CLOSE ENCOUNTERS
Presented by Luci Swanson, June 12, 2011

I will not be speaking about Space Aliens, but about our everyday encounters with the recognition of God’s presence in our inner consciousness. My personal religious beliefs are based on Religious Science and the teachings of Ernest Holmes. Last Sunday, Zebulon Fry spoke to us about the Science of Mind and New Thought teachings that God is everywhere in Every Living Thing; and that God’s Spirit is within each of us. We are all individualized atoms of the one God, and I believe that our souls are eternal and may have many different life experiences. It is interesting to me that although Ernest Holmes’ teachings began about 100 years ago, they are considered New Thought today. (From the online "Biography of Ernest Holmes" we read that he "published his first book, 'Creative Mind,' in 1919, followed shortly after by another volume entitled 'Creative Mind and Success.' He continued his studies, and lectured to growing crowds in California and Eastern cities. Meanwhile, he was writing 'The Science of Mind,' which was to become the 'textbook' of the Religious Science philosophy.")

I will begin with something we all shared. Remember the two occasions when that awesome hawk appeared sitting on a branch outside our window during our services. He sat watching us and it seemed like a sign from God that all was well. Other examples we can share is seeing the first flowers of spring, the sudden appearance of a rainbow after a rainstorm, a full moon or the sun rising or setting. I’m sure we can all think of hundreds of examples that happen every day in our lives, and as I present my own experiences, I believe you can relate to them and remember your own encounters.

Do you remember when you were a small child and were certain you could fly? I can remember at about age 2 or 3 I could see myself floating down the stairway – my feet never touching the steps. Of course, when I finally shared this information with my parents, they laughed and insisted it was my imagination. I did not fly again.

A second memory I have from when I was about 3 or 4 years old. I would be outside my house, having been told to stay in my yard. I would think of somewhere I would rather be and suddenly I would be there with no idea how I got there. I can remember three of these occasions: I visited the house of my friend who had a pony I could ride; my favorite patch of wild violets; and the store across a major highway where Mr. Collins would give me jellybeans. Each time this happened, I was accused of running away and was punished. After those experiences, I was never able to do projected transport again, but the experience of that power remains vivid in my memory to this day. Of course, at that time I did not think of the experience as an encounter with God, as my Methodist God was that big “meany” in the sky who would punish bad girls. I wonder now whether, if my parents had been New Thought believers, I could still fly and do projected transport – food for thought. It is only in retrospect that I know that those abilities were available to me as a young child through my soul’s memory.

I think of my dreams as close encounters as my dreams are so realistic and I am always a main character in the experience. As a child, I often dreamed I was Goldilocks being chased by the three bears or Red Ridinghood being chased by the big, bad wolf. In my dream, I would always run so fast and barely make it through the back door of my house to safety. I would then wake up in a sweat and breathless, but I was always safe.

Since I have been an adult, I record all my dreams and consider them as real experiences and lessons in my life. I use a dream interpretation book when I can’t get the message on my own.

When I first joined the Spiritual Light Center, we had a dream class once a week. We would share and interpret our dream messages. I often wish we still had that class as it was not only fun, it was educational and I had a close connection with the women in the group. I think Shirley, Charm and I are the only ones remaining of that group.

The most memorable dreams I have had in my adult life are visits from people close to me soon after they have died and passed to the other side. We have the most interesting conversations and they are so real to me. I have had such visits from my father, my mother, my best girlfriend and room-mate, my high school sweetheart, and another close male friend from my work. These encounters were all very positive and peaceful and assured me they were in a beautiful place and at peace. I loved these encounters and received good advice and very positive feelings from them.

Meditation is the next type of close encounter I want to mention. I love the peace and the presence of Spirit in my meditations. Just to be quiet and focus on the God within. I can feel God’s presence within my heart and I can see God when I close my eyes. I see beautiful bright colors leading to a long tunnel of white light that goes on forever and seems to connect me with God. Sometimes I use this time to get answers, and other times I just use meditation to relax in a spiritual way. The chant we listened to earlier, “God is the Love that I AM” is one I often use in my meditation. Shirley allowed me to read her talk of two weeks ago and I liked her line about meditation “if we don’t go within, we go without”.

The last example of a close encounter I want to discuss is that of an out-of-body experience. Some dreams seem very like an out-of-body experience because if I am in my dream, how can I be in my body at the same time? However, my first real out-of- body experience was when I lost control of my car when it hydroplaned on an oil slick in a sudden rain storm. I could not brake or steer the car as the brake and steering were locked. My car spun around, moved back and forth across the highway and ended up in a ditch with a tree in the passenger seat, having cracked the door in half. All this time, I was floating above my body as calm as can be watching my body being violently jerked around, and my body was like it had a force field around it My car was totaled, but my body was intact except for a whip lash. I am positive that God was with me in that car that day. Since then I have experienced other out-of –body experiences in guided meditation at the Monroe Center, and it always feels the same like floating in space and watching scenes below or around me very much like a realistic dream.

I hope you have enjoyed the sharing of my personal experiences and that they have reminded you of your own close encounters. I was 50 years old when I had the out-of- body experience with my car and realized the presence of God. That was when I began searching for God in my life after a long period of not being a real believer. I had left the Methodist Church in my early 20s, and thought of myself as an agnostic. That search for God and a spiritual presence in my life over the past 23 years is another story that I may share with you at another time.