As I write this, in early March, the "fireside" part is a joke here in Florida. But in other parts of the country, there is snow, deep snow. In California, there are people trapped in their houses, and running out of food. When Sandy and I lived in the Blue Ridge, the biggest snowfall we saw came in March. People told us, "don't put your birdbath out until Mother's Day." (Meaning that the birdbath would freeze, and break.)
As the Walrus said, the time has come to talk of many things. I don't propose to talk about "cabbages and kings," but only some things, important things, that seldom get mentioned.
The first of these is reincarnation. Yes, due to certain experiences, I accept it as a reality. But I was surprised to learn (from a posting on his Youtube channel by Rabbi Simon Jacobson, of Chabad) that it was known in Judaism, but had been kept secret. One may speculate about the reasons for the secrecy, but I prefer not to.
Reincarnation was also known, and considered an acceptable teaching, in early Christianity. Unfortunately, it was declared "anathema" in the early fifth century CE, at one of the Church councils (I'm forgetting which--Constantinople?). It is universally believed in Hinduism and Buddhism, not to mention modern Neopaganism and a host of New Age religions. Not sure about Islam, but I think so. In other words, pretty much everyone believes in it, although they may not talk much about it, and it seems that only Abrahamic religions have forbidden its teaching to the masses.
The result of this situation is, of course, that we have truly amazing (and verifiable) reincarnation stories from places like India and Nepal, but they are few and far-between in most countries of the West.
Religiously, I was raised Catholic, but feel far more Jewish than Christian. I do have some Jewish ancestry (which my father hid from me until I was about thirty), but my acceptance of reincarnation as a reality does not come from either of these sources. It is due, rather, to certain experiences that I have had.
(to be continued in the next Fireside Chat)
Photo by Fergus McCarthy, of Midleton, Co. Cork, Ireland.
Text Copyright © 2023 by Donald C. Traxler.
