She was still alive."
Did Sally herself have anything to do with this, or know it was going on? I do not know. I have not been conscious of any interaction with her since her passing, but I believe that such communication can happen at unconscious levels and happens more often than we realize. As for the neighbor who displayed the balloon in such a miraculously timely manner, I have not met her.
To God the glory! And thank you Leslie Kean, and brother Garry, for "setting me up" to receive this wonderfully assuring sign, gracious intimation, of my cousin's immortality.
Hugh / Cosmic Piper
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