Down the Rabbit Hole

Mediums and Melodrama

I made the mistake of staying up last night to watch Hereafter, a movie directed by Clint Eastwood and staring Matt Damon as a reluctant medium and tells the story of three lives altered by death and their ties to the hereafter. It was one of those films that tells a story in such an understated manner that you are forced to ponder the subtleties well after the credits roll. I laid awake in the dark hours after, thinking about life after death and what I really believed. Do I believe there are those among us who, like Matt Damon's character, have the ability to attain psychic connection with the dead? While the idea comforts me, do I really believe men like Jonathan Edwards can in fact, pass along messages from those who have passed? As a student of science, I demand proof but as a woman of faith, I am willing to accept that true mediums exist. There is a scene when the young male character who has lost his twin in a tragic accident, goes in search of a way to connect with his brother. He meets a range of people who claim to be able to put him in touch with his departed, only to find that most are either charlatans and cheats or well-intentioned people who posses no true ability. Meanwhile, Matt Damon's character is trying only to lead a normal life, one not dictated by the demands of the grieving or burdened by the messages their dead wish to impart. There is a line where he insists his ability is "not a gift but a curse" and I can see how much that might be true. Think about it, nearly everyone has lost someone we love and if we knew of someone who could step in and forge a reconnection, a conduit to that person, no matter how brief, wouldn't we seek them out? Wouldn't we demand an audience with our dead? In fact, the need for us to stay connected to our loves ones even in death is the reason why there are so many out there claiming to have the ability to deliver just that. It is a demand-driven industry, one with no down season and no target demographic, it is a universal need. While I missed those that have passed on terribly and I want to believe that some bonds are too strong to be separated by the wall of death - I also hope that what lies beyond that wall is far more rewarding and compelling than hanging onto the outskirts of this life. I believe our souls are always connected to those that have passed but that is not a connection that is supposed to remain open like a telephone line we can access at will. I think there is supposed to be a point when we are left behind to live the lives we are supposed to have and that it is the promise of being able to connect with our loved ones again in the hereafter, that keeps us believing, keeps us questioning, that gives us hope. I think it is what keeps us honest and fragile and beautifully human.