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Ok, so I have never been a believer in God, Satan, Heaven, Hell...afterlife...any of that. But now I think I need to reconsider and do some more research regarding my beliefs. My mother passed away on March 18th. After her funeral, my fiance was on his way back home to NC from Indy, which is where my parents are. His phone was laying in the console of his car, and took this picture, all by itself. The first one is the original, the second is after I changed some of the contrast and colors a bit. Is this really possible? I am starting to consider that maybe there is more out there what I originally thought.
What are your thoughts on this?
I am very sorry for the loss of your mother. Losing a parent is certainly enough to make you reflect on your own mortality.
I'm not sure what we are supposed to see in the picture that would shake your lack of faith. It is possible that your fiance dropped something on the phone, or hit with his elbow, and snapped a picture of the sun shining through the window. There is no reason to look for a supernatural explanation.
The night after my 52 year old husband died of cancer 9 years ago, he came to me, held my hands, and told me I would be alright, and that I had too much love in my heart to be alone for very long. I still remember the warmth of his hands in mine, and the tears pouring down my face. Was he a ghost? An angel? No. It was just a dream, something my brain thought I needed to hear to help me cope.
Loss of a loved one is difficult, and it is normal for you to look for something more.
In the photo is an outline of what looks like her face. There is no way that he could have done that...and it surely wasn't the sunlight. The picture was taken at 2am. His phone is not capable of taking a photo without the phone being open, and his console is up by the dashboard...no where near where he could have bumped it with anything.
I just don't understand how this could be if there is no "higher being" or whatever you want to call it. I always figured that once you die, that's it, there is nothing else after that. Maybe I have been wrong all these years...
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Although I just don't see a face, I do believe there is some sort of lingering energy or "spirit" that remains after a death...having nothing to do with a god. My son "contacted" me after his death...or at least I choose to believe he did. Dreams, certainly, but other bits and pieces of things that lead me to think maybe he was still around. I don't believe in ghosts but it is possible that our minds can connect with the energy of a lost loved one. Who knows? Maybe Sizzly is right and it is just our way of hanging on...whatever, it still can be a comfort and it is what you know it to be.
In the photo is an outline of what looks like her face. There is no way that he could have done that...and it surely wasn't the sunlight. The picture was taken at 2am. His phone is not capable of taking a photo without the phone being open, and his console is up by the dashboard...no where near where he could have bumped it with anything.
I just don't understand how this could be if there is no "higher being" or whatever you want to call it. I always figured that once you die, that's it, there is nothing else after that. Maybe I have been wrong all these years...
My reaction to your first post was that perhaps you were writing with your tongue in your cheek, but apparently such is not the case. I too am sorry for your loss. Loss is profoundly painful for atheists and believers alike, but I sometimes think especially so for us atheists because we do not have the salve that belief in afterlife and reunion can provide. We stand pretty exposed when it comes to loss.
How the picture appeared on the camera is beyond me, but I'd go with a naturalistic/techical explanation. You might be better off asking a camera expert. I must say, nothing about the pictures look even remotely like a face. I think that your mind has organized a percept under the influence of sadness and under the influence of a wish. Just my opinion.
There is certainly a long history of people seeing vague images of God--Jesus--the Virgin Mary--the departed-- etc in things like overexposed film, clouds, pizza sauce, oil spills, rock formations and the like. My reaction to these "manifestations" (other than often saying I don't think I see it) is this: if there is a God, or for that matter spirits or energy forces or whatever else people believe might live on and manifest themselves after death, why do such entities choose to show up in the most ridiculously unsatisfying ways. In other words, in ways that are so suspect and questionable and ambiguous to the point of being ludicrous. Why does the Virgin Mary, for example, appear in a remote mountain village in Chile and not, say, at half time during the Super Bowl? If God or spirits or beings from the other side manifest themselves in the kind of image you've posted here, I could only conclude that their powers are very weak indeed, or that they have a wickedly sadistic sense of humor.
Sorry about your mom, but the phone didn't take a picture of her because when we're dead, we're simply gone. There is more than one utterly possible technical explanation for the photo, no need to grasp at the non-existent supernatural.
This is something like finding the shape in the clouds game. If you will yourself to see something, it will happen. Much like the folks who see jesus in a piece of toast. I'm very sorry for your loss but I don't believe for a second this is some signal from the grave... perhaps a streetlight though.
Sorry about the death, but the picture does not look like a face to me. I think it looks like a glowing breast. I see them in lots of things. It must be due to being a breast feed baby, and really never getting over it.
In the photo is an outline of what looks like her face. There is no way that he could have done that...and it surely wasn't the sunlight. The picture was taken at 2am. His phone is not capable of taking a photo without the phone being open, and his console is up by the dashboard...no where near where he could have bumped it with anything.
I just don't understand how this could be if there is no "higher being" or whatever you want to call it. I always figured that once you die, that's it, there is nothing else after that. Maybe I have been wrong all these years...
If you are actually interested in possibilities, there are too many to list here. But I think you are looking for, or need, a supernatural explanation, and as you've stated, you feel there can be no other explanation except by a "higher being".
That would not be the interpretation of everyone, but in this case, it's yours.
V. sorry for your loss. I lost my mother a couple of eyars ago, preceded by my brothe,r in an unfortunate situation. Neither produced any religious events, and I've moved on, at peace with my own and the the larger world.
The world is full of supernatural forces. I believe that spirits of the dead sometimes do still exist on earth in some form, especialy if they have just recently dies. Maybe you should consider that this is true?
But there is no need to go and take up a religion just because of it.
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