EXCERPTS | messages

Excerpts from MESSAGES

From Chapter Fifteen: A Summation

Before his near-death-experience, Dr. Eben Alexander—who taught and performed neurosurgery at the Harvard Medical School—concurred with most of his fellow scientists by assuming that the brain produces consciousness. But after a close brush with death following a weeklong coma, as a rare form of bacterial meningitis attacked his brain, Dr. Alexander’s worldview changed.

I recently spoke with Dr. Alexander and asked him a few questions about his experience. This prompted him to share his greatest revelation, previously expressed to colleagues in question form, “Do you know what this means?!” Dr. Alexander then shared his perspective, mirroring my view, that consciousness is primary and that matter and form are creative expressions produced by consciousness—and that the spiritual realm is real.

From Chapter Ten: Robin's Flight

Remarkably, we started receiving after death communications almost immediately after Robin’s passing. The first incident involved my sister’s friend Denise Huber almost fifteen hours after Robin’s passing. Denise was home, visiting with her cousin Jodi who noticed a wristwatch lying on a table in the living room. After taking a brief glance, Jodi noticed something unusual and asked Denise, “Did you happen to see what time is showing on this watch?” Judy then handed the watch to Denise and she saw that it was frozen on 2:45, which was the exact time of Robin's passing.

The next episode involves a Phoenix, Arizona-based Medium, Melinda Vail, with whom I’d had two prior readings. My last meeting with Melinda occurred nearly a year earlier. I found her to be very precise—capable of providing names and many other specifics including uncannily accurate descriptions of the deceased persons’ personality traits. In this regard, I recall a rather funny incident during our second reading when my father apparently tossed a risqué innuendo in Melinda’s direction, causing her to stammer and blush. I found this episode quite amusing as it fit perfectly with my dad’s fun-loving, flirtatious personality.

Less than two weeks after Robin’s passing my friend Joe Colucci received an unexpected call from Melinda who asked him how I was doing.

Not wanting to tip his hand, Joe replied, “He’s doing fine, why?”

Melinda followed, “Someone by the name of Roberta or Robin came to me and asked that I let Mark know that she is safe.” Joe then told Melinda that I’d just lost my sister, Robin.

While it is theoretically possible that Melinda could have seen my sister’s obituary, I don’t believe that is what happened. The column appeared only once—eight days earlier and there didn’t seem to be a compelling reason for such a delayed response. Also, if this were Melinda’s method of operation, it would require that she scan the newspaper on a daily basis year round. If she had known the correct information from the start there would have been no need for her to share the incorrect name “Roberta.”

The hits kept coming. On Sunday December 9^th, a young woman named Darinka, who works as a Med-Tech at my mom’s assisted living center, was driving to work. During her commute, Darinka heard a voice say, “Buy some apples.” Although she felt a strong urge to visit the grocery store, Darinka didn’t have time to stop without being late for work so she continued on. After arriving at the center she spent the entire day consumed by a strong desire to leave for the store because her impulse to buy apples was almost overwhelming.

Darinka later told me that she rarely shares her “inspirations” with people because they don’t understand but felt compelled to tell my mom about this particular episode. While the voice didn’t tell her that the apples were for my mom, Darinka knew it intuitively. Her decision to share this insight with my mother turned out to be a positive, because—unbeknownst to Darinka, my sister always made a point of bringing apples to my mother.

Amazingly, my sister’s friend, Denise Huber brought groceries to my mom later that same day but forgot to include the apples that she’d purchased for her. After hearing these two stories, which appeared interrelated, I spoke to Denise and asked if she had told anyone about the apples that she’d forgotten. After chuckling at her oversight, Denise confirmed that she had not spoken to a soul and was quite surprised to hear the rest of the story. I then spoke to Darinka and she was also stunned to learn that Denise was planning to bring my mother apples but that she’d forgotten them. It seemed my sister knew in advance that Denise would drop the ball—so to speak—resulting in her request for assistance from another party.

From Chapter One: The Why

Sometimes people don’t understand the reasons why I—a person they view as grounded and practical—chose to explore and write about psychic phenomena and mediumship. They wonder about my basis for directing bereaved persons to mediums for readings or “sittings” as they are also called. Apparently I don’t exude the sort of vibe expected of someone interested in the “paranormal” or the metaphysical because of my sensible approach to things.

The short answer to both questions is that I have an intimate knowledge of the pain associated with the death of a loved one, having lost my youngest son, Brandon, in early 2004. Losing someone so close—especially a child—is often the most painful event a person will ever experience. For some, the effects of grief can be crippling. They can ripple out for months, years, or even a lifetime.

But I’ve also seen the healing effects that a good reading can have on the bereaved. I’ve experienced this process firsthand. And I only refer people to the best mediums—the ones who have generated exceptional results on a repeated basis, under controlled conditions.

My father, Richard Ireland, was a highly capable psychic-medium as well as a minister. On many occasions I saw him serve as an instrument of spirit-communication, yielding moving, specific validations that infused me with confidence in the reality of the other side of life. Referenced by various religious traditions, I refer to those non-physical realms of being where those we call “deceased” now dwell—and with whom a few of those we call “living” are able to communicate—through a variety of channels.

As noted, I have witnessed the positive effects that a reading can have on someone navigating the turbulent waters of grief—when the medium is able to reveal specific, meaningful information. Observing such individuals before and after readings, I noted that something usually changed. More times than not the end result was positive—the outcome was transformative, accelerating their healing process. In one instance, a bereaved father had a breakthrough when medium Tina Powers shared specific, impactful details about his deceased son that he said “there was no way she could have known.” Before this, the man had essentially lost all hope, was destitute, and seriously questioning his own faith. Afterward he was relieved, as if a major burden had been removed. He explained that these key pieces of obscure information, shared by Tina, were his bridge to hope.