Monday, February 28, 2011

The Dreams and Destiny of Believers

I believe in the existence of angels, spirits and God's use of visions and voices coming in dreams. This is the destiny of any person who believes that God is the giver of our destiny at birth. God uses our dreams as a platform for answering our prayers that's if we choose to listen to his commands. These are special gifts given from Him. Angels and spirits shape our destiny. Through them we can recall what is said in our dreams. Any religious person who believes in God or Jesus Christ must believe that our prayer concerns can be answered thru dreams.

Whether angels or spirits are real depends on what we believe as individuals. They can be real or imaginary, but how the visions and voices appears determines our destiny in life. Some angels and spirits are good, but some leaves us with bad vibes (ghosts), that are both good and evil, too. Bad vibes are the least personally shared with others for as humans we are afraid of what other Christians or friends might view as devil thinking. Bad spirits can awaken our curiosity, but a few people go off the deep end and use what we say for ghost entertainment to shock an awe paranormal activity.

Personally I'm not afraid of ghost or witches for God stands beside me or with me, but some people are superstitious and don't even want to meet a ghost, witch let alone a spirit. How about the Holy Spirit?

If I remember my Bible teachings I think it was JOB who had a nerve-wracking visit by a spirit or Holy Ghost and his description of it might shake up anyone when he said, 'Fear came upon me, and trembling, which made all my bones shake. Then a spirit passed before my face; the hair of my flesh stood up.' Paul later called Saul in ACTS 9:3 said, "A brilliant light from heaven spotted down upon me surrounding my every being and I heard a voice" saying "Paul, Paul! Why are you persecuting me?"

Paul couldn't believe it might be Jesus as he weakly asked, "Who is speaking, Sir?" The voice replied back, "I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting!" The men with Paul stood speechless with surprise for they heard the sound of someone's voice, but saw no one! Paul stood up and to his surprise he was blind from the intense light and the spirit told him to have his men take him to Damascus and stay at Judas' house and wait praying for Jesus had given Paul a vision of Ananias laying hands upon him to return his sight. The "Holy Spirit of the Lord who appeared on the road has sent me to fill you with the Holy Spirit and return they sight."

Paul [Saul] was on fire after that miracle for the Lord's kingdom. He couldn't wait to tell anyone the good news. Job was surprised unwittingly by the Holy Spirit' visit. Other Biblical references to ghosts include the witch of Endor who conjured up the spirit of Samuel who warned King Saul of the Philistines defeat. Brutus was haunted by the ghost of Caesar whose assassination he plotted. Sitting in his tent alone Brutus was confronted by another a spirit of 'horrifying' dimensions with a 'pale, emaciated face' that announced 'I am your evil spirit.' It said, 'You will see me again at Philippi' and it did the night before Brutus was slain on the battlefield at Philippi. The Bible is no stranger to ghost sightings - visual or voices.

Ghosts, those spirit beings of the dead continually rise to haunt the living and even today they have fascinated those of the world who try to understand them. Ghost hunters try to capture the apparitions on infrared film or with EMF equipment (electromagnetic field) meters. Sometimes the voices of spirits can be heard as they roam around us. Those who study such paranormal activity believe that certain events or people from past civilizations leave an imprint of themselves based upon strong emotions left behind or violence [an echo from the past] from murders, killings and misery that can last for centuries. Some theorize that the whole of the past is somewhere recorded in space time as though imprinted on film. It's sort of like a momentary time-warp giving us a quick glimpse of the past in rerun form.

In Brutus' encounter with the evil ghost it brought him a dire warning. That ghost was his harbinger of doom, but not all warnings conveyed by ghosts or apparitions bring harm. Listening to the voices or visions can save lives, too, and I've been visited in my dreams with voices telling me to heed the warnings. I've only heard voices and I obeyed the command, but many of my friends have not feared the dire warnings coming in their dreams, too. Ghosts appear before anyone and warn us of impending disaster or relief from a disaster, but it is how we interpret what is revealed in our dreams that determines if we survive or die. Ghost ships have been seen sailing out of fog banks and many ghosts have been seen and heard in castles, houses, ships and old mansions.

King Henry VIII had six wives, but Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard were beheaded, and both of their ghosts haunt the Chapel Royal to this day. Anne Boleyn, Henry's second wife wanders the corridors as a miserable soul in her blue dress. Catherine Howard, who had an adulterous affair, his fifth wife is the palace's noisiest ghost. She has been seen and heard numerous times running and screaming along the long gallery hallway leading to the Chapel Royal door in an attempt to save herself from King Henry's wrath.

Jane Seymour, his third wife died giving birth to Henry's first son, well she has appeared from the Queen's apartment dressed in white carrying a lighted candle as she walks along the Silver Stick Gallery and down the stairs. The baby prince was cared for by Mistress Sibell Penn, his nurse and she appears as a thin, hooded figure in a grey robe that is occasionally seen walking thru walls. Elizabeth I has been seen in the library and King Charles I (beheaded in 1649) too in the Library. King Henry VIII, the master facilitator of all the Chapel Royal ghosts, well his own ghost was seen in 1977 walking the battlements and disappearing into the wall. King Henry's realm was ruled by violence and misery.

Many people today are superstitious when it comes to ghost sightings. Either believe or disbelieve, but ghosts do and will appear from time to time. Some people say my halo flickers from time to time and I'm not dead yet. I'm not quite an angel, but for all intense purposes I'm neither the devil, too. I love to flirt and tease. I put humor in life to make others smile.
I do believe that angels and spirits can talk and watch over us, but other than that they do not have the power to physically intervene in our lives, but I believe they can and do affect outcomes by how we interpret our dreams. We change our destiny seen and heard. The outcomes in our lives are dependent on whether we turn our dreams into reality or pre-destination. We seemingly arrive in time with a God inspired appointment with destiny.

The next several blogs will deal with dreams and destinies of several individuals in my life. You might be surprised at what you'll learn from examples of dream destinies.

Friday, February 25, 2011

Butterflies Are Blooming

Spring will arrive in the northern states of America soon. Winter can't last forever and we are far enough into the new calendar year 2011 so that on the coldest days we can feel the sun's warmth and see the snow melt. I'm ready how about you?

If it's spring weather you like when flowers abound and you can feel genuine early season warmth visit Frederik Meijer Gardens and Sculpture Park in Grand Rapids, Michigan from March thru April. Butterflies emerge from Chrysalids and Atlas and African moon moths from cocoons. A thousand are shipped from Costa Rica, Africa and South America to FMG weekly. Night of the butterflies makes its appearance this Spring, too, with three nights of searching for them with flashlights. All are spectacular creatures to bring back those youthful remembrance days of chasing butterflies with nets or studying moths. The moths with their green, purple and yellow tails are stunning.

Remember chasing butterflies? I always marveled how they always escaped. You'd think they had eyes in the backs of their heads. They do! Human moms have those same eyes - they know when their children are misbehaving!

Butterflies have circle vision. When chased with nets they see our every movement and dodge us. Butterflies have upwards of ten thousand compound eyes in each eye and the only place they can't see is right under their nose just as humans can't do it without moving their lips. Stop that! You don't want your cross-eyes to lock in that position studying the tip of your nose.

The butterflies in the Lena Meijer Conservatory are wild, not tame. If they choose to land on you it is a gift visit, the bright colors of clothing or they adore your fragrance. Overpowering fragrances they do not like. They taste you with their feet and butterflies do not bite, but they do tickle human skin hair.

If a gorgeous Postman butterfly does land on you don't touch, because the wing scales rub off on damp fingertips. Touching the butterflies is a no-no. You must stroke their beauty with your eyes only and not touch. Butterflies and body parts are very fragile and do not respond well to touching by children or adults so, too, you must watch where you walk since they like to land on well traveled cobblestone pathways in the conservatory.

If you see one of the few frogs; terrestrial or tree frogs eat a butterfly, well 'that's life'. Every living creature on earth must eat to survive and in the warm tropical conservatory the frogs and chameleons will eat 3-4 small butterflies in a single afternoon. Many a person has asked me to rescue a butterfly that was snatched for an afternoon snack. Can't its got more rights than us to eat what it sees practically land on its nose. Butterflies fly free, but a frog's long tongue lashes out like a lightning bolt and it don't miss. Butterflies are stupid and commit suicide landings within tongue's reach. Frogs pick and choose what's best to eat. Stomach expands.

Butterfly wings are color-coded for danger. Bright colors of black, yellow, orange and red combinations are warning colors that mean; eat at your own risk. "I can injure or kill you, which do you prefer". The birds of the air, the animals on land and fish under the sea know enough not to attack a colorful butterfly. Wing colors sometimes mimic poisonous species. You can come and watch life unfold in the conservatory as Cross-bearing treefrogs target the Postman butterfly. It'll eat until its belly is full in a single afternoon. This frog was not planted in the conservatory, but some things show up unannounced from hiding in plant material or root balls. They share the stories of our lives with family and friends viewing colorful butterflies on a warm winter day.

If you have a fascination for trying to find butterflies at night bring the whole family, because nighttime viewing is hard work, because butterflies hide efficiently. Thousands fly free during the day, but when the sun goes down they simply disappear and segregate together and rest in the trees, plants and flowers until the warm rays of sun again appear in the conservatory. Butterflies need the sun's warmth. Dark clouds and gray days they aren't as active just like humans and muskrats that feel so gloomy on gray days of winter.

Night of the Butterflies is Monday, March 7, Sunday, March 13, and Saturday, March 26. Doors open at 5 p.m. with events and activities begin at 6 p.m. For daily viewing contact Frederik Meijer Gardens (FMG) or find hours of operations on the web. Don't forget to bring a charged camera. See you there!