A bald eagle in my area of the state is extremely rare. As you get closer to the Mississippi...they are more frequent. I have only seen a bald eagle twice in my 60 years here in Illinois....until last Saturday and then again yesterday ...Monday.

My dad passed away last Friday. The following happened exactly as I am posting. Take it for what you want....nothing but interesting coincidences....and I wont argue.

Saturday I was driving home from my stairshop when an approaching car was flashing its headlights as if to stop me. It was a car similar to my cousins car and I just assumed he wanted to give his condolences for my dads passing. We passed each other and I didn't notice who was driving. I just turned into a lane and waited. This car turned into a lane down the road and came back my way. It stopped in front of my dads cornfield still flashing its lights. I thought..."whatever....probably wanting to show me a flock of geese or something. I drove along my dads field and there is this bald eagle standing in the cornstalks. Third time I had ever seen one! Still no big deal.... Found out that the driver that was flashing me was a complete stranger and knew this was extremely rare and just had to flash his headlights at me. He had no idea that was in front of my dads field. He was just passing through. Still still no big deal...but getting interesting.....

and there is more.....

Yesterday, Monday morning I pulled into my stair shop at 7 a.m and just as I was getting out of my truck...a bald eagle came swooping over my shop and landed in a tree next to my chopper channel. I left my truck door open and went to take a picture. He had a twig in his mouth...and it resembled the typical olive branch an eagle carries. You cant make it out in my pictures though.

Then the eagle took off out of the tree...and I thought that was it. It wasn't. It kept circling around my shop,....and now it was really getting my attention. It acted like it was giving me a private airshow.


and there is more.....

That eagle then flew over the very tree that has a red tailed hawk nest in it. I have posted pictures hovering over that very tree showing a red tailed hawk looking up at me....that very tree with that nest. I captured that picture of the eagle flying over that hawk nest exactly like I made the same pass with my helicopter. Now this is getting my attention..,.

and there is more.....

That eagle landed in that tree next to the nest....and as soon as I captured that moment after stumbling with my camera.....,.I knew this was not by chance. You are entitled to your own opinion...I will not argue as I can not convey the feelings I was having.

Just some coincidences? very possible! Do I think this was dad flying over? Absolutely not! But in my opinion.....a God that can create our universe would surely be able to influence an eagles flight.

I called Arnie to share this...and then my wife called me on the land line phone. I hung up on Arnie....and shared this eagle sighting with Barbara. She then commented something I had not ever thought of.....She said..."Your dad had a tattoo of an eagle on his arm" My jaw just dropped....and I just now found that picture which is the last one here.


and there is still more...but I have to go to work...I cant make this stuff up

Holy crap Stan.... that story made my hairs on my neck stand up

Maybe it is in some way your dad letting you know all is well, it sure gave me a nice, happy lift all the way over the other side of the planet.... it must have been an awesomely uplifting event for you right there seeing it for yourself.... for something so uplifting to happen, making you feel happier in a time of grieving and change and like you always say, there are no coincidenses.... I would not doubt it is a sign of things being in balance and harmony

Just because our earthly body expires our spirit doesn't. I don't believe in coincidences. Or just rarely. I have a very strong suspicion he was talking to you Stan in a way spirits communicate and make themselves be seen and acknowledged!

Msdmuz- Glad it raised the hairs on your neck. I am a hard sell, but this was overwhelming...

Gabor- Listen to me. I really appreciated your comment. It shows you and I do have some common ground on these spiritual topics.

This is just one of many stories I could share that should be in Jakes excellent atheist thread. I just never knew where to start.


I do not believe these were coincidences....but of course coincidences happen all the time ....its when they compound that they start getting my attention, then keep compounding . I could tell so much more....but an elephant needs to be eaten one small spoonful at a time.

When one loves someone, and close bonds have formed, they talk to us for the rest of our lives, as they are part who we are. The 'coincidences' whether they exist or not, just remind us of this, and jog our memories from time to time. It's wonderful to to see the love and friendship you share with your dad.

Back in Canberra, a friend lost his father..... months later he was driving with his 2 year old son in the child seat in the back of the car.... he drove thru an intersection past a bar and he heard as clear as a bell a voice from the back set "that's where Frank, Jimmy and me used to play cards"..... He nearly shit himself and looked back in the back seat and only his boy was there The boy only spoke limited words but the comment was clear as anything..... spooky

Just goes to show, we know nothing about the connections between family and friends, both alive and passed..... but the 'good vibe' you got from the eagle encounter you had, simply means joy and wellbeing is being showed to you mate..... really happy for you

Edit: Depends how big the elephant is? I just like small ones, easy over on the barbeque

I have always believed in reincarnation. it really would be cool if you dad did come back as an Eagle, he was a strong man,and patriot, and he loved to fly, it would only be right for him to return as an Eagle. I saw an Eagle flying over our house the other day. it was a pretty sight.

Thanks for sharing.

.

I got goosebumps reading that Stan .... I count at least 10 rare and unusual events all happening together .... could very well be a sign from above

That Eagle may even do a flyby at the graveside service for your dad ... or it could sit in a tree and watch .... could happen .... see below .....

...............................................

trivia: We had no religion in our family , I became a Christian on my own when I was 35 when I read the bible for the first time in my life

My mom lived until she was 90 and spent her last couple of years in a nursing home ... but a few years earlier she had phoned me out of the blue and for two hours asked me every imaginable question about life after death , questions about the bible , and wanted to be sure she had salvation, and she asked me what she should do.

I gulped , looked at the phone in my hand and thought .... is this really happening ??? .... my mom and I were usually all thumbs in any conversation , and religion was practically unmentionable ... but I managed to stumble out the words .... you need to ask Jesus Christ into your heart and ask Him to forgive any mistakes you may have made in life , Accept Him as your Lord and Savior and He will take care of everything when when your life is finished down here

The she asked ... WHO DO I SEE ABOUT THAT ????

Wow !!! I was put on the spot .... I knew she probably thought she had to find a preacher or something .... so I said you can do it right here on the phone , and she did , the peace and assurance that came over her (and me) was amazing , those two hours with her were the best (and only) heart to heart conversation I ever had with my mom in 55 years. Shortly after that , her health declined and she finished her last couple of years in a nursing home and passed away at the age of 90

Sorry for the long ramble Stan ... when it came time for our family to plan her funeral , we hired a minister to do the actual service ... and then I did the eulogy ... and mentioned how she had accepted Christ over the phone ... most eyes were rolling in the audience ... religion had never been part of our family life ... it seemed out of place ... but I knew my mom would have wanted it mentioned.

My mom loved nature , wild flowers , alfalfa florets , honey bees .... as a matter of fact she would never allow us to spray malathion to kill mosquitoes on our farm .... because she didn't want to kill any of the honeybees .... I do not know how they did it , but the funeral home had found some wild flowers and alfalfa and made a nice wreath for on the casket at the graveside ... there was still snow on the ground and spring was a few weeks off.

Complete overcast , solid cloud from horizon to horizon ... it had been like that all day .... we were all gathered around getting ready to lower the casket into the ground .... the minister quoted the place in the bible where it says that some day in the future the Lord will come in the clouds and gather his people

The moment he said the word clouds ..... a perfect circle opened in the sky overhead and the sun shone down like a spotlight on that cemetery ..... at least a hundred honeybees appeared out of nowhere , landed on the flowers on the casket , took a sip of nectar and flew away ...... the circle of cloud that had opened up to let the sun shine through turned into an outstretched hand reaching down ..... the whole thing lasted about 15 seconds. .... all the people were gasping in amazement ... they even mentioned it in her obituary http://www.mckenziesportagefuneralchape ... ?id=271960

Sometimes God gives us evidence to go along with our faith. I think it would be cool if God sent those Eagles to do a flyby at your dad's graveside tomorrow


.....

Well I have always been VERY spiritual.
Couldn't deny nor get away from it. And I'll leave it at that.
Spirits surround us and time to time send us clues or reveal themselves.
We are antennas.
Some more some less sensitive.
I happened to be more. But we all have it.
Some learns to use it and some turns it off.
Spirits very much being able to communicate through suitable mediums and that medium CAN be an eagle per say!

People often tell me I am like an antenna...... only not very well tuned in to anything

My SWR is a bit out, the only gain I seem to get is weight......

.

I got a quick call from Stan after the funeral .... and typical of him .... THERE IS MORE !!!!

He said he will update us later.

If it is possible to have a million goosebumps ... I DID !!!!

Gabs..... we aren't talking about 'Jack Daniels' or 'schnapps'

Wow!!!!

AND THERE IS MUCH MORE!!

And more happened since I posted that story. Monday after all the pictures of the eagle flying around...I had to go to my step moms home for planning the funeral . The pastor was there...my sister and my stepmom. I had told my sister Janice about a wonderful sighting of a bald eagle but told her she would have to wait till the funeral to hear the story. During our meeting she scribbled out a scripture....Isaiah 40:31.......They that wait upon the lord....shall renew their strength....they shall mount up on wings as the eagles.....they shall run and not grow weary...they shall walk and not faint.

I looked at it and thought it was interesting to have the word eagle in it....

Well....the visitation was Tuesday night. At the end of a solid 4.5 hour steady stream of people...my amish buddy Howard Miller greeted me and said he had left some food and a card on my truck...it was locked and he didn't want me to drive off and lose it.

I went home last night from the visitation and opened his card. There he had hand written Isaiah 40:31 in the card. I cant make this stuff up. I posted a picture here of the card.

Dads funeral was today. I got up to tell the story of how my dad taught the guy that was stealing his gas a lesson by walking beans. Then I went on to tell the above eagle story with the latest additions that happened.

The crowd was very moved.....and I was wore out having people come up and say they had never heard me say so much in my life....with so much conviction. The whole funeral service was recorded and I will be getting many CD"s if anyone wants one. Forget my 15 minute part.....but I have never witnessed a more moving....happy funeral service in my life.

They sang How Great Thou Art in the service.....and then dad had always requested they sing Amazing Grace as his casket was lowered into the ground just like Ronald Reagans was.

and there is more...

If that was not enough....my cousin Jim Ehmen unbuttoned his coat after the burial just as we were coming out of the tent. He told me to look.....He was pointing to his tie that he had randomly picked out this morning...not knowing about what I was going to say in the service. It has an American eagle on it. I was very moved by that and everyone around was amazed.

and there is more.....then Jims son Luke noticed that he had a bald eagle on his tie also! He picked the tie only because of its color and had NO IDEA I was going to be talking about an eagle today.

I was blown away again....

and there is more.........at the grave side...I did not notice what exactly was on Lukes tie....It was just this evening when I looked at Lukes tie picture that I noticed it had Isaiah 40:31 all over it.

I cant stand anymore today!

I just now texted Luke this evening telling him his tie not only had a bald eagle on it...it also had the same scripture as my sisters note had....as well as Howard Millers handwritten note he gave me last night. Neither knew a thing about the other...or what I was going to say today.

He texted back "wow!" He had no idea he had even put a tie with an eagle on in this morning.

WOW,,,t,,,

God is good!

Truly AWESOME Stan ... thanks for the sharing .... what a tribute to a good man - the GIANT - in your life! ( & many others too be sure!)

No co-incidences ... we are more connected in life & after life than we realize!

... time for a new icon ....EAGLE!

I usually only see bald eagles when im in the woods. (Ive told this story in another thread).
Anyway, when I worked for a well know gyroplane manufacturer, I walked out of the hangar one day to see a huge bald eagle with a fish in its talons. It hovered about 30 feet from me and then dropped the fish in front of me as if it was a gift.

probably only one of very few times ive had a serious spiritual moment.
My condolences to you Stan.

Maybe it was trying to hit you with the fish and was thinking "Bugger, I missed him!"

I said bald eagle, not blind eagle.