By Rick Hinton
It’s the holidays, and sometimes you just have to do it: grab the dictionary and spend time on a term that has nagged at the back of your mind. As you leaf through the thin pages – with each turn crinkling in that paper way – there becomes a sense of resolution.
Webster’s Dictionary defines paranormal as, “Not scientifically explainable; outside the realm of normal knowledge or description.”
Supernatural, however is more detailed: “Relating to an order of existence beyond the visible observable universe; departing from what is usual or normal, so as to appear to transcend the laws of nature; attributed to an invisible agent existing outside the forces of nature.”
If you are of the opinion that both terms – paranormal and supernatural – define the meaning of “out of the ordinary,” then both terms mean the exact same thing.
The lore of the supernatural started in our childhood with Santa’s annual visit … never mind the logistics of such a feat. As a child it was a mystery without equal, culminating as Christmas Eve melded into the early morning hours. There were the plates of nibbled cookies and half drank glasses of milk as evidence to his visit; and also, the feeling that something beyond the ordinary had occurred while we slept.
This is the season we recognize the birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. If His birth, short walk upon this earth, death and resurrection is not supernatural in nature, then what is? His infinite love, grace, patience and blessings that consistently transform our lives are truly nothing short of supernatural, or for that matter – paranormal.
Webster’s also defines supernatural as, “Relating to God or a god, demigod, spirit or devil; miraculous or divine; of ghosts, demons, etc.” Food for thought!
Supernatural and paranormal can apply to a realm of ghostly remnants that remain behind after death; or that of the miraculous. It is believed that the holiday season is particularly ripe for paranormal activity because of the focus upon Christ. Makes a kind of sense. …
The search for the existence of spiritual entities will continue to fall within a capsule of making sense of something “out of the ordinary.” Perhaps you haven’t experienced it for yourself. That doesn’t make it any less plausible, only that your time has not yet come. Perhaps it never will, and that’s OK with most folks. As with the supernatural aspects of Santa Claus, and certainly the validation that there is a God and Jesus dwelt among us for a short time, it is a big mysterious world out there! Don’t turn your mind off to the possibilities.
Have a Merry Christmas!
