After doing my TV review last night, an odd fact occurred to me. My three favorite TV shows just now are “House,” which stars Hugh Laurie (an Englishman doing an American accent), “Pushing Daisies,” which stars Anna Friel (an Englishwoman doing an American accent) and “Chuck,” starring Yvonne Strahovski (an Australian doing an American accent).
I see no significance whatever in this concatenation. But it seems odd.
Speaking of Halloween, I’ve been seeing web posts here and there about ghosts.
I don’t believe in ghosts, but that’s not a disbelief I hold to with the same fervor as I do to the great doctrines of the faith. The only appearance of a ghost in Scripture is in 1 Samuel 28 (the witch of Endor), which has been variously interpreted as a special dispensation from God or a demonic manifestation under God’s control. One way or the other, contacting the dead is unquestionably a forbidden activity.
But I’ve employed ghosts in stories several times. They’re just so darn useful as a plot device. They combine the elements of fear, grief and moral judgment. Shakespeare liked them too, and I’m not sure if he believed in them either.
Anyway, don’t take their use in my books as a statement of belief. I’ve never seen a ghost, or an ancient god, or an elf. I’ve only seen one physical miracle, in fact, and I can explain that one away if I want to. In general I believe in the supernatural in principle, but am skeptical of reported supernatural phenomena in particular cases.
Just for the record.
I saw a news article that said one third of those surveyed by the AP believe in ghosts, and a fourth claim to have seen one.
I came here from Veith’s blog, right after putting in a good word for ghost stories.
I think they do allow writers to explore interesting themes. My favorite, A Christmas Carol, seems to use ghosts to focus on loss and regret, but with an emphasis on living so that we don’t have to feel these.
Then there’s The Sixth Sense. The turn from dread to empathy was intriguing.
I agree. And I’m a big fan of both A Christmas Carol and The Sixth Sense.
And thanks for dropping by.
Lars, you can’t drop that bomb and then not tell us what the physical miracle was . . .
Ah well. It’s not much of a story. I was doing “Camelot” (playing Mordred) at the community theater in Florida. Came in one evening sick to death, barely able to walk. I was determined to try to do my part, but I told the director and everybody I wasn’t sure how long I’d last. The director was ready to step in to replace me.
I drank some water and lay down in the men’s dressing room. The guy who played Merlin/Pelinore came in and said “The only thing I can think of to do is what I do when my kids are sick. I’ll pray for you.”
So he took my hand and prayed for my healing.
And a few minutes later I felt better. I went out and gave one of my best performances.
However, further acquaintance with Merlin/Pelinore suggested to me that he wasn’t any spiritual giant. (I’ll say no more about that.)
And this was Florida. I figure there’s a good chance I was just suffering from dehydration, and the water I drank restored me.
One can make a distinction between “believing in ghosts” and acknowledging that people may sometimes “see apparitions” that appear to the observer to be appearances of departed persons.
I’m somewhat sympathetic to Lars’s disbelief, but not prepared to sign on. The Bible has very little to say about the matter, unless I’m mistaken. When the disciples saw the risen Jesus and were frightened, He didn’t say, “Ghosts do not appear.” He ate food and pointed out that ghosts don’t do that. (I might be misremembering the passage.)
I think that’s an argument from silence, Dale, which isn’t a strong type of argument. A stronger type would be to ask if the Bible gives us any reason to believe ghosts might exist. I think it doesn’t. God tells us where the souls of men go after death, and He tells us demons and angels are abroad. Just b/c Jesus says ghosts don’t have flesh doesn’t mean Jesus would say that ghosts are real with other characteristics in the same way we could talk about fairies or Klingons in ways that don’t involve claiming they are living beings.
I see Norwegian people …
Michael, those Norwegians are not to be feared. They want your help.