Memoir: night in a vacant, haunted hotel
yields surprising outcome
Kathleen
Berry leaned wearily against the bare plasterboard in rural Nevada's
shuttered, dusty Goldfield Hotel. There as the impartial observer for a TV news
crew's paranormal investigation of the reportedly haunted place, she expected
the subsequent 12 hours to be uneventful. After all, ghosts
didn't exist, right?
However,
those beliefs soon shattered; she experienced spirit activity on every floor.
Invisible fingers stroked her scalp, an unseen force charged her on the stairs
and more. The sum of those encounters pulverized her view on reality and made
her reevaluate her religious beliefs.
Berry
recounts the unusual night in her spirituality memoir, A
Reluctant Spirit: A True Tale of God, Ghosts and a Skeptical
Christian, along with:
- her
journey from paranormal skeptic to believer;
- the life
and afterlife insights she had;
- how she
relinquished her fear-based theology; and
- how she
reconciled her ghost experiences with Christianity.
Seven
lessons gleaned from interacting with spirits
-
Death: Berry no longer fears death, seeing the loss of our
physical shells as merely a transition from one realm to another.
-
Heaven: In the past, she'd believed heaven meant being
confined to a fluffy white cloud, a boring, but blessed existence. Now she
views heaven as offering the utmost freedom, one where we are rid of physical
constraints and can travel anywhere any time.
-
Hell: Berry believes damnation is something we choose
right after death when some of us fear meeting God and wrongly believe we'll be
harshly judged.
-
Judgment: Berry recognized how critical of others she'd
become in her strict belief in God. Today, she's a person she once would've
disapproved of.
-
Psychic Abilities: She thinks everyone has intuitive
ability and we all need to be open to the idea and aware of the energies around
us.
-
Vengeful God: Berry had equated strong faith with a
fear of the Most Divine. After this hotel experience and expecting to be smited
as a result, she discovered surprisingly that God wants to be loved and
respected, not feared.
-
Fear: Enduring that unusual night made her recognize
how scared she'd been in life and how that trepidation had evolved
into a wall between her and God.
Initially,
Berry thought her book would interest mainly Christians who'd experienced
paranormal activity. However, through reader feedback, she's found her memoir
touches a larger segment of the population, including those who: grieve the
loss of a loved one; face chronic illness and are seeking hope; feel
marginalized by religion or question their worthiness to be accepted by The
Divine; or seek their own unique spiritual path.
Berry's
book has received national accolades. Kirkus Reviews called it
"intriguing" and "a gripping
account." (Media note: see review at end of this
document.) Directors of the Association TransCommunication
wrote, "We recommend this book if you have experienced unexplainable
events or had a strong religious upbringing…A Reluctant
Spirit encourages all of us to be open to new experiences
and to the lessons they bring."
A
Reluctant Spirit: A True Tale of God, Ghosts and a Skeptical
Christian is available from Amazon.com and other
booksellers.
Berry is
available for media interviews.
Kirkus
Reviews 2014
"A
born-again believer makes a diverting adventure story out of embracing her
sensitivity to benevolent spirits. Berry's intriguing debut memoir suggests
that belief in the paranormal, including ghosts and psychic experiences, can be
reconciled with orthodox Christianity….Present tense narration and
convincing dialogue make for a gripping account and Berry successfully balances
abstract thought with physical realities; even a scene as simple as peeling
potatoes in her home allows for extended contemplation of spiritual happenings.
Intriguing as it is, the memoir is so full of subjective experience that it is
unlikely to convince doubters."
Berry
Bio
Kathleen
Berry, a community college publicist, was thrown into the world of ghost
hunters, psychics and mediums after the institution she works for started
offering non-credit supernatural programming. In 2008, she became manager of
the Nevada Ghost and Paranormal Series as well as the college's annual writers'
conference. She's been interviewed by George Noory on "Coast to Coast
A.M.," has given talks about her book and has taught writing and paranormal
courses. For more than two years, Berry has penned a weekly blog at her
website www.kathleenberry.com.
SOURCE:
Kathleen Berry