Modern evangelist Marianne Williamson was one of the presenters at LA Times Magazine’s “Conversations on Health & Wellness” at Terranea Resort. The conference was a nice break from my mind, which has been mired in thoughts about mom’s cancer. I was glad to see that Marianne was one of the speakers, since her book, A Return to Love, influenced our coming back together. Whether you’re well or ill, her remarks are worth a listen:
IN LOS ANGELES, a city more often associated with the material than the metaphysical, conversations acknowledging the ethereal are few and far between. But Bronson and I had dinner with Broadway director Stafford Arima last night, and one of the most refreshing topics bounced around the table was our shared belief in the existence of a supernal reality: ghosts, angels, and the afterlife.
So far, I can count six supernatural experiences in my life. The third occurred in 1998 shortly after I learned that my high school Latin teacher, John Tabish, had died of cancer. Tabish was the principal mentor of my high school years, a laDead Poets Society. I was shopping in the language section of Book Soup when I had a visceral knowledge of his presence. He showed up to say goodbye before he crossed forever into that alternate reality.
It wasn’t weird, creepy or scary. Actually it felt perfectly normal.
Today, the song “Uninvited” (from the film City of Angels) looped in iTunes as our conversation last night echoed in my head.
A Jesuit priest once told me “the veil between life and death is very thin.” Author Norman Vincent Peale agreed. “I believe there are two sides to the phenomenon known as death. This side where we live, and the other side where we shall continue to live. Eternity does not start with death. We are in eternity now.”
If you haven’t seen the film (City of Angels), trust me, it’s not one you want to skip.
