Author: Manny Kagan

But there are people who do not know how to read, for various reasons. As a matter of fact, according to a study conducted by the U.S. Department of Education and the National Institute of Literacy in April 2014, 32 million adults in the U.S. can’t read. That’s about 14 percent of the population. 21 percent of adults in the U.S. read below a 5^th grade level and 19 percent of high school graduates cannot read at all. This statistic is mind boggling.

I found out about this by coincidence. While helping a client with a complicated mortgage solution, we became instant friends. Her father, who is a farmer in Washington State, came for a visit and brought some of the products of his labor. One day, my client surprised me by giving a huge jar of the most delicious apple cider that I’ve ever tasted in my life, as well as some other tasty goodies. To express my gratitude, I asked her if I could send him a book, “The Second Nature: A Gardener’s Education”, written by Michael Pollan. A few weeks later, she called me with excitement in her voice. Her dad received the book—it was the first one he had ever received in the mail. She also told me that he was illiterate for many years, and finally learned to read a few years ago, and liked Michael Pollan’s book very much.

According to Wikipedia, “music is an art form whose medium is sound”. Sound is vibration, which we perceive through our ears. Light, which we perceive with our eyes, is also vibration. At the same time, we can visualize things with closed eyes and hear sounds with the inner ear in our minds.

The famous composer Ludwig Von Beethoven composed music even after he became deaf. It is said, that good musicians make music, instead of playing it. The same is said about good photographers, who manifest an image versus just taking a picture. All this leads to the realization that sound is based on our seismic communication, which actually is not one of our traditional five senses, but is often used to express our feelings.

In the Torah’s text, the first line states “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…” (Genesis 1:1). Thus, when our world was created there were not one, but a multitude of heavens. According to the accounts of Dr. Alexander and others, who experienced NDE, it seemed that what we call our soul, left the body and traveled through different heavens towards the light. There, it met the souls of their departed relatives, and guardian angels, who are also mentioned in the Torah, “And God said, ‘Let us make Man in Our image, after Our likeness’” (Genesis 1:26). But none of the people who reported their experience of NDE met the reputable 72 virgins in the heavens, which according to some sources is the reward expected by the Islamic martyrs.

But how about communicating with our departed ones? Is it possible? Author Mitch Albom, whose first book, “Tuesdays With Morrie: An Old Man, A Young Man, and Life’s Greatest Lessons” became a best seller, has his own take on this subject in his latest book, “The First Phone Call From Heaven”. His theory is one’s quest of the afterlife accompanies humans from our birth. Some religions promise the paradise as a salvation for those who suffer in their life on earth, or to sinners after their repentance. But what happens after we die? According to Dr. Eben Alexander and others, what we call the heavens or paradise is filled with love. Do we need to wait until we die to experience it? I do not think so. Love is everywhere. The Bible tells us “love your enemies” (Matthew 5:43-45).

Many people like dogs (or cats), though not everyone is willing to have them. In the past 35 years living in San Francisco, we’ve had two dogs. The first one Amber—an Irish Setter, was a lady with a temper. She would run away jumping over the neighbor’s fence and I had to chase her all over the neighborhood. After she was hit and killed by a car in front of our house, we decided that our next dog would have short legs.

Angus, a Welsh Corgi, was a perfect choice. He was from a champion lineage and our adopting him was under the condition that we show him at dog competitions. But as he grew, he became a giant Corgi (perhaps we fed him too generously). So, his showmanship career was over. We had Angus for 13 years. He loved to go with us to The Sea Ranch and did not want to go back to San Francisco. When we would start packing, he would stick his face into the corner, hiding it from us, as he tried to make himself “invisible”, since he did not want to go back. He was a good walking companion until the last year of his life, when he preferred to just lay down. One day, he let me know that it was enough for him. With tears in my eyes, I drove him to the vet where we said good-bye.