Do you believe in miracles?

I don’t believe in miracles, but my disbelief comes from a position of authority: I’ve experienced a few. As I don’t believe in any kind of divinity, I can’t believe in the kind of miracle agonised over by Vatican conclaves, whereby some divine power suspends the workaday rules of nature to make a point to his or her followers. I do however believe in the less ostentatious, secular variety of miracle, which is really nothing more than a remarkable happenstance. The two meanings are poles apart; yet one denies wonder while the other affirms it.

We live in a complicated universe which is only intelligible at a subjective level. We understand events in the ways that serve us best. If I were to walk away unscathed from a spectacular plane crash leaving every one of my fellow passengers dead, newspapers would call my survival miraculous. Various strands of supernatural belief might colour this response: Perhaps God had reached out to shield me from the impact; my guardian angel might have persuaded me to sit in Row Z behind the bulkhead; good karma could have paid me a dividend.

But would it then follow that my fellow passengers somehow deserved their fate, having all been less obedient to their deity, less respectful to their ancestors or less willing to hold doors open for strangers? Would it not have been simpler for the divinity to just prevent the mid-air collision, rather than orchestrating a complex sequence of flukes to save my very average self? If I were so favoured, what on earth did the divinity have against the others? The lazy, deus-ex-machina plot device makes us groan in the cinema but is less critically received in reality.

I had a real and nasty cycling accident last year: I was hit by a car at speed and I broke my back. I was improbably lucky in many ways. I wasn’t wearing a helmet but nothing hit my head. I was hit by a small car and I’m a big guy. I bounced onto the verge and not into oncoming traffic. Unusually for the road, the verge was wide, grassy and free of concrete, barbed wire and thorny plant-life. One of my vertebrae disintegrated but I retained full use of all my limbs. I feel enormously lucky, but that luck is dumb and non-judgemental. For every accident like mine, many more end in death or paralysis. Conversely, others result in nothing more than bruised pride and road rage. I feel I should be grateful, but grateful to what? I don’t believe in any supernatural force capable of being thanked.

When I let my eyes drink in the night sky, I find the appalling immensity of creation miraculous. The fact that my eyes are here to see it at this precise point in an incomprehensible span of space and time is miraculous. When my sister gleams with joy at the sight of her firstborn, a ruddy, kicking and bright-eyed affirmation of life, she’s looking at a miraculous end to a long struggle, both personal and evolutionary. When I read about the torments that have defined human life for most of recorded history, I find it miraculous that I live in centrally-heated comfort without fear of hunger, disease or war. The miracle is that all of these wonders are within the scope of nature, not in the gift of something outside it.

We need thank no supernatural entity, but if we have known any joy or wonder, and have been spared the worst that human history has to offer, we should acknowledge our debt to pure dumb luck and human endeavour. After all, if you flip a coin enough times, you’ll eventually get heads ten times in a row.

Fall TV preview: Moonlight, coming to CBS

Somewhere in the dark shadows of the city a vampire is lurking, waiting to attack his prey. Lucky for us this vampire is not waiting for an innocent, young snack, he’s waiting for one of the bad guys.

CBS’s new one hour drama “Moonlight” follows the professional and personal life of Mick St. John, a relatively young vampire at the age of 90 (he doesn’t look a day over 30), who has turned his back on the traditional vampire lifestyle of kill-to-eat. Instead St. John, who was turned into a vampire by his wife on their honeymoon, has become a private investigator who fights the evil that lurks in the shadows at night. He’s one of the good guys, a vampire with a soul, if you will.

If you are having an overwhelming sense of deja vu, don’t worry, you are not alone. This new show bares more than a passing resemblance to 1989’s “Forever Knight” and 1999’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer spin-off “Angel”. The general premise of the two shows is practical identical – a vampire turned good who works as a private eye trying to stop other vampires and bad guys. Fans of “Angel” will see other similarities such as the hero having a supplier to get his blood without feeding off humans and his falling in love with a human woman, but “Moonlight” isn’t a direct copy of the older shows and it’s the original aspects that might make it appealing to a wider group of viewers.

The creators of “Moonlight” have chosen to do away with many of the mythological rules that have governed vampire stories since Dracula first stalked the night. Mick cannot be killed by wooden stakes, he doesn’t shy away from crosses or garlic and he won’t burst into flame if he’s hit by sunlight. Even Mick’s best friend, fellow vampire Josef, holds down a steady job as a hedge fund trader during the day even though he is a more traditional blood sucking fiend by night. It is the choice to turn the vampires from demons into deviants that will move the show away from the Sci-Fi / Fantasy fans and towards a more mainstream audience.

There are quite a few hurdles “Moonlight” is going to have to overcome to survive it’s crucial first season. There are no big name actors starring in the new show to draw in viewers and it has been saddled with a tough Friday night time slot. Whether “Moonlight” will be able dig in and claim an audience is debatable. It is not treading on uncharted ground and success may depend on it’s ability to succeed where it’s predecessors, namely “Angel” and “Forever Knight”, have failed by grabbing the attention of viewers who normally breeze past any show dealing with the supernatural.

Are there angels among us? – Part 1

Angels have always been among men.

Along with the heavens and the earth, God created angels.(Genesis 2:1) In heaven, countless angels were seen around the throne singing.(Revelation 5:11) In fact, these heavenly beings “shouted for joy” while the earth was being formed.(Job 38:6,7)

In 2 Kings 6, the king of Aram sent a “strong force” to search for Elisha the prophet, who had been sharing valuable military intelligence with the king of Israel. The Aramean army completely surrounded Dothan at night. In the morning, a servant of the prophet saw the enemy, and was afraid. So Elisha prayed, asking the Lord to open his eyes; the servant saw the “hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around” the prophet.(2 Kings 6:17) In the spiritual realm, a large angelic host surrounded the man of God – ready for battle.

The Lord “encamps around” and rescues those who earnestly revere, respect and honor Him.(Psalm 34:7) Faithful servants of God receive supernatural protection from evil threats; they live in peace because there is no fear of real harm. Elisha, a man of God, had flaming chariots of the army of God around him.

The high priest had Apostles thrown in jail. That night, an “angel of the Lord” opened doors in the jail to release the men of God – without the jailers being aware of it. In the morning, Peter and fellow witnesses entered the temple courts to tell others all about their “new life” in Christ, after being instructed by the rescuing angel to do so.(Acts 5:17,19-21)

Peter was rescued by an angel before he was to be brought before king Herod to be tried.(Act 12:6,7) After the prophet Daniel, through political intrigue, was thrown into the lion’s den, an angel sent by the Lord “shut the mouths of the lions.”(Daniel 6:22)

Man’s true struggle is against his own evil desires,(James 1:14) and the principalities of demons operating in this “dark world”.(Ephesians 6:12) Angels are sent among men by the Lord to guide, foretell, warn, rescue – to help protect men from sinister spirits, and militant leaders. They are “ministering spirits”, sent among the men “who will inherit salvation”.(Hebrews 1:14)

Angels are rarely seen, and during the times they can be seen, they are not necessarily recognized. For that reason men have been instructed to entertain strangers.(Hebrews 13:2) For all any man knows, he has already had a conversation with one of the angels that operate among men.

Poetry: Transmission

~=ANGELS TRANSMISSION=~

In the beginning of time

Space energy

was turned into solar energy

thus thermodynamics

of electro motivational

multi dimensional

multi directional

fields and states

of energy

fragmentizes

an evolving yet harmonizing perpetual reality

Space energy has no change

but when change

is seen

that is reality of space in time changing

within our relativity

a range of velocity

This begins and ends wherever

and whenever

it does

A miracle

is something wonderful!

The harmonics

of time are divine semantics

creations within our human understanding

Transmission of this truth

creates evolution

of our natures perspective truth

it will always drive human nature

Our truth is spiritual

so is space ~ until its power

goes through transmission

creating human intention

An angel’s intervention

should evolve

prevention

of

lost intention

One day soon we fly

where there is no sky

through gods heaven

For me god is heaven

Heaven created my heavenly mind and understanding

by images

and experiences

a place where spirits rise from my understanding

because of our living truth

this has grown ~ my little heavens landing

I trust that we are all angels

or we could not share our understanding

~=ANGELS TRANSMISSION=~

Anything wrong

will defeat that part of this song!

Anything right will make it light

the light at the end of our rainbow

can only be seen in heavens landing

by those that harmonize in understanding

Nobody is right if everyone is wrong

but we can all sing any man’s song

until the end of our time.

The beauty of a song

is in transmission

if it sooths your soul ~ it becomes your song

you need not place your faith

in anything

that doesn’t sing

or have a good ring!

Man creates dominions

the energy of the heavens runs them

man is the master and the servant in them!

Spiritual and material transmissions

are much the same

they do have mechanism

and everything is based upon circulation

what is true of you will always return to you

until you share its energy

then it becomes energy

an image of an image

you don’t forget your images

In the material reality we live

but the truth we create and give

is supernatural because of the power

created within our natures shower

by our minds capacity to create

energy that transmits when we relate

Conservation of energy is a law of science

that states that every action creates a reaction

no energy gained no energy lost

in any actions reaction

when it comes to the truth we share at nearly no cost

for its transmission

but the transmitter

our minds emitter

still contains the truths power in materiality

within our minds understandings spirituality!

That’s a very dynamic transmission!

A machine of our heavenly nature!

~=ANGELS TRANSMISSION=~

Why we grow out of believing in magic

Perhaps many of our childhood memories are so blissfully innocent and joyous because we believe in that wondrous phenomenon, magic. Indeed if our young formative minds fail to understand how something works we happily conclude it to be magic; “an extraordinary power or influence seemingly from a supernatural force,” as the Merriam-Webster dictionary describes it.

Yet, sadly, we very often grow out of this belief. For whilst a child it is highly acceptable, encouraged in fact, to believe in all that is magical. We as adults fuel childish minds with stories of angels, fairies, Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy. We buy Paul Daniels’s magic sets for birthdays and take delight in performing magic tricks to our zealous young audience.

But once adulthood has crept upon us society seemingly ridicules or punches the wind out of any magical beliefs we still may hold onto. Even though angels are an accepted part of the Christian religion I still feel foolish in admitting that I commune with my Guardian Angel. Just as society promoted magic in childhood it whips it away as we grow up.

As aforementioned, children are bombarded with magical imagery in the form of fairytales, shows and toys. Adults are not subject to the same propaganda. The movies, for example, aimed at children are often animated, packed with enchanting supernatural scenes and themes. Movies made for a more mature audience are often set in gritty reality with little or no hint of magic; we are not witness to the same magical stimulus. With this lack of supernatural exposure it is little wonder that are beliefs wane.

Unfortunately with the dawn of adulthood comes drudgery, responsibility and a good dose of rational reality. We have little time for fantasy or tales- overactive use of the imagination is not required of us as grown ups. I cannot help but think of the legendary film, Hook. Robin Williams, who plays the grown Peter Pan, has let the soul-destroying monotony and stresses of everyday working life quash any memory he had of his most magical past. All his wild adventures in Neverland, right up until the age of 13, are lost because the power of reality has forced his mind to dismiss them as unreal. His grown memory will simply not believe in magic.

As babies and children we don’t understand our five senses overly well so we do not have the same reliance on them as we do as adults. We trust feelings and unfathomable instincts much more in our younger years.

Which Joss Whedon TV series was better: Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel? – Part 5

Joss Whedon has redefined the television genre with his contributions, however there has never been a Joss Whedon television Series or film that I have more than Buffy the Vampire Slayer. This show is not only a winner over its spinoff series Angel, but a winner in all sense of the word. This is my all-time favourite television series and I doubt that there will ever be another show to take its place.

Angel is enjoyable, however I felt that the character development in the Angel characters was never as complete as the character development in Buffy. The acting seemed limited, and it was not because they were bad actors, but because the script was lacking the same level of personality that the Buffy script had in every single episode. A part of what made Angel so sexy and mysterious in Buffy was because he did not say a lot. However, when you give him his own spin off show, suddenly the character needs a whole new set of dialogue and cannot get by with his wise insights and one-liners. So instead the character of Angel lost its charm, and actually seemed a little awkward and uncomfortable at times. His attempts at humour were weak, and you almost pitied the character for trying and failing. None of the other characters had the same amount of substance as the characters in Buffy either. They were not nearly as loveable or indepth.

Buffy is a superior star also. She is a cute, fiesty teenager, on the cusp of womanhood, who can kick butt and overcome even the most difficult situation. And she always manages to do it looking great. What is not to love about that? And her friends are far more devoted to helping her cause, making them somewhat of a modern day Scooby Doo team. Angel on the other hand is more of a Batman type super hero. I love Batman, but it makes for a very solitary plight of good overcoming evil. It does not leave alot of room for humour and fun either, like Buffy does.

Then there is the obvious. Buffy is the original. Angel is the spinoff. Nothing ever beats the original. Buffy lasted seven seasons, with not a single bad season among them. Angel dragged on for five, but probably should have stopped sooner. The only thing that kept those final seasons alive was the appearance of Spike’s character once Buffy came to an end.

Overall, both these shows are great and will remain pop culture hits throughout history, with their cult following and supernatural appeal. However, Buffy is by far the greater TV series of the two and Angel really does not put up much of a fight in this debate. Afterall, if there was no Buffy, there would be no point in having an Angel!

Pondering the existence of ghosts, demons and angels – Part 29

I afraid to post this here becuase it’s really spooky. Halloween is coming and my friends and I saw a shadow in our study room.

The first time, we did’t care. The second time, we wondered. The third time, we believed.

It happened when we almost finished our dinner. (The guy who’s afraid of me also eating with us. Read the last post if you don’t know what I’m talking about). Anyway, someone pulled out a camera phone, took a picure and… we all saw a shadow!

No one cared about it. It’s just a shadow, so what? Then I aimed my camera phone at the same spot, and we all saw the shadow passing by.

…

We were there for more than two hours trying to find an explaination. We tried to take the picture with other camera phone and we all saw the shadow almost every time!

We used three differents camera phones to take pictures… The shadow flew in the picture everytime!

Then my friend who has seen me doing some magic tricks linked me to the shadow. He said “since I have supernatural power, maybe that’s the reason why I can take such a picture.”

umm… I’m afraid of ghost. Why would I ask it to come?

Anyway, the picture is from my camera. The place is at my dorm’s study room. Really freaky! (Picture: http://photos1.blogger.com/blo gger/3434/381/1600/ghostVision .jpg)

Are angels real or imaginary? – Part 2

Angels are real. I know this without a doubt. Without them, so many things would be left unexplained. For instance, the times where you are suddenly stopped from danger, such as when facing a possible life-threatening car accident. Or the feeling of not being alone when you are inspired to do something good. Some people have claimed to see angels, hear them, or have conversations with them. I don’t think they are far off the mark.

After all, it has been noted in the Bible how God uses angels as messengers to humans. With angels, God conveys prophecies, or sends assurances or warnings. That said, I don’t think EVERYONE will see an angel in his or her lifetime. I really do think it depends on the situation, and if an angel is what God feels would be best in ministering to that person. I’ve heard it argued that if we see anything supernatural, it’s either God or the Devil. Sometimes even our loved ones. I think it’s all a matter of angels-because no one since the days of the 12 disciples have seen the face of God or Jesus, only angels. And I don’t think that God would show Himself to people anymore in that way, because that is why we have the Holy Spirit instead. But it is entirely possible that God would still use angels to appear to man. There are also evil angels, the minions of Satan who try and persuade people to believe in the dark arts and forsake a life of Christ. That’s not to say that Jesus Himself wouldn’t help someone who appeals to Him in prayer, because He does…I’m just saying that in matters of explaining a supernatural presence, you’d most likely find it to be an angel rather than anything else.

I don’t think we should worship angels, however. Praying to them, or in the form of “saints” (a select few real people who’ve since passed on) takes away a belief in God and His power. There has been a huge surge in angel paraphernalia. A lot of it makes me sick, because it is excessive. Angel books, angel paintings, angels everywhere. They tend to look more fictitious than plausible. What I don’t like at all is seeing a child portrayed as an angel-and I suppose it’s because I feel it’s morbid. There is a place for everything, and everything in its place. While angels should be mentioned, they need not replace God.

Are there angels among us? – Part 2

ARE THERE ANGELS AMONG US? When God the Creator created the heavens, He also created angels. Angels were created to be God’s servants and messenger service. They were created in great power and majesty, and given the ability to worship and praise their creator.

They were created to intervene in the affairs of mankind when they were given permission to so. They are utilized to exercise judgment upon wicked humans, and are used to protect the righteous people who also belong to God. One of their divine assignments has been the preservation and protection of the Jewish people and the nation of Israel for instance.

But there is one popular theory and category that humans have assigned to angelic beings that does not exist. A question is often asked by young children, what happens to their saved loved ones who have gone home to be with the Lord? The popular reply is that they become their very own guardian angels. Guardian angels do exist, but they are not deceased human beings.

What does happen to people when they die? If they are born again Christians, an angel escorts them through the valley of the shadow of death into the presence of Jesus Christ. What does happen to people, who have never acknowledged Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior? They are escorted by lost demonic beings into the portals of hell itself. Contrary to popular belief once a lost soul has been condemned by the sin of unbelief into the gates of hell, no man nor angelic being is able to rescue them.

According to the Program, “It’s Supernatural!” Men have been escorted into the pathways of both heaven and hell. They have what is commonly referred to as near death experiences. These individuals who were given second chances were not involved in any religious cult.

They were escorted by angelic beings, who instructed them during their entire journeys into the land beyond human existence. They were instructed to tell others about their experiences. Why were they allowed to return to earth? The answer is found in the book of Romans. It is appointed unto men once to die but afterwords they face the judgment of Jesus Christ. Quite simply, it was not their appointed time nor season to die!

I had a conversation with my cousin Paula and I told her about some of my own experiences. I explained what happened to me in 1996, the year of my major nervous breakdown. I heard two separate sets of voices belonging to my deceased relatives. One voice was from my deceased brother, Brian, who died

Believing in angels – Part 1

Angels seem to have been with as since the start of time. Over the years angel sightings and angelic experiences have been witnessed by a great number of people.Believer or not, angels are everywhere, from art and literature to movie industry, angels seem to have great eggect directly or indirectly in our lives.

The actual meaning of the word “angel” is messenger and it comes from the grrek word “aggelos” (I have at least two friends named like that, but after all i am from Greece).

Angels are supernatural beings, created by God to carry out his word.Some people believe that everyone has a guardian angel especially babies and children, and if you think that it is imposible every individual to be guarded by his own angel,think of that: the number of angel and archangel is enormous!

They appear to be messangers, teachers, protectors,guides.They comfort and warn people depending on the situation… in simple words they are asigned (among other) with the difficult job of taking care of us.

In their natural form angels are fleshless spirits and even though our physical eyes cannot see them, maybe the eyes of our hearts are those who describe and depict angels as men or women of extraordinary beauty with feathered wings or as chubby babies with little wings.

As an epilogue i need to wonder: believing in the excistence of angels is it just a matter of culture and faith?

No matter what, keep in mind that when they appear(if they appear) they are not immediately recognized as angels…

Next Page »