Good morning everyone!  Our reading for today is taken from the Spiritualist Church of Canada principles.  We acknowledge…

Principle 2.  Unity and Equality of All.

Principle 3.  Communication, Guidance and Healing from Spirit and Angels.

While preparing today’s message, I had many thoughts and stories rambling through my head.  My oldest son, Braden, now in the spirit world, helped me prepare today’s message along with my spirit guides.  Teachings from the Joseph Communications have also been enriching my spiritual understanding and help to color the picture I present here today.  For those of you who don’t know, the Joseph Communications are a series of channeled books that deal with the realities beyond this early plane.

As most of you know, my oldest son, Braden left his physical body back on August 29, 2015 related to a traffic accident in Vietnam.  At that time, I was not actively involved with the Spiritualist church and his physical death was definitely a shock to me, my family and our community.  Although I believed in my heart that life continued “beyond the veil”, I did not know what that looked like or how connection would continue between my son and me.  Although I had experienced the deaths of older relatives which affected me, I had not previously been so deeply affected by the death of a loved one.

After my son’s accident, our family received many signs and messages that provided us with comfort during our grief.  On September 3, 2015, when I was getting out of our car a very small bird landed right between my feet on the driveway.  A quick touchdown, then it gracefully flew away.  A quick hello for me, a mini miracle, an event I never previously experienced nor experienced again.  

Some days later while watching a Wayne Dyer movie with my husband, I had left the computer on upstairs with Facebook on the screen. I heard the keyboard clicking and commented to my husband. “I hope some Trojan Horse Virus has not high jacked our computer!!!”  Later I went upstairs and found in my Facebook activities that while I was downstairs watching the movie, I had “liked” a post about a mascot at Northern Illinois University, a post I had not seen before and certainly would not have liked!  We chuckled as our son, Braden had always had a gift with electronics and it seemed his gift continued!

Many, many other unusual and inexplicable experiences happened around us over the next weeks and months involving touches, clothing, lights, sounds, birds, flowers, butterflies, cologne and a key chain.

Due to the complexities of our son’s death and bringing his bodily remains back to Canada, the memorial service for Braden did not occur until the evening of September 24, 2015.  Two of my friends were unable to attend as they were attending the Life After Life Conference in Scottsdale Arizona.  When they returned, they had a message for me.  

They told me that on the same evening as the memorial service in Winnipeg, they were in a session with Suzanne Wilson, a renowned medium, when a young man in spirit, Braden, aged 20 years old, came through with a message for his mother.  My friend, Val stood up to receive the message on my behalf.  My snowboarder, skateboarder son in spirit who Suzanne described as a beacon of light for his friends and loved ones, came through with a message for me in Scottsdale, Arizona the same evening he was being commemorated at his memorial service in Winnipeg!  

Then some months later, at a dinner for his 21^st birthday, one of his best friends gave me validation of the medium’s message from Arizona.   He showed me the tattoo he had gotten on his upper arm in memory of Braden… a lighthouse, a beacon of light, with the words, “Find Your Own Way” and two tiny initials, BP.  Braden had always told him “Find Your Own Way, Man.  Don’t ever let anyone tell you what to do or believe.  Find your own way!”  His friend’s words confirmed what we had always known about our son, that he was a strong believer in “Free will.”

The Spiritualists believe that each of us have available spirit guides who once lived on this earthly plane, have left their physical bodies and are continuing their spiritual education and development in higher planes.  

However, we, on this earthly plane, are used to competition, conflict, judgment, war, division, hatred and envy.  We don’t immediately release these mindsets when we leave our physical bodies. Yet as we advance through the spiritual planes, with the support of loving and patient spirit guides, we can choose to let go of the earthly habits and beliefs we brought with us.  Free will continues.  Love, joy, wisdom, compassion and beauty shine forth with ever increasing strength in spirits who choose.

As Spiritualists, we are taught to ask that only the highest and the best spirit guides, helpers and angels under the white Christ light are attracted to us.  We are taught to test these spirits.  We tell them they can stay with us only if they are under the white Christ light.  Our spirit guides have infinite love and infinite patience.  But we have free will. 

We have free will… will we take the time to listen to our guides’ counsel which may just be a faint whisper?  We have free will…will we put our guides’ counsel to our hearts and discern the truth?  We have free will…will we choose to receive the light our spirit guides in the higher planes offer us to light our way?

Our guides are deeply committed to us.  They understand the meaning of unity mentioned in principle 2, that we are all connected.  They have infinite patience and know that when one of us progresses spiritually, we create momentum and a pull for others to progress with us. We are all connected.  

However those who leave their physical bodies continue to have free will about how quickly they will progress in their spiritual journey just as we have free will about how we progress in our spiritual journey while still in our bodies. 

Now going back to Principle 3, the second part of my reading, communication, guidance and healing from spirit and angels.   I want to talk more about love.  Love is a powerful bond.  One of my favorite sayings is that love never dies and crosses all dimensions.  Even when love is complicated by the challenges of living in this earthly plane, love can still shine forth across the dimensions to connect the traveler and the one left behind.

I have one more story to share.  My son, Braden had a long-time girlfriend however they broke up about one year before his accident.                                                

Their relationship had been difficult and although they loved each other, they did not bring out the best in each other. After his death, she went through a difficult time and through our shared grief, she and I reconnected and maintained occasional contact.  She shared about some of her experiences which to me confirmed her ongoing connection to Braden. 

On August 29, 2022, after a couple years without contact with her, I learned Braden’s former girlfriend had almost died on August 29, 2021, after having a watercraft accident.  

She was approximately 150 kilometers from Winnipeg and her sister, a doctor, called for emergency assistance immediately. STARS air ambulance responded and was able to get her to hospital in Winnipeg where she made a miraculous recovery over the following year.  She had not wanted me to know about her accident.  I found out on the one year anniversary of her accident, that same day also being the anniversary of my son’s accident.

On November 18, 2022, I attended a birthday celebration where Braden’s former girlfriend was also a guest. She told me that immediately after her watercraft accident in 2021, she knew her condition was very serious and felt herself slipping into unconsciousness.  She pleaded with God that she not die.  

Then Braden and another of her friends no longer in physical body, came to be with her in her altered state of consciousness.  They told her it was not her time and she would recover from this accident.  

The message she received that day from the spirits of her loved ones who had passed provided her with hope and comfort during the difficult days and months ahead… communications from spirits to one they loved in her darkest time.

While today, I have shared experiences about receiving messages and signs from my son, Braden who is no longer in his physical body, I am not saying these replace the joy I had seeing my son growing on this earth plane.  However, there is comfort for me knowing that he continues to exist and continues to grow in the afterlife… Continuous Existence of the Soul and its Personality.  According to the Joseph Communications, the opportunities for growth are even greater in the spirit world than they are here!!!

I thank you all for being with me today and allowing me to share my story with you.  I also thank my spirit guides, my many teachers, and my son in spirit, Braden for their help with this message.  May God bless you all.