Preface
 

      It was when miracles started happening to me and others I prayed/meditated for that I realized the spiritual methodology that I engaged was not only working, but in more force than anticipated.

      Did my method speak to God, the universe, Native American spirit guides, Buddhist Bodhisattvas, guardian angels, or deceased loved ones?  For me, it was all of the above, though perhaps those were not the only forces behind my godly answers. Nor do they comprise all genres in the universe’s spiritual jukebox: e.g., chanting, quantum mechanics, symbol work, journaling, remote healing—

      Juxtaposed, I am astounded at the utter entrancement and beguilement society has with smartphones (full-fledged computers/communication devices). The roboticizing of people and dependency created by these 2–7 billion transistor-filled boxes has hit a profound level, stripping individuals from natural awareness, in-person contact, real surroundings, and the magic of touch. This does not preclude e-devices causing 1.5 million automobile crashes annually.

      Likes, videos, and texts seem the prevalent icing on our 21st Century’s interpersonal realm. Apart from the gratification and resource these phones bring to our ears and eyes, the bad news is we are merely in the infancy of computerizing the human species into governmental, technological, and hazardous control (e.g., radiation from wireless devices, including 5G’s cancer-causing wavelengths; loss of constitutional freedoms; camera’s in anyone’s hand and general locality, cancer-inflicting chemicals virtually everywhere; toxic, geoengineered spraying over North America (legalized in 1997), state lockdowns…more).

      Good or bad, computers are becoming humanized at an alarming rate and humans are becoming computerized at an equivalent pace: This has historically never happened. Even humankind’s most traitorous industrialized revolution, which made society work like machines, did not make people controlled by them. It also prompted religious engagement, often as hope to survive society’s industrialized hardship.

      How all of these factors affect our spirituality, consciousness, and organic connection to one another comprises one aspect of this book. Things like religious miracles, a supreme creator, cyber world’s diversion or enhancement of spiritualism, importance of virtuous practices, scrutinizing divine believers and non-believers, decrying or promoting the Church, migration of people away from traditional religion, crossovers from biblical passages to real-world on goings, and other popular aspects of spirituality are also viewed, though these are not the book’s most underlying message.

      The main focus of my writing is something more paramount and sublime than spiritual excitation or entropy. It is about you, I…everyone, all with disparate views on worship and higher-level work, if any. Its apogee is how we share commonality from an earthly and spiritual standpoint, at whatever level and form, and how that fabric is auspiciously woven from an agnostic’s disacknowledgment of anything divine, up through a fundamentalist’s divine reverence.

      This is also not a how-to book on evolving inner peace, love of one’s self, or achieving inner balance. There are plenty of books that provide elevation on such topics. Albeit, this book does view notions of theology, acceptance, and self-development as part of its superposition and inimitable journey. In short, Whatever Happened to OGD (OGD explained later) lends itself to fostering humanism with regards to spirituality, including a wealth of evolving influencers throughout history, scrutinizing common clichés about God, and understanding the impact of today’s cyber world. Belief intertwines with life experiences and knowledge to propel humankind’s indelible quest for truth and existence.

      Our propensity to find a higher purpose in life should respect the genuineness of anyone’s spiritual path/ righteousness. Any peaceful line of faith derives from a few elemental truths from which innumerable practices and interpretations derive. The tenor of higher power and growth does not necessarily hinge on method—almost all methods are effectual, even earthly good deeds. Prayer, meditation, charity, gratitude, helping those in need, active listening, and compassion serve as examples of how we engage in a higher purpose of religious or secular principle.

      Fundamentalists require an unabridged commitment to God. Moreover, one will ultimately not be admitted to heaven—perhaps burn in hell—if he or she falls short of this obligation. Atheists and agnostics would dispute this as non-existent, even fatuous. Less fundamental spiritual practitioners see it as more organic; the fostering of one’s Higher-Self through any number of means, and what happens after death occurs as a transformation of soul, perhaps in candidacy for reincarnation.

      So, who is right?

      My indestructible grandmother’s deceased six-month old infant once returned as a ghost at the foot of her bed…a grandmother as truthful as a Puritan. She told me that story when I was seven years young; long after she also told it to her daughter around that age. I don’t know if the infant was capable of believing in God, being so young. Yet, he, Bunny, assuredly appeared from an altered dimension of which we do not know.

      Other individuals have prayed to God on battlefields and survived against astonishing odds. People have used symbols as a channel to remotely heal individuals through paranormal means. Some have achieved their aspirations by journaling and various forms of meditation and verse.

      In my case, I once screamed in anger to God, swearing and bargaining with it over a sticky monetary situation—three cardinal sins: bargaining with God, swearing in vain, and asking for more money. Yet, my invective (prayer?) worked to its fullest extent, with an unthinkable bonus thrown in…truly a miracle. This story and others are expounded in this book.

      Fascinating aspects of science, technology, and history have also weighed in on the enigmatic nature of religion and other forms of transcendence. This includes not only the power of God, but the power of human consciousness through prayer, meditation, remote healing, and mass consciousness, all imposing miraculous outcomes on people.  Also of intrigue are the stunning parallels that link ancient mythology to scriptures practiced today. It seems that the notion of God and transcendence apply to any number of calculi.

      The diverse nature of religiosity, spirituality, and secular belief has had some profound components. These range from fateful cause and effect (e.g., crusades, heinous crimes, healing, charity, chance, and new spiritual sanctums), to fascinating transdimensional work. Throw in quantum mechanics and possible alien intervention to the reliquary, and the examination of humankind’s origins, energetic possibilities, higher connection, and the universe assume a growing fascination and complexity.

      So, after all the theories, interpretations, and beliefs about God, no God, spirituality, consciousness of the universe and our existence, maybe our existential connection to one another and a deemed higher power of whatever kind is enough to embrace one another in an accepting fashion.

      Our survival as a species and draw toward ascension engages over classic models, such as Abraham Maslow and Edmond Gettier, regarding psychology, knowledge, and self-development. This is illustrated throughout the book for grasping human behavior and justifying one’s insight to a higher purpose.     

      Biblical references have proclaimed we are all children of God and God loves us all. Buddhism positions that we and everything in the world are interconnected. The Quran emphasizes the oneness of human beings under Allah. Quantum Theory positions our reality is only a perceived one, not the universe’s true reality, as humans become part of its fantastic consciousness/energetic fabric. In all, we are elementally connected in ways space is ineffably woven—from scientific discernment to the grasp of God in whatever form.

      Our primal differences were once seen as an impetus for survival against one another. Now they can serve as a personal channel for love and acceptance, of which one’s Higher Self becomes an integral part. Everything in our race coexists in varied form and we are innately a creative species. No person’s views are the end-all for everyone. Ultimately what counts is embracing life’s many gifts and each other through the virtuous means one chooses, ranging from simple good deeds to monotheism.

      At times you will be challenged by sprinkles of 20th-Century New York writing and rousing content in this book. Reality can be intriguing or exigent, so at times Gen X and older folks will need an E Ticket for the ride. As for Millennials and Gen Z: Hint, ‘E’ does not refer to anything electronic: Wiki your E ticket. And this brings me to my dubious, humorous, improv sprinkled throughout the book as levity to its ardent content.

      Take pleasure in this multifaceted journey of God’s, or no God’s, omnipresence with humankind. Learn to understand spiritualism’s diverse sides, atheism included, throughout a long history of human evolution and thought.

      Whatever happened to OGD? Find the answer at the end of this book. But don’t fast-forward as I put a lot of effort and uncommon insight into the journey.

      Enjoy.