Putting the Spirit Back into Spirituality

Some people believe in things that I do not. But, I’d like to think that I am open-minded and respectful of all faiths. I’d like to think that the dogmas that other people hold dear fulfill the same human need that I have for spiritual understanding and that we’ve all just put a different face on similar philosophies.

The local “paranormal investigators” meeting that I went to tonight challenged all that. I visited a meeting of these spirited ghost hunters in order to gather sound for a radio show on Halloween. Their thing is going to cemeteries, old houses, dark basements, and sometimes just the grocery store to look for and capture signs of ghosts. They use voice recorders, video cameras, temperature sensors, EMF detectors, Geiger counters, and even compasses to detect the dead. One guy I interviewed gave me a business card that says, “Specializing in the removal, of ghosts, poltergeists, and other unwanted spirits.” He was very passionate about his work, which, as he described it, sounded like he was a crisis counselor for dead people.

I think the truly sad part was that they knew that I was not with them. I could feel the palpable sentiment that I had invaded their safe haven, that I was there to mock them or judge them. I could see the tightness in their expressions, the defensiveness in their voices. I didn’t think that I had come there to judge them. I thought that I had come to report on real ghosts, kind of an investigative feature to go with a soft news holiday theme. I thought, “You want to talk about ghosts? Then go to the experts.” But, the real story that I’d found was that I had stumbled upon a sad little cult for lonely people. And, to think so is truly judgmental of me.

[Image courtesy of Faust73, www.faustfoundation.net/]