This is a topic which is preceeded by many question marks. It can scare some people, make others scoff and look down their noses, with a 'pity the poor fool' frowns and stares over highly educated half -glasses.
Then there are the rest who just shrug their shoulders and get on with more imporant things like World of Warcraft or the latest online gossip chat.
Spooks, yes...I'm talking about...ghosts.
I'm going out on a limb here a bit - and will give you my opinion - with the subtext that I am allowed to change this very opinion later. But I'm bringing it up for discussion sake.
So before I go on - I will tell you where I stand and then you can either read on, or go back to whatever you were doing.
Do I believe that ghosts exist? Answer: for the majority of stories and accounts - no. Most, I personally believe, are fuelled by strong emotion, hearsay, or more likely fuelled by alcohol, forest-picked mushrooms, or other laboratory made and nightclub ingested substances. However, I do believe that at some point in a number of people's lives, some do come across unexplained encounters that could be catergorised under "ghost" in the library filing cabinet.
One of the reasons I have no problem believing in God and the spiritual realm is because the house I grew up in had some 'strange goings on' every now and then, that can't be explained in an everyday way. As a child, quite frankly, it used to scare the living daylights out of me.
Everyone in my family (except for one of us) had experiences with it. And after our house was sold to someone else, I'm told they also had similar experiences. (spook warning: for those who don't like ghost stories, turn away now...)
Every now and then we would hear soft footsteps walking back and forth down our hallway, up and down, up and down. I used to hide under my bed covers. Of course, a few times we would get brave enough to turn on the light but it stopped and there was no one there. Sometimes (even in daylight) one of the door handles would turn by itself and then suddenly the door would swing open (no wind blowing, it happened on calm days). This was experienced by a few of us in our house. I didn't like that at all. No I didn't.
To this day, I don't have a rational explanation. Over the years I've thought about what it was - is it a deceased person's spirit caught in a house? Is it something demonic playing tricks on poor little wide-eyed and over-imaginative children? Is it a cross over of worlds? I still don't know. Maybe you have your theories?
Well, I'm one for the bottom line and so my question is this - what do we do about it?
Firstly, unlike your favourite TV shows and possibly medium friends tell you - it is not wise to try and communicate with spirit beings.
I know that a number of you will poo-poo this as conservative, blinkered, wowserish and even slightly boring -but from a Christian point of view - we are told only to communicate with God and not any other spirits. Way back when Moses was teaching his people how to live, he told them of God's command "...don't try to use any kind of magic or witchcraft to tell fortunes, or to cast spells or to talk with spirits of the dead. The LORD is disgusted with anyone who does these things..."(Deuteronomy 18:10-11) and this is a reoccuring theme in the Bible.
Secondly, if you find yourself in a situation where you are being invited to deal with the spiritual world and you don't know who it is that you are dealing with - why are you doing it? At least with God, you know that He cares for you and wants the best for you (see Romans 8, John 3 :16 and so on).
I'm no expert - so you need to make up your own mind on this - but other spirits may just be playing around with you at best or actually are looking for your downfall. Use your head. Just as you wouldn't trust people (with skin on) if they haven't proven themselves first - why would you put yourselves into the hands of spirits who you don't know? The Bible tells us that "for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14) and also "... for our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms" (Ephesians 6: 10 -12 ).
So, what DO you do?
As mysterious and exciting as it may be - for my opinion - stay away from the darkness and draw near to God's light instead.
There is one spirit that we are commanded to let into our lives: The Holy Spirit.
Our God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit are always spoken of in terms of Light and Love. We know that God's Spirit loves us and cares for us and wants what is in our best interest. Here are just a few examples:
Titus 3:5 "...he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit..."
Ephesians 5:18-20 (from "The Message" version of The Bible) "Don't drink too much wine. That cheapens your life. Drink the Spirit of God, huge draughts of him. Sing hymns instead of drinking songs! Sing songs from your heart to Christ. Sing praises over everything, any excuse for a song to God the Father in the name of our Master, Jesus Christ".
Galatians 5:22 "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness..."
If you've been involved with the 'dark side' in anyway - bring in the light - always invite the Holy Spirit to fill you everyday and to guide and lead you in his love and truth.
Remember Jesus died on the cross for evey sin and foolish action - there is no sin too great for him to forgive. Come into the light and invite God's Holy Spirit into you. In the old days they used to call him The Holy Ghost. That's the only ghost I'm interested in today.
(For further reading, I found this short article interesting on the subject: http://www.spotlightministries.org.uk/hauntings.htm)
