Recently, there has been a post on the private SUDC forums mentioning a book called 'Growing Up In Heaven' by James Van Praagh. In it, he writes about souls and Earth Angels.
"Old souls are the most advanced of souls. We have all heard someone refer to another, especially a child, as an old soul. I believe children who die young are usually old souls. These souls are utterly patient. They can flow with whatever life brings their way. They are immensely kind and compassionate.
Earth angels are radiant souls. I have found that many children who come back to the earth for only a short period of time are not only old souls, but also earth angels, here to spread their light to others. These children are well beyond their years on many levels of intelligence, creativity and personal interaction. They have a natural inclination to draw people to them because of their light. Earth angels have the characteristics of an old soul, along with an intense sense of clarity and a compassionate way of handling others."
While one may look at the world of mediums and such things with scepticism, it did strike a chord with me. Fundamentally, I do believe that there is more going on around us that our senses are able to make sense of. I believe there are people who are closer to this world that for most of us remains hidden.
It was amazing to see how many other parents came out with stories about their children. All of them so similar. Just go to the SUDC memorial sites and read those childrens stories. Most of them are usually described as very happy, healthy, kind and gentle tots who'd light up the room as soon as they'd enter. Tots who would stand out in ways that would make random strangers comment on them.
Perhaps you can argue this is because as parents we'd hardly be likely to speak ill of any of our children, least of all those that passed on. But: Most SUDC cases will have in common that those children were generally healthy, not sickly. Their post-mortems will find nothing wrong with them to warrant their demise. Parents will comment how they were generally in very good form, happy and content.
Patrick was a most patient, gentle soul. Where other kids would shy away from strangers, he'd be open and trusting with them and would take them in with his charm and dimply smile. He loved the simple things in his little life. I have vivid memories of him happily climbing up the stairs at bedtime and sinking back onto his sheep pillow with a smile as he was put into the cot. He'd drink his baba, hand you the empty bottle, take the dodi (soother) and go off to sleep with the most content look on this face (mostly...of course there were exceptions!). Almost as though it was good to finally rest those old bones....
On occasion, I did catch myself thinking that kind, gentle Patrick was not for this world. I am not sure why but it was just a feeling I had.
These sort of feelings were echoed by some parents on the thread in the SUDC forum. Some recounted how strangers told them their child had something about them that made them seem they'd been around before. Some told how they could never envisage that child as a grown up.
I had heard of this thought about souls before. In its most simplistic form, the idea is that all souls are reborn. They enter this world having to learn lessons in order to evolve. They come back until all lessons have been learnt. When a child dies like this, they say this is an old soul, one that had only one lesson left to learn:
To experience unconditional love.
And all our earth angels were loved beyond measure...that is for certain.
Whether we believe in mediums and psychics and all that somes with them or not is insignificant. If that above thought brings peace and hope and sense to something so seemingly senseless, then so be it. I, for one, am fine with it.
If being Patrick's mammy helped his little soul learn what he needed to learn and allowed him to experience the unconditional love of a doting parent, then it was my privilege to have given him that.
Though it makes me wonder a bit about my own soul. What did it do to have to experience this sense of loss and sadness? Did it have too rosey a life before? Or must it learn strength resiliance and the ability to live a fulfilled, meaningful life even with this cross on its shoulder?
Or more to the point...What did my husbands soul get up to in a past life that it is being put through this? Maybe my little soul is just an innocent bystander here? One that was matched to his because it would be able to cope-ish?
Perhaps I should ask the husband to do a little "soul searching" on this subject! :p
P.S. Just don't get me thinking about children who die suffering, due to illness or, worse still, violently at the hands of others. I do not think I'll ever make my peace with that one. :(
