About a week ago, I had a very cool experience that I’d like to share with you.

I was invited to speak to a group of people at a Lutheran church who attend a class called Soul School. They have been together for a couple of years and wanted to take their learning to the next level. Their Pastor invited me.

As much as I hate to admit it, I was pretty nervous about it all day leading up to the evening. My experience with a lot of churches over the years has not been pleasant. One that comes to mind is the Lutheran church close to the Center. A few years ago they were having a neighborhood fair and the women in charge of organizing it asked the committee if they should invite The Center to be a part of it. The Lutheran Pastor told them NO, and if we did participate, we were not to come near them or walk on their lawn!!!! Or the other experience that comes to mind happened a few years ago in North Platte, Nebraska. The College had invited me down to give a workshop on psychic development. All the ministers of the town got together and wrote an open letter to the citizens of North Platte in the newspaper urging them not to attend. It was a lengthy letter and fortunately I don’t remember most of it. Bottom line is that it was a nasty, judgmental letter that has nothing to do with Christianity.

Speaking in a Lutheran church to a group of Lutherans about my field of work was something I never thought would happen in my lifetime. I didn’t want to come across too “woo woo” which is a slang expression for new age vocabulary. I didn’t want to freak them out or turn them off from this way of believing about the soul.

The event was supposed to go for an hour and a half, but no one was paying attention to the time and we ended up going for two and a half hours. They asked a lot of questions which led to a great discussion on reincarnation. They seemed very open to hearing all that I had to say about the soul’s perspective of life, death and life after death and when I was finished, I felt this huge shift inside that felt fantastic. It felt like some old religious piece inside of my soul had healed and I was elated. I couldn’t help but wish that all churches of all faiths would be open to a discussion about the soul and why it chooses to come here. What is a soul? What does it look like? Does it have feelings? Does every soul have a life plan? What does the soul think about death and all the challenges in between birth and death? Is there really an after life and what is it like? Do we see our deceased loved ones again? If we suffer here on Earth, do we continue to suffer on the other side?

What is a soul? What does it look like? Does it have feelings? Does every soul have a life plan? What does the soul think about death and all the challenges in between birth and death? Is there really an after life and what is it like? Do we see our deceased loved ones again? If we suffer here on Earth, do we continue to suffer on the other side?

I recently had a discussion with one of my neighbors about the age old question, why do bad things happen to good people? A young man in the neighborhood has had several challenges in recent years which led to the discussion. Why does God let some people have nice lives while others have nothing but problems. It was hard not going into a long conversation about reincarnation and karma, but I’ve learned my limits with mainstream people. Religion sure has screwed up on that subject. Think of how different the world would be if everyone knew that they are held responsible for the negative acts they do to others. People would definitely think twice before hurting another person.

The saving grace is that many people are starving for spirituality and are leaving the churches to find that piece that will fill the emptiness inside. People are feeling their dis-connect with God and they want it fixed. My heart goes out to everyone that is on this journey. I wrote a book called Look for the Good and You’ll Find God that I highly recommend if you are searching for more than religion. It’s a precious little book that keeps it simple and yet is profound in many ways.

I want to thank my dear friend Pastor Tim for inviting me to his church and thank his wonderful parishioners for being so welcoming and open to hearing what I’ve learned over the years about the soul. The night was mystical and magical and I will never forget it.

If you are someone on the fence about religion and the Gifts of the Spirit, I highly recommend you get a book called The Beginner’s Guide to Spiritual Gifts by Pastor Sam Storms. Many religions have come to believe that the Gifts of the Spirit died when Jesus died, but Sam Storms is here to tell us just the opposite.