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Q: I recently read your article on ghosts. I had a few things happen to me after my Dad and Mom passed away (seven weeks apart). One day I came home from work and headed for the back room where I had to turn a corner. I stopped quickly because I felt a presence that was very palpable. I didn't feel afraid and then the presence was gone.

Another time I was vacuuming and heard tinkling noises. I shut the vacuum off and my mother's music box was playing (I was the only one home at the time). When my dad was alive, he used to give my youngest son dimes. I don't know why but it became a thing. After my dad died I would find dimes around the house in very odd places and this continued for quite some time and eventually stopped. I was glad for his presence and the reminders because it helped me deal with his death and now I look forward to seeing him again one day. I just wanted to share.

Thank you for taking the time and thank you for your wonderful articles. I look forward to reading them every week. – (From D)

Thank you, dear D, for sharing your stories. They remind me that many people who have had paranormal experiences were not frightened by ghosts but strangely comforted. Ghosts seem to be a way for God to convey a message that everything is going to be all right. Of course, the great mystery about ghosts is how they make material objects move. Someone turned on your mother’s music box and that is basically impossible and yet it happened. The main purpose of ghosts is the same as the purpose of angels. They are God’s way of sending us messages. Sometimes the messages are explicit and sometimes they are implied, but they all are meant to use their love for us to convey messages of hope.

Q: Very cool! I'm going to keep my mind and eyes wide open on this topic. Did Tommy ever say anything about it while he was here? I recall that he appeared to you in some fashion since his demise. Is he the ghost you said you saw? Although I haven't written to you in quite some time, I've been reading and enjoying every column! You make more sense than all the clergy I've heard put together. – (From E)

Yes indeed, dear E. I have told this story before and I will tell you again because it is the most amazing thing that has ever happened to me.

My beloved friend, Father Tom Hartman, appeared as a ghost to Michael, a friend of ours, on the morning when he was getting ready to meet me for lunch. Tom’s ghost said to Mike, “So, you are going to meet my best friend Marc today for lunch. Please tell him that Sol thinks he is running Heaven and that Heaven is the most beautiful place you will ever see.” Michael was freaked out to say the least and over lunch he told me of his visitation from Tommy. He then asked me, “Who is Sol?” I could hardly breathe but told him, “Sol is my dead father!” Michael had never met dad and never asked me about dad. Tommy knew my dad well. So, the only way Mike could have heard about my father Sol was from Tommy who was two years dead.

This extraordinary event was the result of an agreement I made with Tommy when he was dying. I told him that like him I believed in life after death but not with the iron-clad certainty of Tom’s belief in Heaven. I still harbored some doubts. So I asked Tom to send me some sign after he died to prove to me that Heaven is real. This was the sign! There was no way for my friend to have known about Sol except by the loving intervention of a loving ghost. You can believe what you want, but I am now certain that our soul’s journey does not end at the grave. God is waiting for us and I am comforted in that knowledge.

How this all happens is way above my pay grade but that it happens is absolutely clear to me now. I know that we will not be separated forever from those we love.

(Send ALL QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS to The God Squad via email at godsquadquestion@aol.com. Rabbi Gellman is the author of several books, including “Religion for Dummies,” co-written with Fr. Tom Hartman. Also, the new God Squad podcast is now available.)

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