Jeanne Marie Ketchel
Channeled by Jan Ketchel

Today, Chuck asks a question.

Dear Jeanne,
On Saturday, I wrote about the time of now, the darkening of the light. Recently, we, and many people within our sphere, have been dealing with sudden death, near death, and imminent death. This weekend has brought the unexpected death of a young person, as well as several serious car accidents of some young people, including our daughter Erica. Jan and I have also been dealing with issues surrounding the end of life decisions of an elderly family member. As darkness descends I see its message of death as an advisor. We truly live as if we are immortals in our bodies. I see darkness as it encroaches upon the light, stirring us to carefully protect and truly actualize our lives. I ask for your commentary.

My Dear Ones, when death comes into your lives there is but one thing to remember and one thing to contemplate and that is that all must die. It is an inevitable fact of life. However, while you live you must learn to truly live and this is what death reminds you of as well. Death is not an end in itself, though it is the demise of the human form. But in reality it is new life, as a new birth into energetic form takes place at the moment of death. In order to truly learn from the experiences of death, near death, and the natural ending of life that you have lately been experiencing, so must you turn to your knowledge of life as energy and energy as eternal.

Facing death holds much sorrow and sadness for those who must contend with loss, but death is the great releaser of energy that is no longer needing connection to life upon that earth. At release comes great awareness of the self as energy and as having lived upon the plane of earth for a reason, but it is also the moment of decision for what comes next. This I have spoken of before and it must become a part of your awareness of death, that it is not truly loss, but truly new life for the one who takes the releasing journey.

Now, to address the natural end of life; this must become a common thread throughout life, that each of you may live long lives and face your own death in aged physical disrepair. This is your choice, once made a long time ago. What are you supposed to learn from the process you go through with the elderly in your lives? What does the natural end of life process that you are partaking in now teach you about the self? How will you approach your own natural demise, if this be your journey?

To address the question of accidents, I think you already know that there is no such thing as an accident. In your own lives, My Dear Ones, what does an abrupt halt to your plans show you? Are you being asked to slow down? Are you being asked to take another route? Are you being shown that you have been too hasty, too reckless, too slow, too thoughtless, too unaware, or even perhaps too inflated?

These questions, and many more, may lead to clarity in discovering why a young person, even our own daughter, must suffer a serious and abrupt change in direction. Such a time offers the opportunity to search within the self for answers, rather than place blame or reason for pain upon others. Even young people are given the opportunity to deeply contemplate the value they place upon their own bodies, as you surmise, Chuck.

This leads now to your own essay, My Dear Chuck, regarding the darkening of the light. Such a time asks for collective inner contemplation, as exhibited by the events of death and near-death all around you. A collective inward turning to the inner light will hold, solidly protected, the truth of each of you, but it will also hold protected the collective truth that cannot be released at this time.

There is a new energy that has been making its way toward great change upon that earth and each of you who reside there now have some of this energy within. You would not be there otherwise. Even those who do not appear to carry this light of change that is so necessary and vital have been the bearers of those of you who do carry it. So do not look upon the dissenting or the deniers as anti-change. They play their parts. But now, during a time of darkening, it is as you have already pointed out, a time to go innerly, to hold onto the inner truth of the self, as an individual, knowing that this is the collective truth seeking change, seeking release into new life, the same metaphor I choose to use for death.

So you see, life and death are but different forms of the same thing. They are collective energy individualized, in each one of you who are the bearers of new life, in one form or another. You always carry new life within you, even as you must confront death in its many forms and its many messages, teaching you to look to the self.

The time of inward turning does not mean the death of change, it means that a time of incubation must be undertaken in order for the collective truth to become known, as well as the individual understanding of why sudden deaths, accidents, and even expected deaths are present. All energy is guiding energy. All events, challenges, tests, and processes are valuable, no matter what age. Find the inner truth based on what you know about energy within the physical body and what you know about that same energy outside of the body. Each of you, if you have not consciously experienced the self as energy, do dream each night, taking journeys in your energy body, and this is what you must use to guide you in understanding energy, life, and death.

In conclusion, a journey belongs to an individual, no matter the age or the maturity. Each person must make choices as to how they will grow and deal with the circumstances they find themselves in. Even our daughter must discover why she is in the painful state she now finds herself in. And if she is not truly ready to understand, then that is fine, for she is learning so much of value anyway. The mature ones among you must step back and truly let nature take its course. The energy of life must be allowed to evolve whether it be continued life upon that earth in physical form or not. Whether that form is temporarily or permanently damaged, so must the energy in each individual be allowed to teach the lessons without interference.

Guidance and advice may always influence another but, ultimately, each individual must decide for themselves how to live and how to die. Both are choices, and they are supremely important decisions that must be attended to, no matter the age.

Collectively and individually, as you suggest and I concur, it is now a time to not only protect and value physical self and the experiences being presented, but also to energetically keep the inner light alive, fed, and nurtured by what is most important for now.

I hope this message aids you as the coming weeks of outer darkness approach asking for greater inner turning. Keeping the flame well tended is the antidote. You are certainly right about that, My Dear Chuck. Thank you for keeping the light.