It is one aspect of our lives that we all struggle to control – our emotions.

We struggle to hide our grief, our anger, our infatuation, our disappointment. There is a wide range of human emotions that materialize under a wide range of circumstances. Somehow, we see a display of our emotions as a weakness.

We want to appear to be strong, in control, and unshakable. We want to project an image that we are in charge of our reactions and behavior.

Perhaps all that effort is self-defeating. Perhaps blocking or denying our emotions serves to widen the gap between us and our Creator.

If we reflect on it, we might recognize that many of our emotional swings are based on the foundational emotion of love. Grief, for example, is a reaction to love lost or denied. Likewise, loneliness and depression are strongly linked to a lack of love.

And love is the fundamental force that defines God.

If we review one of the earliest Biblical human directives – the Ten Commandments – we will discover that each of those commandments is an expression of love.

Many of us wonder, throughout our lives, why we can’t seem to make that spiritual connection with God. The answer may be staring us in the face – or, at least in the mirror. By resisting those emotions, by holding back those tears, by putting on the stoic, brave face, we diminish the very energy that links us to the spiritual realm.

In essence, we are distancing ourselves from the only true communication channel with God.

If we stand back a moment from our daily existence, we might recognize that any passion we feel in our life is an emotional-fueled drive, and the more passion we feel, the more energy we expend toward a goal or a desire.

The key to a powerful spiritual connection is to embrace the emotion/passion of love and apply it to our everyday life. We need to look for ways to express that love in all we do.

Whether you are a believer or not – whether you think the earth was created in 7 days, or over the course of millions of years, there is one undeniable truth about our existence and the existence of the earth.

It is a miracle beyond imagining.

Setting aside, for the moment, the fundamental debate over whether we owe our existence to the act of a supreme being or an unbelievable combination of random events in an uncaring universe, the incredible combination of elements that enable our existence on planet earth is too much to count.

We live in a world that orbits a perfect distance from its home star. The tilt of the earth’s axis and the speed of its rotation are only two of the factors that allow life to exist on the surface. The ability of water to exist in liquid form is critical to life as we know it.

The thin atmosphere that blankets the globe supplies the critical gases that enable both animal and vegetable life to exist. In addition, that same atmosphere shields us from lethal solar radiation and the barrage of meteorites that pelt our world daily.

The mysterious force we call “gravity” holds the moon in orbit around the earth and provides the ocean tides. That same force allows us to walk on the surface of our planet and fuels the flow of water from higher elevations to lower areas.

The weather patterns and seasons allow the earth to refresh and replenish plant life which serves as the foundation of all food chains.

Layer by layer, our science strives to unravel and understand the incalculable number of elements that provide for our continuing existence on planet earth.

For those of us who struggle to accept the concept of a Creator-God, the incomprehensible number of elements that contribute to our existence speaks for itself.

Whether we think of God as a spiritual being, a force of nature, or an energy beyond human comprehension, the evidence is there. Our existence, and the perfect balance of our home planet, is no accident.

We exist by the will of God.

Four-leaf clovers, black cats, lucky numbers, tarot cards, crystal balls – it seems there is no end to the speculations that humans will embrace in an effort to understand the mysteries of human existence.

If we apply hard-core logic to most of these ideas, most of them will come up short in evidence of their legitimacy.

What possible effect can the position of the stars at the moment of birth have on personality? How can a seldom-found piece of vegetation impact events of the day? What difference does it make if your cat encounter is white instead of black?

The one thing all these mysteries have in common is the human need to understand aspects of our existence that exist beyond the reach of our five senses, beyond our comprehension.

Enter – superstition.

We can imagine that, without the benefit of today’s knowledge, our ancestors made some pretty wild guesses as to the forces that impacted their lives. Those guesses resulted in rituals and ceremonies that were intended to influence the powers that dictated the course of events.

In all probability, some of those rituals became incorporated into religious ceremonies that continue to this day.

We might ask – “what’s the harm, if those rituals continue?”

The answer is twofold.

There is benefit, rather than harm, if those rituals serve to enhance the spiritual experience and strengthen our connection to God.

The harm comes if we substitute rituals and superstitious acts in place of embracing a spiritual link. The harm comes from a failure to recognize that our reliance on superstition and habitual rituals is a direct result of our inability to grasp the reality that, in our human form, we are incapable of recognizing forces and energies outside our human experience.

When engaging in church rituals, we need to do so with the mindset that we are strengthening our link to God – not just participating in a tradition.

Non-believers are quick to point out that evidence of the existence of God, Christianity, and the afterlife is so subtle that it would be unlikely to stand up in a courtroom proceeding. The foundation of most faith-based beliefs lies in ancient texts that have been passed down in some form for generations. Along the way, those written accounts have been translated, re-translated, and modified by changes in language and interpretation.

To further complicate our analysis of the evidence of the spirit world, contemporary society views the ancient world as naive and ignorant. Understandably, this leads to questions about the credibility of the authors of those accounts. We can’t help but wonder if those who created those narratives weren’t handicapped by superstition and ignorance.

To use a contemporary saying – we take those tales with a grain of salt. Armed with basic knowledge of modern science, we find ourselves challenging many of the extreme examples described in the Bible.

Interestingly, we are even more critical of contemporary accounts that might support those ancient anecdotes. Those who would relate stories that support biblical views find themselves suspect due to a history of fakers and con artists who have preyed upon the desperate members of our society.

Technology to the rescue.

Today’s technology allows for access to a treasure trove of evidence that supports faith.

In the not-too-recent past, reports of NDE’s (near-death experiences) and accounts of mediums were limited to newspaper or magazine stories. Today, such accounts can be available worldwide, in a matter of minutes.

Many of these accounts are, essentially, contemporary versions of stories we have read in the Bible. But, somehow, we view these modern versions as being even more suspect than the ancient texts. The ancient texts seem to have earned a degree of credibility based on tradition alone.

So, what lends credibility to contemporary accounts? How do these accounts support faith?

Thanks to today’s technology, we can witness, in real-time, or in short order, multiple accounts that share similar elements. We can witness multiple accounts of those who describe leaving their body during a momentary death experience, only to return to describe a feeling of unconditional love.

We can witness mediums who are able to relate events that they have no way of knowing.

It is the volume of these similar reports that enhances the credibility of those who are bold enough to face ridicule to offer a glimpse of hope to those of us who are blinded by an over-dependence on science and logic.

Perhaps we can find comfort and faith when we recognize that both ancient accounts and contemporary experiences reference the same reality – that there is an existence beyond the physical, and a few gifted individuals are able to see beyond the boundaries and counsel those of us less fortunate.

There is probably no more common fear in the human race as the fear of death.

There is also no more powerful antidote to combat that fear than faith.

It is a universal understanding – that life as we know it and define it is finite. We all know that our lifespan is limited. We all know that we are going to die. We witness it throughout our lives as loved ones, friends, and even pets cease to exist in our lives.

We mourn the passing of others and fight to avoid our own demise. All the while, we seldom stop to analyze the emotional element of our fears and sorrow.

Why do we react so emotionally to an event that we know is inevitable?

A large part of the answer is the language, labels and images that we assign to death.

Due to the image and experience of the cessation of communication and physical movement in a deceased person, we interpret death as a state of non-existence. Our very definition of “life” exists as a particular set of images in our minds.

So, what is the key to acceptance and peace of mind?

There is one cure for the fear of death. It is the same cure for the state of mourning and pain of loss we experience as survivors.

That cure is clearly faith.

Once we grasp that our being exists independent of the physical body, we will learn to view death, not as an end, but as a transition, a release. We will gradually understand that our fears and sense of loss are largely the result of the vocabulary and images that we have embraced.

As we embrace the reality that what we call “life” is a temporary condition much like a school for a spiritual being, we recognize that death is merely a graduation to a new level of existence.

But, the key to true peace of mind is not merely a belief in an afterlife, it is knowing with certainty that we exist beyond the physical world with which we are familiar. While most of our education in the concept of an afterlife comes from spiritual texts such as the Bible, absolute knowing may be possible by acknowledging contemporary testimony as well.

Accounts by psychics, mediums, and those who have experienced an NDE, contribute to our ability to see beyond the ancient texts and convert what we believe into what we know.

Yes, we will still mourn, but our mourning will be tempered by the understanding of the phrase “until we meet again.” Yes, we will still try to avoid death, but we will learn to accept the inevitability of a transitional phase of our existence as a release from the limitations of our physical existence.

Once we have made that transition, we will enter that state of knowledge, joy, and love that the Bible promises.

As for our loved ones – who could deny them that?