joe1776
Well-Known Member
On a perfect Autumn day, I chucked my office work and headed for the racetrack to watch the beautiful thoroughbred horses run and to spend the day in the sunshine.
I was leaving the grandstand, headed for the paddock (saddling area) when I felt a presence within me. A very quick "newsreel" rolling of several mundane events in my life was followed by a powerful feeling of being loved. The message I received was that the Presence Within knew everything I'd ever done. That was followed by a feeling of being loved, a feeling so intense that it frightened me. I thought I was dying.
I then got a vision that was like a five-second video of poor quality. It showed the finish of a horse race. The winner, racing on the inside, was a chestnut carrying the number five saddlecloth. The second place finisher, about ten feet back, and on the outside, was a bay. Its saddlecloth number wasn't visible. The other horses in the race were not visible.
As I walked to the paddock, this vision ran over and over, like a one minute looped video. It blocked my view when I looked straight ahead, yet I could look down or to the side to see well enough to make my way through the crowd. At the paddock, I confirmed that the number five horse in the upcoming race was indeed a chestnut. 20 minutes later, the number five chestnut won the race just as I had foreseen in the vision.
Later, I realized that the vision of the race was confirmation of the experience. Had it not been for the vision of the horse race, my logical mind would likely have determined that the loving presence I felt was simply a delusion.
The presence didn't identify itself for me, so I can only speculate that it might have been a higher power capable of unconditional love.
I have reasoned that unconditional love does not rule out the use of punishment when employed as a tool for teaching. However, the old Christian belief in eternal punishment (Hell) for non-believers strikes me as vengeance, incompatible with unconditional love. In fact, if there is a religion that teaches unconditional love I'm unaware of it.
I was leaving the grandstand, headed for the paddock (saddling area) when I felt a presence within me. A very quick "newsreel" rolling of several mundane events in my life was followed by a powerful feeling of being loved. The message I received was that the Presence Within knew everything I'd ever done. That was followed by a feeling of being loved, a feeling so intense that it frightened me. I thought I was dying.
I then got a vision that was like a five-second video of poor quality. It showed the finish of a horse race. The winner, racing on the inside, was a chestnut carrying the number five saddlecloth. The second place finisher, about ten feet back, and on the outside, was a bay. Its saddlecloth number wasn't visible. The other horses in the race were not visible.
As I walked to the paddock, this vision ran over and over, like a one minute looped video. It blocked my view when I looked straight ahead, yet I could look down or to the side to see well enough to make my way through the crowd. At the paddock, I confirmed that the number five horse in the upcoming race was indeed a chestnut. 20 minutes later, the number five chestnut won the race just as I had foreseen in the vision.
Later, I realized that the vision of the race was confirmation of the experience. Had it not been for the vision of the horse race, my logical mind would likely have determined that the loving presence I felt was simply a delusion.
The presence didn't identify itself for me, so I can only speculate that it might have been a higher power capable of unconditional love.
I have reasoned that unconditional love does not rule out the use of punishment when employed as a tool for teaching. However, the old Christian belief in eternal punishment (Hell) for non-believers strikes me as vengeance, incompatible with unconditional love. In fact, if there is a religion that teaches unconditional love I'm unaware of it.
