Believing in ghosts

Do YOU believe in ghosts?

The answer for me is yes. But, really, there’s a follow-up question. You believe in ghosts, but what are they exactly? And, if you don’t believe in ghosts, how do you explain things that have happened to other people that seem to have no explanation?

Depending upon which poll you look at online, you find that anywhere from about 35 percent to 90 percent of people believe in ghosts. Some claim to have had their own experiences to account for their belief and others will credit events occurring to others. In most cases, a belief in ghosts is linked to a belief in the afterlife. Many times, outright denial of their existence comes with the belief that when we die, that’s it; we’re gone. Sayonara, sucker!

That brings up a whole slew of religious questions. Most major religions carry with them a belief in an afterlife. Whether it be heaven, hell, nirvana, a “happy hunting ground” or however it’s envisioned, there’s a clear place for you to go once your soul leaves your body. Then the question becomes, why do some people “come back” as ghost and others don’t?

Because of a whole slew of experiences I’ve had, especially since I decided to investigate the paranormal, I can’t understand why some people DON’T believe. I, frankly, find it hard to believe we are just a mess of flesh and bone that just happens to work together to create life, personality, soul, feelings, etc. There has to be something that sparks that mass of flesh, bones and brain into life. (Shades of “It’s ALIVE!!”) Common belief has it that ghosts - and maybe souls - are somehow made up of energy. It’s also true, in my experience, that I can’t understand how someone can gaze into the eyes of an animal, the bloom of a flower, raindrops falling from the sky, and not believe there’s some kind of higher power in charge. Yes, there’s science there, but what created science? What created the unique chain of events that sparked life? OK, getting a bit deep here.

In our society today, we are haunted. Quite literally haunted. While it’s true that ghosts have existed in fiction, literature, movies, religion, you name it, since the beginning of time, right now it’s a fascination with “true” ghosts. Movies based on true ghost stories. TV shows following ghost hunters around (yes, there’s a difference between a “ghost hunter” and a “paranormal investigator,” but that’s a theme for another day). I’ve never really had time for the fictional, except in its place of something fun to read. Most of my delving has been in the “true” ghost stories as long as I can remember.

But why are we so haunted today? Why were we so haunted back in the 1970s, when I was in junior high and high school and anything psychic was all the rage. How about at the turn of the century, when the whole Spiritualism craze began? Was it because the human race was on a rocky path, either culturally, economically or politically?

We believe in ghosts, quite simply, because we want to. We want to believe that life goes on after our shell of a body breaks down and can no longer function. We want to believe that our good deeds (or bad ones, too) aren’t for naught and our time here on earth isn’t just some freakish occurrence.

But some of us believe in ghosts because our unique experiences have convinced us.