Hacking the Afterlife with Jennifer Shaffer, Ronald Reagan, John McCain, Mr. Bailey, Luana and friends

Another example of the kind of kismet that happens when Jennifer and I meet up. We don't plan a guest list, we have Luana Anders, our moderator on the Flipside who does that for us.

In this episode, the first person that comes through is Mr. Bailey, Luana's cat.  When Luana was on her death bed, her cat escaped from her house and disappeared. She called me in a panic. My soon to be wife Sherry went with me to see if we could find her. Sherry went into the backyard and said a prayer aloud: "Mr. Bailey, Luana needs you now." The cat appeared in the tree above, and jumped into Sherry's arms, a person she'd never met.

Mr. Bailey wanted to talk about how animals have the ability to communicate to the afterlife, and while people may have filters on the brain that prevent them from that awareness, animals do not. Mr. Bailey confirmed what we've heard in the past; "animals understand how incarnation works, but humans do not."

Hard for some folks to contemplate; dogs smell cancer, elephants can communicate over ten miles, octopuses have 9 brains, and do more with one year of life than humans can do in 90.  Some other pets stopped by to give their support.

Then former President Reagan stopped by.  He said that our interview with JFK (a number of years ago, it's in the book BACKSTAGE PASS TO THE FLIPSIDE) inspired him to say hello.  He pointed out that he's had a number of lifetimes with Nancy in the past - even if he was married to someone else to begin with. (Jane Wyman whom Ronald said "raised him.") 

I asked who in our classroom of notaries had invited him and he said it was John McCain. John came by some years ago after he passed to ask us to pass along a private message to his daughter, which I did through a producer at Coast to Coast radio.  I don't know if she dismissed the message, as I've yet to hear from her.

But in those earlier conversations he confirmed a number of things only he could know - or be aware of.  People I interviewed in his office for the film "Three for the Road" and later, talked about meeting his victims of the Vietnam war on the flipside - and them understanding each other as players in a drama.

He talked about the politics of the era when he passed, and this veiled reference to Steve Schmidt's 2020 comments about the current President were what I was referring to as someone had reposted them the other day.

We've heard it often - people act out difficult roles onstage to get others to react and do that thing that they're supposed to do.  However, in terms of political debate, the former President deferred from doing so - as he put it "I just came by to express concern for how divide the country is."

I asked if there was any advice he could give - some kind of grand gesture or action people could do. His answer was simple, yet profound. Smile.  Start smiling to people we know, then more that to people we don't know, then move that to people we may not like. Just the physical act of smiling changes the paradigm, and everyone can do that on their own.

It sounds miniscule - but instead of arguing with someone who clearly still exists on the flipside, I think it's wise to consider that they're saying instead of belittling or berating it.  He was consider the great communicator - and why not listen to his advice.

To be clear; we've communicated with a number of Presidents, both Bushes, Jimmy Carter, LBJ, Nixon, JFK, FDR and Truman.  Again - I ask the questions and Jennifer gives verbatim what she's hearing or sensing. It's possible miscommunicate, but when you've been working with someone weekly for ten years, if one is paying attention, we can see that these folks show up often to talk to us.

And in this case - Ronnie himself.  While people may start with a defensive posture - defending him, or upset that he might speak on our podcast - the point is that anyone can invite him to have a conversation and see what he says.

As noted, we have the current President's father and brother on a podcast, and the last President's late son Beau on that same podcast. It's mind bending to hear them talk about the play we're all involved in.  How we should spend more time talking to each other, coming together, than coming apart.

Hard to fathom in today's climate, that that is the message that is repeated often.

Enjoy.