Well, we finally wormed our way back home just an hour ago. The flooding we passed was indescribable. We saw military helicopters flying to and from hospitals, convoys of Texas National Guard vehicles, escorted volunteers towing boats to be used in rescues and just a lot of devastation. Please send prayers to Texas. We need them. There’s a possibility that more will come tomorrow. Rune, Lukas and I are supposed to go overseas to visit relatives Friday, but that might not happen. I’m kind of sick of living out of a suitcase anyway!

I had a little drama on my personal Facebook page that I think needs explaining. First of all, my personal page is just that–personal. I have the right to express my beliefs. I was complaining about all the confederate statues being removed or shrouded and many, despite making myself clear otherwise, attacked me as a racist and white supremacist. I am NOT a racist. I am NOT a white supremacist. Far from it. I was raised listening to my father being called a Spic and I’m part Cherokee so…  And I’m not a Republican or Democrat much to everyone’s assumption. I’m not happy with either side of the aisle and have a jaded view of all politicians. I’m a libertarian. My point was that I’m against history being erased or revised because we need to learn from our dark past rather than bury it. That way, we hopefully never again repeat the past. I feel like taking these statues down to soothe hurt feelings is the same as telling those overly sensitive people that we don’t have faith in them to confront and acknowledge our mistakes. Furthermore, when we do things like this, it only serves to divide us on racial lines rather than defining ourselves as a collective of humans who all bleed red and who all are (or should be) willing to embrace our past as a valuable teachable moment.

I DO understand the other point of view, but I believe people should respectfully disagree rather than attack with insults. 

Enjoy today’s Best of Erik. Tomorrow, I’ll post the rest of the series about God.

Me: Here’s a question about past lives and knowledge. “You recently said we do have struggles and things to learn in the afterlife. The reader who posed this question said he or she is glad, because otherwise we’d just get bored and want to come back to Earth. So, if once we’re there, and we access all we’ve learned in our other lives, then it seems like we would cease to be the being we were in our last incarnation.  It wouldn’t matter if we looked the same. So, who are we in the afterlife? I’m not sure if I totally understand the question.” Do ya’ll understand it?

Jamie (giggling): Erik does.

Me: Okay, good, cuz I don’t.

Erik: Don’t worry. Just because you can understand who you were in other lives, it doesn’t take away the character you built in the last incarnation. Honestly, it’s like a Rubik’s Cube. You make one adjustment, then every side—almost every side—of the cube changes, you know, the bulk of it.

Me: Okay.

Erik: But you’re still a Rubik’s Cube. No matter how many times you shift and move it, that’s still who you are. You’re still going to be you.

Me: Hm!

Erik: But you can adjust your viewpoint. Let’s call it viewpoint, okay Mom? And if it becomes confusing, I’ll explain it more. You can adjust the viewpoint to the last incarnation you had or you can adjust your viewpoint and tap into the incarnation you were in the 1400s and sloooowly just pull out that thread and get more into that character and that personality and that bit of history—or future.

Jamie (to Erik): Let’s not do that!

(She’s referring to his confusing rants about timelessness in the afterlife.)

Erik: Okay. Or, you can broaden your viewpoint and simultaneously, without overwhelming yourself, see more than one thread very clearly. It’s not like putting ingredients into a bowl and mixing them to create another substance. You put all of the ingredients in the bowl, but it’s still easy to pull out the flour and pull out the egg and pull out the milk, the salt and the sugar without interference from the other elements with it. Even when it’s mixed, you know, all of these threads, they’re wrapped around to make a rope. We are the rope in itself, but every thread is a life lived with different ingredients and elements.

Me: Fascinating. You’re so great with analogies, Erik! You make it so easy to understand.

Jamie (whispering as though in awe): I know!

Me: Wow.

Jamie: I agree with you. I so agree with you. Better than the other spirits that I chat with.

I beam with pride. That’s my boy!

Me: That’s why you can dumb it down for us, Erik. That’s what makes you such a great teacher.

Jamie (giggling): He’s saying, “Thank you,” and he’s showing me this image in my head. It’s a yellow ribbon, and it has the “For Dummies” in black like those books, “Meditation for Dummies,” “Tarot for Dummies.” Like he got the award from the dummies that he was the best dummy.

Me: Aw! Number one dummy! “And know the award goes to…”

Jamie laughs.

Me: Anything else on the subject?

Jamie (still laughing): He’s standing up on my couch pretending like he’s accepting an award!

Me: Aw.

Jamie (to Erik): Sit down.

Me: Yeah, don’t fall down and hurt yourself, Baby.

Erik: It’s so scary, the edge of the table. Oh, no, Mom!

We all get a big laugh out of that.

Erik: Yeah, you know, tell the reader that you can’t compare the afterlife to how you live your life now. The brain can’t wrap around it, and there’s a reason for that. We don’t want to wrap our brains around it. We’re not there. Why are we living somewhere where you consider to be the future instead of living in the Now? You know, HELLO PEOPLE. You’re human! Look at it. Look at the beauty of it. Step up!

Me: Okay. Ding?

(That’s our little signal that means”On to the next question!” in case you didn’t know.

Erik: Ding!

Enjoy one of my favorite shows, the Joyride Show with Tiffanie, Kerry, Emma and Cindy!