Light of the Nations
Telephone: 812-837-9976
E-mail: info@lightofthenations.org
7777 South State Road 446
Bloomington, IN 47401
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Light of the Nations
Extraordinary Happenings - Blessings in Their Lives
Based on the personal experiences of Bruce and Diane David
Carl Jung, the renowned psychiatrist, spent much of his life researching ‘coincidences.’ Because of his fascination with this phenomenon, he coined the word ‘synchronicity,’ defined as a ‘meaningful coincidence of two or more events where something other than the probability of chance is involved.’ He certainly would have been extremely intrigued by reading the amazing number of times this has occurred to us. Our life adventures continuously surpass “kawinkidinks,” which are defined as extremely unusual coincidences.
Additionally, on a personal level, our life experiences are defining moments and major contributors as to why we believe there is an Intelligent Power engaging with, and influencing, humans, in this spacetime. These extremely unusual occurrences have opened our eyes to the endless possibilities for the future of existence beyond this lifetime. Read on and see what we mean.
What are the odds of any of these following events happening, much less all of them?
While these experiences are uniquely beyond of the beyond, in truth, the “ordinary” is extra-ordinary in our lives! And in yours!”
Love, Bruce & Diane
Their First Meeting (2-1974)
They met at a “drug deal!” Diane was this beautiful, flirty Catholic girl with a conservative, straight laced, doctor-to-be boyfriend, and Bruce was an afro sporting Jewboy driving a hot red/orange convertible Mustang! And the sparks flew!
Fortunately, it was a “legal drug deal.” Diane worked as a pharmacist technician at a department store gone bankrupt. Bruce was the grandson of the owner of a pharmaceutical distribution warehouse sent to collect cash for their purchase of prescription medicines. When Bruce asked her out, having a steady boyfriend didn’t stop Diane from asking Bruce where they would go if they went out on a date? Hmm!
Crazily enough, on the day they met, Diane also requested that Bruce grow her a “face-thing.” Although it had only been a few days since he last shaved, Bruce went on from there to grow a beard and mustache. And for over fifty years since, he has never shaved it off! And Diane has never seen a clean-shaven Bruce!
Little did they realize at the time of this interaction with Diane, along with her future guidance, that it would eventually lead Bruce on his return to appreciating the values of Judaism.
Adventures of Our Lifetime
To say Bruce and Diane’s life together was an adventure would be an understatement! In 1976, they traveled cross country together for two months in an old van they fixed up, mostly visiting national parks and caves. In California, they headed into a grocery store to pick up some food for dinner, and ended up adopting a couple of kittens who traveled with them cross country for a month as they headed back home to Kentucky. During this trip of a lifetime, they traveled 11,000 miles while averaging living on $20 a day (which included gas)!
Instant Karma
On their cross-country trip, they arrived outside Grand Canyon National Park and decided to grab a bite to eat before entering the park. They were fortunate to get a table, as a long line of people wanting to eat formed shortly after they were seated. These customers were told they would have a long wait. Bruce and Diane had a table for four, and since it was just the two of them, they invited a couple waiting in line to join them. They all shared a nice dinner together, and then Bruce and Diane headed on to the park.
At the entrance gate, the attendant looked at their old blue van with the Kentucky license plates and told them that since they were friends of Randy, the man they had dinner with, there wasn’t any charge. They were very surprised, but being on a limited budget, were grateful, and headed into the park to pick out a campsite.
Before they could begin to set up, a Park Ranger arrived and said, “Hey, you’re Randy’s friends! You don’t want to camp here!” So, he had them follow him to the employee camping area. Here there were secluded, beautiful campsites, surrounded by trees, and where Bruce and Diane had access to showers (YAY!) and a laundromat. They couldn't believe their good fortune!
Later, when they were still in the park, they met up with Randy to thank him, and he told them he was the park mechanic. Randy then proceeded to add a second battery to their van, so that they could listen to their music at night, and have electricity, without running down their main van battery. Wow! What a blessing this turned out to be!
It just goes to show that sometimes, when you do something nice for someone else, it may end up being something nice for you. One good deed leads to another!
Living in a tent for four months with their cats (5 to 9-1977)
In 1977, Bruce and Diane lived out of a tent deep in a holler in the hills of Eastern Kentucky, for four months, with these same kitties, Moon and Star. Quite the adventure! Here they self-published Bruce’s first book of songs and poetry, “Heaven Has No Walls.”
A Close Call Brush with Death #1
When Bruce was young, his first car was a flaming orange/red convertible Mustang!
Bruce and Diane hadn’t been together very long at this time, when Bruce was cruising along on the expressway. Just as he passed a semi, he found himself in a strong rainstorm that had popped up without warning! Suddenly, the car lost traction on the wet pavement, and it spun around right in front of a semi-truck.
Sliding backward down the expressway, Bruce was looking face to face with the trucker. Bruce could see the trucker trying to slow down to avert striking him, but he too began sliding and was unable to control his vehicle.
So here Bruce was, sliding backward at approximately 60 mph, out of control, and with a semi bearing down on him! Not a good situation to be in!
Bruce glimpsed behind him to see where he was going, and spotted just a very small opening in the guard rail. Desperately, Bruce turned the steering wheel in the opposite direction to try to direct himself towards the opening, but didn’t have much hope for success.
Much to his surprise, Bruce barely squeezed through the opening, still sliding backward, and came to a stop on a small inclined hill.
He sat there in shock for quite some time, unable to move. Later, when Bruce, still white as a ghost, saw Diane, she could tell something major had happened.
We definitely feel there was some Divine guidance going on that enabled Bruce to avoid a terrible disaster, and felt very blessed to have survived this ordeal without even a scratch on him, or his car! Thank You, God!
A Close Call Brush with Death #2
A lifesaving experience, one that Bruce could never have anticipated, had to do with his Dad’s late night visits. Quite often, shortly after Bruce would arrive back at his apartment after a night out, a small unit in a dilapidated house where his friends rented the other units in the building, Bruce’s dad would appear in the evening and want Bruce to go get a piece of pie or coffee. It didn’t seem to matter if Bruce didn’t get home until 1-2 am, his dad would show up at his door shortly after his return. Hmmm! He must have really loved Bruce!
On this one night, as they returned from their late-night snack, a large pile of trash along the side of the building was on fire and spreading upward rapidly. If they hadn’t returned when they did, this tinder box building would have gone up in flames quickly, most likely killing Bruce and his friends. Fortunately, thanks to the late-night excursions with his dad, they were able to wake up and get everyone out of the building. Super close call and lifesaving experience. At times, Bruce hadn’t always been so enthusiastic when his dad would show up, but Bruce was sure glad to see him that night! What a blessing!
A Close Call Brush with Death #3
Saved again!Bruce and Diane heard about a dermatologist who was offering free skin cancer screenings. Since Diane had been a regular sun bather when she was young, and had burned a number of times, she wanted to get checked out. Bruce went along to support her, and when the time came, decided he might as well get checked, too! Surprisingly, the doctor said that she believed this one tiny mole on Bruce’s body was melanoma, a cancer that can be fatal if left unchecked. The doctor suggested a biopsy to verify her concern. Bruce spoke with his regular physician, who looked at the mole and couldn’t tell anything, but said that if the dermatologist recommended the biopsy, Bruce should do it. He did, and it turned out she was right! It was melanoma, and she cut it out! That was decades ago, with no recurrence! Yay! So fortunate that she caught it early, and probably helped save Bruce’s life.
A Close Call Brush with Death #4
Cave Story - Discovering Light in the Gloom of Murkiness
As a teenager, Bruce took part in a very scary adventure. Along with a few friends, they were going to explore private caves hidden in the ground beneath off-of-the-beaten-path farmland. No one knew where they were going. Expecting this one rock opening to be nothing more than a “hole in the wall” cavern, they entered the cave totally unprepared for their impending encounter.
Once they had lowered themselves into the tiny hole that served as the entranceway to the cave, they proceeded on their journey of discovery. This underground system of tunnels opened up and split off, providing the group with multiple possible choices for choosing their route.
They had ignored all the safety rules that would have been advantageous for them if they needed to return the way they had come. They allowed themselves to get twisted and turned around in the darkness, and became totally disoriented and lost in the dark dungeons of the cave and their ignorance.
With limited alternatives, they moved ahead as best as they could, trying to preserve their inadequate supply of candles. Several hours later, without any food or provisions, and with the flame of their last candle all but extinguished, they were feeling the anguish of helplessness. No, they were all downright scared!
When all appeared lost, they rounded a stone ledge and glimpsed a sight that raised their spirits. There was sunlight shining down into the cave from above, and it was only just a little way farther down through the cavern.
They moved quickly towards their ray of hope with anticipation. However, as they approached the dazzling array of sunlight, their hearts sank once again. The opening was at least twelve feet above them, and the light was beaming through the hole onto the reflective surface of a decent sized body of water. Even if they swam or waded through the cold water, they still wouldn’t be able to escape their ever-increasing, distressing, predicament.
Trapped at the dead-end of this long chamber of confusing tunnels and passageways, with their last candle snuffed out, they were totally exhausted. Dejectedly, they contemplated their fate. Needless to say, they had limited options available to them. Their only apparent move in this check-mate situation appeared to be to somehow find their way back through the cave’s maze in the now sinister darkness. Considering they hadn’t been able to maneuver this catacomb when they had the glow of their candle lights, this was certainly not an appealing prospect. The likely possibility of what could happen hung heavy on them. They could die.
As they struggled to pull themselves together to undertake this genuine “stab in the dark,” an adventure which had disaster written all over it, someone said they thought they heard voices. They all got quiet and listened. Unexpectedly, a rope ladder swung down from overhead.
It was hard to say who was more surprised, them or the spelunkers who were preparing to enter what they thought to be a desolate unexplored section of the underground caverns.
Although the sun was setting, and they were exhausted, hungry, and had miles of hiking in front of them to return to where they left their car, the relief was palpable.
They had received assistance from an unexpected source, and been provided with the necessary directions to their destination. Sometimes, when people are in need, or in trouble, that is the best they can hope for.
They had been given another opportunity at life and were extremely grateful.
Moving to the Country (Spring 1979)
While they had a wonderful community of friends in their Louisville neighborhood, after having previously lived out of the van for two months, and in a tent for four months, Bruce and Diane longed to be out in nature again. But having little money, their options were limited.
To make a long story short, while Bruce was out hiking and looking at some land in the country (in Kentucky) for his uncle to invest in, he met a husband-and-wife team of doctors. They chatted and had a good time together while the real estate agent showed them property. But Bruce was totally unprepared for what happened next. The doctors liked him, and wanted to know if he and Diane would like to manage a piece of property they owned outside Bloomington, Indiana. Bruce told them he would first have to talk to Diane, check the place out, and then would let them know.
The home turned out to be a beautiful two story rustic house in a secluded neighborhood on a large lake inside a national recreational area. Here, Bruce and Diane would have their own dock on the lake, and, yes, they were going to be paid to live there.
What are the odds that someone would meet two random people hiking way out in the country who would want to pay them to live in their beautiful getaway home on a lake? Unbelievable! YES! We can do this!
A Home of Their Own
As Bruce and Diane turned this place into a welcoming, wonderful, nature-oriented home, the doctors’ visits became more frequent, and eventually it was time to move on. While Bruce and Diane realized how special it would be to have their own place, they knew there wasn’t any way they could financially swing buying a home.
A couple of extraordinary things then happened:
A closer look revealed that the yard was being used as a junk heap, filled with broken glass and garbage. There was a 1940’s depression-era house on the property that had its walls kicked in, and was being used as a party house.
Besides that, there was a junky trailer on the property where the owner’s daughter, children, and the daughter’s gun- toting, martial arts boyfriend lived. They were chasing all potential buyers away because they couldn’t afford to move to town. There was also a family feud going on between the mom and daughter.
The short version of this story is that Bruce and Diane brought the original owner’s family back together. Using the money the mom was going to give them to pay the sheriff to evict the daughter off the property, Bruce and Diane helped her daughter move to a place in town. This is how they ended up with the 29 acres of land in a forest, bordering a wilderness, almost totally surrounded by Indiana’s largest man-made lake. This became “David’s Forest Park Sanctuary” on July 11, 1980! Yet another miracle!
(It was a different time and place back then: Even the couple of hundred dollars a month payment for the property was humongous, and scary, for them. They both had low paying, but meaningful, social service jobs. Because of their concern, they asked the woman who was selling them the property, if they got behind in their payments, as long as they were really trying, would she not take the property away. She agreed! As long as they were trying, she would let them keep the place. Not sure you could find people today to agree to that!)
Our Home
Fortunately, Bruce and Diane made friends with people in the area who had many home building skills, and they helped them fix the old place up to make it livable. Among these were a family who had lost their home to a fire, and were moving away. This family of five, including a newborn baby with a heart condition, moved into their very small loft above the kitchen. The husband, who also made furniture, had some beautiful walnut wood in his barn that he didn’t want sold along with their property. He asked if he could include this wood in their home, and of course, Bruce and Diane said yes. This is how they ended up with a gorgeous living room with walnut wainscoting. Wow!
Building onto Their Home
After their son was born in 1988, this tiny home seemingly became much smaller. One 11x11ft. sized room served as their son’s bedroom, Bruce’s art studio/office, and their art inventory storage room. Quite crowded! In order for Bruce to have a place to work on his art, it became apparent that they needed more space.
Still on very limited income, they checked with the cheapest of the cheap contractors to see if they could get one small unfinished room added to the back of their home to house Bruce’s art business. Unfortunately, they couldn’t even afford this, so they resigned themselves to making do with what they had.
Shortly after this, a woman’s car broke down in front of Bruce and Diane’s place, and she came to their door asking to use the phone. (This was before everyone had cell phones; Labor Day weekend 1990.) After calling her husband, the woman chatted with Bruce and Diane as she waited for her husband. It turned out that the woman’s husband was a contractor, and the job he was planning to work on had just fallen through.
The contractor husband agreed to build onto Bruce and Diane’s home for them, with the help of his team, a 70+ year old man and a teenage boy! Much to their surprise, it was way bigger than they expected. For less than the cost of just one unfinished room, the contractor built them a finished, two story, 4 room addition with a large attic. Unbelievable! What a blessing!
Never Give Up! A “Key” Lesson in Their Lives
Part of their arrangement with the contractor building the addition was that Bruce and Diane would do the clean up after the workers were done working every day. Each day, after they were done cleaning up the worksite, Bruce and Diane had a few chairs outside that they would sit in and look at the day’s progress.
One time, as they were sitting there after cleaning up from the day’s work, Bruce and Diane remembered that they kept the hidden backup key to their home inside a jar in an old dilapidated smokehouse/root cellar behind the house. However, that day, their neighbor had brought over his tractor and knocked down, cleared out and buried the smokehouse/root cellar, as well as all the surrounding trees that were too close to the house. This cleaned up a good-sized area and gave Bruce and Diane a large, open backyard space behind their home. Part of this endeavor included the neighbor spreading and leveling out all the land there.
Bruce and Diane laughed when they remembered that they had forgotten to get their spare house key out before the neighbor reworked the whole area (and pushed back the forest behind the house), and lamented that they would never see that key again. Then, right at that moment, they looked down and saw something glittering on the ground/dirt right next to their chairs. They didn’t even have to get up from where they were sitting, which wasn’t anywhere near where the root cellar/smokehouse had been. They just reached down and picked up their key. What are the odds? NEVER GIVE UP!
“LOVE TREES” - One more very special and unusual happening relating to their property that deserves mentioning: In the early stages of Bruce’s art career, he wrote a number of books of poems and songs with hand drawn illustrations. In many of these, he included trees where the trunks of the trees spelled “LOVE.” Imagine their surprise, when in the view directly behind their home there were a set of real trees whose trunks spelled out “love” in the same way! AMAZING!
Path to Becoming a Jewish Artist and Creative Jewish Energy Force
In November 1981, Diane surprised Bruce with a birthday gift of special paint-pigment colored art pencils and special art paper on his 30th birthday. Months later, while still on their spiritual path, Diane peppered Bruce with questions about Judaism. Together, they went back to study Judaism from their current life perspective. What a difference it made. Bruce could hardly believe he was learning about the same religion he had been taught as a child (tradition without spirituality). This led Bruce to lament that there wasn’t a better way to educate others about Judaism.
Later, Diane challenged him to share Judaism as he thought would be best. This shocked him because, growing up, Bruce had no artistic talent or skills, so little that his dad usually did his school art projects for him. However, Bruce decided to accept the challenge, and this is when art-wise, things started happening. Suddenly he became a conduit for all this creative Jewish energy flowing through him. WOW! (He is still in awe of how far he has come and how much he has achieved, even today!)
In Spring 1982, as they were creating an art gallery (Rainbow Craft Shop) in their garage, and an art fair (The Gathering Arts and Crafts Fair) in one of their fields, a Lubavitch rabbi appeared. He encouraged Bruce to study Judaism more, and Bruce’s studies intensified on his own, and with the help of others & books, leading to his reconnection with Judaism later that summer.
Entering the Art World – The Next Step Forward
Entering this new world of art was an exciting, but scary, endeavor for them. The art was flowing now, but Bruce and Diane had no idea what to do with it.
Since he never had any art training, and didn’t know anything about the art world, Bruce was at a loss as to how to move forward.
In 1983, Bruce met with the rabbi at Indiana University Hillel to show him Bruce’s work. He loved it, but didn’t know anything about art or what we should do. So, the rabbi sent Bruce to an art professor at Indiana University, one of the top School of Fine Arts in the country.
To say Bruce was nervous about sharing his work with Professor Mazelle Van Buskirk, a worldwide Art Lecturer and Art Appreciation Professor, was an understatement. She had just won the Distinguished Teaching Award in Arts and Humanities from the IU College of Arts and Sciences Graduate School Alumni, and also was awarded the Outstanding Faculty Award from the IU Student Alumni Council! Bruce couldn’t imagine she would be receptive to an untrained artist like himself.
So, imagine Bruce’s shock when she was absolutely overwhelmed by his artistic efforts. Incredible!
Professor Van Buskirk was Bruce’s first real step into the art world, and she became his mentor, and close friend, as well. She had taught an art appreciation course at IU for 30 years, and knew every art style and artist. But, after viewing his first 10 pieces of art said Bruce’s art was totally different from anything she had ever seen. Even though she didn’t like using the word unique, she told Bruce that his multidimensional symbolic storytelling art was unlike anything she had ever seen!
While Bruce thought she would tell him to take art classes and learn art techniques and perspective, instead, she told him NOT to look at other artists’ work, nor visit art museums! Since she didn’t know anyone who did art like his, she didn’t want Bruce to be influenced by others, but to keep on doing what he was doing! Bruce was in shock!
Professor Mazelle Van Buskirk later included Bruce’s art in her Art Appreciation course at Indiana University, and assisted him in becoming the “first community artist,” at the prestigious Indiana University School of Fine Arts Museum! This was a tremendous honor for someone outside the school’s art circle. CRAZY!
Later, Mazelle was approached to deliver the plenary lecture at a large Hadassah Regional Conference (the largest Jewish women’s organization in the world) held outside Chicago. At this conference’s educational plenary session, she compared Bruce’s art to Marc Chagall’s, and said that even Chagall hadn’t taken his art to the level Bruce does! WOW!
This was both a super blessing, as well as a major step forward in Bruce’s art career! So thankful!
Bruce’s art name
Like his multidimensional art, which can be seen from different perspectives, Bruce’s art signature may also be seen two ways. Left to right it reads, “David,” in English. Right to left, it reads, Dovid,” in Hebrew!It is also fun that Bruce could honestly tell people that he is from the House of David (Bruce David), but instead of psalms, like the David of old, Bruce wrote PrayerSongs!
Expanding to stained-glass and other mediums
As Bruce was becoming more established as an artist, doing unique, multidimensional symbolic, storytelling Jewish art, people often commented on how his bright, vivid colors would look great as stained-glass windows. However, since Bruce didn’t have the skills or credentials to pursue this option, he didn’t think much of it.
A year after Bruce’s dad’s death, on his 1st yahrzeit, Bruce went back to their family synagogue to say kaddish for his dad. As he was leaving after services, several members of the congregation approached and asked if he was a Jewish artist. When Bruce answered, yes, they asked if he would create three large, six foot tall stained-glass windows for their educational building.
Bruce told them he would love to, but explained that he had never done stained-glass, and that he would have to work with a sub-contractor to produce the windows. They said that was fine, and directed Bruce to another synagogue a couple of miles down the road where there was a new stained-glass installation in their sanctuary. They suggested Bruce check it out, and if he liked the work of their glass fabricator, he might be able to work with him.
Bruce drove over to check it out, and while there, the president of that synagogue approached and she asked Bruce what he was doing? Bruce explained that he was going to be doing three stained-glass windows for the other synagogue, and was checking out the work of their fabricator. She then asked Bruce if he wanted to do a large 8-foot-tall stained-glass window for their synagogue, too? And just like that, even though Bruce had never done even one small stained-glass window, he now had commissions for four large stained-glass windows. And this is how Bruce’s career in glass began, eventually leading him to doing not only stained-glass windows, but also large glass mosaics, metal sculpture and bronze relief.
As Bruce grew as an artist, he learned that jobs don’tusually appear like this, and that ordinarily you have to submit drawings, go through all the committees, compete with many other artists, art wise and financially, agree on a contract, etc. For two synagogues, who didn’t really even know his art, to give him major commissions just like that, was another crazy blessing from beyond. Thank you, God! And, Bruce also believes his dad had a hand in this. Thanks, Dad!
A Mysterious Rescuer
Still early in Bruce’s career, Bruce and Diane decided to make artist numbered and signed lithographs of Bruce’s art. At the time they were still ignorant of what was involved, and depended on the printer to guide them through the process.
However, when the proofs didn’t turn out well, the printers blamed the problems on them. Since Buce and Diane didn’t know what was happening, they were at a major disadvantage.
It was then that another customer, who they didn’t know, but happened to be standing nearby, stepped in to rescue them. She pointed out the problem, and why it was their fault, and not Bruce and Diane’s. Thanks to her, they avoided additional charges that were not in their budget, got the mistakes corrected, and ended up with gorgeous, high-quality art prints, as well as a good friend! Such a blessing! (FYI - We became friends with this person, and went on to work with her for another litho printing series of the four stained glass windows.)
Succah in the Wilderness
On the back part of their forest property, Bruce and Diane had a campsite nestled into the trees. This is where they held their “Sunday Succah in the Wilderness” party for many years, attracting people from all over the community to join them in celebrating the Sukkot festival.
Where their original succah designs were pretty basic, one year a friend of theirs bid on a prize for building a succah at a fundraising auction at their synagogue, and won. He wasn’t going to use it, and since it didn’t seem to be in high demand based on the bidding, he sold it to Bruce and Diane for the fifteen dollars he paid.
Turned out to be one of our best deals ever, as three skilled people came out and built us a super solid succah structure foundation, one that is still standing today, decades later.
A Close Call for Our Son
Past our campsite in the middle of our property, there is a trail through the forest that leads to a big Beech tree overlooking the forest ravines! It has always been a special spot for them, and Bruce and Diane would regularly hike back there, practically every day, when they were camping out.
Their young, three year old son, Joshua, also loved this trail. One time, he was riding his Hot Wheels with them as Diane and Bruce strolled along.
They hadn’t realized what a steep incline it was until suddenly their son’s Hot Wheels started picking up speed. Soon, it was out of control, and he was going too fast for them to catch him as he careened down the trail towards the big Beech tree, with a deep ravine drop-off behind it.
Bruce and Diane were so scared that Joshua would hurt himself once he passed the Beech tree and plummeted down the drop-off on the other side, but they were helpless to do anything about it. They watched in horror as he reached the bottom of the trail, and were bracing themselves for the worse.
However, the beech tree had dropped a big limb in this path several months before, and they were shocked when their son, on his Hot Wheels, hit the limb, bounced up in the air, and then landed straddling on the limb, still seated on his Hot Wheels, without ever falling off! Thank you, God!
Even more incredible was the fact that the fallen limb that helped save their son wasn’t even there previously, when they had hiked there, so it must have fallen down recently. What timing... and what a major blessing!
Their Weddings
Bruce and Diane’s first legal/spiritual wedding to each other took place outdoors, near a large lake in the country at a summer camp outside Louisville, KY. Such a beautiful spot! However, the morning of their wedding, it was raining, and people (especially Diane’s mom) were strongly encouraging them to move the ceremony indoors, into the camp lodge. Knowing most people were going to be sitting on blankets on the ground didn’t make it any better. But being out in nature had always been a major part of Bruce and Diane’s life, and even though the weather didn’t look promising, they insisted on going ahead with their plan to get married outdoors.
Fortunately, a few hours before the ceremony, and without much time to spare, the clouds opened up and the sun came out. It both dried out the area and warmed things up. Now Bruce and Diane were able to have the wedding they wanted, with a beautiful sunset over the water lightening up the sky behind them as they shared their vows. A glorious day!
Wedding #2
Their second wedding to each other was their Hebrew/Jewish wedding! And this is really crazy!
Although Diane was a practicing Jew at the time, she had never had a conversion.
That was about to change! The daughter of some friends of theirs in town had a bat mitzvah, and they brought in Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, z”l, the singing Rabbi, to lead the service. Reb Shlomo was an extremely well-known rabbi, one who led so many young people back to Judaism, and inspired so many Jewish musicians.
At the reception after the Bat Mitzvah, Reb Shlomo, even though he didn’t know them at the time, came up to Bruce and asked if Diane had ever converted? They still have no idea how he would even have known Diane wasn’t officially Jewish! When Bruce replied, “No!” Reb Shlomo said to come to New York and he would convert her. Just like that!
Bruce and Diane agreed, and later found out that Reb Shlomo flew back from Israel just to do the conversion.
What they didn’t know is that Shlomo was also planning to marry them that same weekend. He told them this on the phone the evening before meeting him at his family’s shul that Friday morning for Diane’s conversion. They replied that they hadn’t prepared for a wedding on this trip; they didn’t have a suit, dress or even proper clothes to get married on this trip, he said not to worry about it. His congregation would take care of them. And with that, after meeting with the bet din and taking Diane to the mikvah that Friday morning, Shlomo sent them off to the lower east side to buy a wedding ring, ketubah, tallit and other items they would need to get married.
True to his word, Shlomo’s congregation did the rest. They provided Bruce and Diane with the clothes and other things they would need for the wedding. One person volunteered to be their photographer, another provided flowers, and the women of Reb Shlomo’s shul made it extra special by blessing and dressing Diane, and then walking her through Central Park by candlelight on the way to the synagogue!
Shlomo ended up singing for hours into the wee early morning hours, and Bruce and Diane had the most incredible wedding! When they think of what most people go through to prepare and put on a wedding, both time, planning and moneywise, Bruce and Diane marvel at how everything came together so perfectly for them in just one day. One more amazingly incredible happening in their lives! Blessed beyond belief!
One other uniquely special aspect of their wedding was that Shlomo said that he saw Bruce and Diane as parents when they were standing under the chuppah. They didn’t have the heart to tell him that probably wouldn’t happen since they didn’t think they could have children. But, years later, after Diane took a mikvah in the lake near their forest home, she became pregnant with their son.
Diane’s Visions
No matter how many detailed facts or specific information someone can present, regardless of the solid, tangible evidence that exists to verify and prove their point, there are some things that are still difficult for other people to truly believe in, and even more, accept… until they become a part of their own personal experience.
This is all going to seem very weird, far-fetched and incredibly strange. Although Diane and Bruce have witnessed some rather peculiar and outlandish occurrences throughout the more than five decades they have been together, Diane and Bruce are still trying to make sense of these beyond of the beyond happening themselves. If it had not happened to them, they would probably know even less how to relate it.
Those who know them well, know that this is something that neither Diane nor Bruce would ever make up, or even share, if they didn’t personally observe these incidents, and feel that this is absolutely, to the best of their knowledge, the way it all happened. Now, they are putting it out there for you to share in, and then allow you to draw your own conclusions.
When our bodies are asleep, is there a part of us (our awareness, our consciousness, our soul) that continues to exist, and possibly move around, outside and beyond our physical bodies? This is an indispensable question that must be answered if one is to believe in “life after death.” Is there life after death?
We believe that these three dream episodes will help provide insight and support for others who are searching for an answer to this essential question.
1) The Death of Diane’s Beloved Grandmother
2) The Woman Who Didn’t Know She was Pregnant
3) The Many Lives of a Cat
Grandma Graff and Diane always had a special connection. They shared many interests and a number of personality traits. They also had a reoccurring theme relating to clocks. Over the years (during her life or after her death), Grandma Graff gave Diane several clocks: a locket clock, two mantel clocks and her anniversary clock.
When Diane woke up one morning (in 1991), she was visibly shaken. She sat straight up in bed and told me, “I’ve got to tell you about this strange dream I had.” (This dream occurred about 7 am.)
She had dreamed of a clock on the wall over a kitchen sink. In the dream, there was a chainsaw cutting out the clock on the wall, and then a phone call, at an unusual hour, from Diane’s mother saying, “the clock is dead!”
Now, “back in the day,” many people would wait until after a certain time in the evening, when the phone rates went down, to make most of their long-distance calls. To save money, Diane’s parents always waited until after 5 pm to call long distance.
At the time that Diane had her dream, Diane’s parents were unaware of what had happened to Grandma Graff. Yet, later that morning (about 10 am) the phone rang, and it was Diane’s Mom calling to let Diane and Bruce know that Grandma Graff had passed on. She had died in her own home under the kitchen sink, just below the clock! The coroner who came to Grandma Graff’s house said that she had died about 7 am that morning.
In this case, the incident that impacted Diane so much had taken place over one hundred miles away.
So, since Diane’s Grandmother had died, how did Diane obtain the information she did in her dream? How did she know about the connection with the kitchen sink and the clock? And how did Diane know in advance, before the actual event occurred, that her mother would call at an unusual hour to tell us about what had happened?
Diane, the Volunteer Coordinator at WonderLab Museum, the Bloomington, Indiana science museum, worked with Aerin S., the Gallery Operations Manager.
One morning, Diane woke up after having the strongest dream about Aerin being pregnant. Her dream affected her so much that Diane was compelled to call Aerin to tell her about it. (As a side note, this is definitely not something Diane would ordinarily do. This is very out-of-character for her, which further shows just how much an impact the dream had on her.)
Aerin was totally surprised by Diane’s call about her dream, and just laughed it off. A short time later, Diane found out that Aerin and her husband were trying to get pregnant, but Diane did not know this fact at the time of her dream.
A number of months later, Aerin announced at work that she was pregnant. Diane excitedly checked with Aerin on the timing of her pregnancy. It turned out that Aerin HAD been pregnant, but not known about it, when Diane called her about the dream. This was the first and only time Diane had ever called anyone about a dream she had, and now it turned out to be true!
Aerin is someone Diane had never called at home previously. So the question becomes: What could have happened while Diane was asleep and dreaming to have made such an impression on her that she was motivated to call this woman about this powerful dream??
A major point that we must also remember to consider is that even Aerin didn’t know that she was pregnant at the time.
So, if this information truly did reach Diane, how did she get it?
This woman doesn’t live anywhere near us, and Diane was sleeping in bed. How did the communication of this information take place?
It appears that somehow Diane’s “awareness” must have had contact with either some part of Aerin that knew about the pregnancy, or even possibly the baby’s own consciousness on some level.
Additionally, was this information about the pregnancy transmitted to her, or did a part of Diane go somewhere to obtain it? This is something that we will find out more about in Diane’s other dream.
These are issues that we need to consider objectively if we are sincere in our quest for truth and meaning in our lives.
While the first two incidents above have been over-the-top when contrasted with the normalcy by which the majority of people tend to lead their lives, this final, exceedingly strange, episode is far, far beyond the typical when it comes to how people view extraordinary occurrences in their lives.
3) The Many Lives of a Cat
“Red” was a big ol’ Tomcat, a stray. He adopted us, paying no mind what-so-ever to our efforts to get him to relocate. Regardless of what we did, Red persistently refused to leave.
We had three other, mostly indoor, cats, at the time. But for as big, scraggly and tough looking as he appeared, Red was really a very gentle, loving cat, and charming in his own way. After hanging around our home in the country for a few months, we started feeding Red generic cat food or stale food our indoor kitties wouldn’t eat.
We may be a little slow, but after a while we accepted that this wasn’t a temporary stop-over for him, and that Red was part of our family. Now, since he was getting older and our winters can sometimes get fairly severe, we decided to get him his shots so that there would be no possibility of him endangering our other cats with any viruses or diseases he might be carrying.
Diane and Bruce made an appointment and took him to their vet, looking to get Red the necessary shots, and excited to be bringing him into our home as a new member of our extended family.
However, as it turned out, there are a few tests the veterinarian ordinarily runs before giving cats their shots (mainly for feline leukemia and FIV [feline HIV]). Diane and Bruce had no idea that this would set into action the strange sequence of events that followed.
Sadly, the test revealed that Red had feline aids. This is not the same virus as human aids, and is not transferable to people, but it can infect and kill other cats and animals.
Since we had other cats and our neighbors had cats, our vet let us know that we really shouldn’t take Red back home with us for the safety of the other cats. We were surprised and heartbroken. What had begun as such an exciting and wonderful undertaking had taken a horrendous turn. Our vet went on to inform us that our options were extremely limited, and that the responsible action would be to have Red euthanized. We agonized and cried over the decision, then left Red with the vet to have him put to sleep.
Red’s loss affected us greatly, particularly the way it happened. In trying to make a good situation better, Bruce and Diane’s actions had led to such sadness and loss. This episode really threw them for a loop.
They were still mourning the loss in some ways a few months later.
This is when Diane had her weirdest dream yet. In her dream, she was standing in our back hallway, looking out the back door, and she saw a woman on our back porch holding Red upside down in her arms, like a person would hold a child. Diane went on to say in her dream, “But Red is dead. But he’s alive! But he’s dead!”
Well, we certainly didn’t have any idea what to make of this dream, even though Diane said it had that certain “feeling.”
Diane was already at work later that day when the vet called our home. She said that Red was such a nice cat that she just didn’t have the heart to “put him down.” She decided to keep him at the clinic while she hoped to find an alternative solution for his dilemma.
It turned out that another one of her patients had a cat with feline aids that she kept indoors. She told the vet that if Red got along with her other cat, she would take him. The two cats got along fabulously, and Red found a new home where he finally got to live indoors (and the new name of “Graham”).
The vet waited a week or so to call with the good news, wanting to be sure the arrangement with Red’s new home was successful. When Bruce told our vet about Diane’s dream that very morning, she was as amazed as Bruce and Diane were. She said that it was also extremely fascinating the way Diane had related the way she saw the woman carrying Red. The vet went on to inform us about the woman that adopted Red, and said that one of the woman’s peculiarities was carrying her cats like a baby, upside down in her arms, in the manner Diane saw her holding the cat in her dream.
We ask you to accept that Diane and I are not liars, or mental, although some may think this last attribute is questionable, and may not be so far from the truth, especially after reading this. Yet, Bruce and Diane totally believe that they are as sane as any of you, and that these experiences really did happen the way they have shared them with you.
In two of these instances, with Diane’s grandmother and their cat (and also possibly in the third one where the woman became pregnant), Diane’s dreams came during the night or dawn of the day we learned about the incidents.
In each of these occurrences, the actual incidents are directly related to events in Diane’s dreams, while also including peculiarities specifically identifying tangible, although out-of-the-ordinary, circumstances.
For each of these dreams, Diane let Bruce know about the specifics as soon as they woke up, before she had any kind of interaction that might have swayed her perspective or interpretation. Plus, Diane actually foresaw events that had not yet occurred.
Does this make her a prophetess of sorts? We, personally, are not so much into any type of labeling terminology. Our focus is into understanding the reality of her dreams as they pertain to the aspects of our existence, particularly in relation to our life essence.
These dreams are not something Diane can choose to have intentionally. And obviously, not all her dreams come true. In fact, I am pretty sure a recent dream she shared with me about her encounter with the Hulk, the green skinned creature of comic book legend, has very little chance of coming true, except possibly through a little play-acting. But that’s a story for another time.
Diane has mentioned many times that some ancient sources state that 1/60th of peoples’ dreams are prophetic. Diane and Bruce don’t know about that, all they know about is what happened to them.
They certainly welcome feedback from others, especially perspectives that can assist them in their own understandings of Diane’s dreams. From their viewpoint, something happened while Diane was sleeping that enabled her to obtain specific information about events that had happened, or were going to happen.
Somehow, someway, a part of Diane’s essence, her “awareness,” separate from her physical body was able to travel to, or receive information from, distant places about specific events.
Do Diane and Bruce expect you to believe this? Well, for those of you who know them, they hope that you will know that these sharings are true. For those who don’t know who they are, and the kind of people they are, they do try to be honest, loving, truthful caring people in all aspects of their lives, and would just like to say that they hope you will someday understand that everything they have said here is all true.
But, perhaps, to really understand and accept it all, you may have to have it happen to you. As Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s character Sherlock Holmes once said:
“Once you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains,
no matter how improbable, must be the truth."
Bruce’s Extraordinary Experiences
Besidesthe special gifts for his art, music and writings, Bruce has also been fortunate to have a couple of out of body experiences. The first came as he was sitting on the bed in a makeshift downstairs apartment that he shared with his cousin in the cousin’s parents’ home. Although there weren't any windows in the basement apartment, Bruce saw this circular light appear and slowly begin moving towards him, growing as it came closer. As it reached him, it enveloped Bruce and laid him back on the bed. (FYI – There was no alcohol or drugs involved in this incident.) The next thing Bruce knew, he found himself as an energy force of sorts floating over his body. In this form Bruce moved around the room before heading up the steps. It was then that he thought of his body, and was immediately transported back there.
The second incident occurred while Bruce was visiting a friend in Eastern, Ky. While Bruce was not so much into God then, he had an enlightening experience that changed him forever. One morning Bruce went out to write another of his songs. Instead of writing a song, however, Bruce found himself immersed in a visionary life connecting experience. While it would be impossible to properly expand on this occurrence now, Bruce has done so in his other writings. This event was a major catalyst for advancing Bruce in his spiritual search and guiding him into becoming who he is today!
Both of these rare happenings opened Bruce’s eyes to the possibilities of life beyond our normal perception, and positively influenced his life growth process.
Closing musings for now:
A few thoughts about living as Jewish Bohemian Outliers!
To know and appreciate something’s true worth, we have to view it from the perspective of how it positively benefits the betterment of our world and lives when scrutinized on a life scale.
Once we have learned to recognize and appreciate the life value of people, things, and ourselves, we can proceed with taking steps that will enable us to grow into an improved version of our personal being. This is what being Jewish Bohemian Outliers had done for us. It has freed us up to be our best selves!
While we wish the world was in a better place overall, as a creative Jewish energy force, Bruce feels that using the gifts he has been given to do the best he can in reaching others with the things that have the most life value is his best life choice. Since he doesn’t receive any compensation for his efforts, Bruce can honestly say that he is only doing the things he does because he genuinely believes that they are the right things for him to be doing. This includes trying to share the aspects of Judaism that can improve the quality of people’s lives and our world.
Diane agrees with this approach, and this is how they ended up growing into universally, love/life oriented Jewish Bohemian outliers who value their Jewish legacy and heritage and live their lives in the ways they have learned most benefit their life growth process and the quality of their lives!
SUMMARY
As we said at the beginning, “Our life experiences are defining moments and major contributors as to why we believe there is an Intelligent Power engaging with, and influencing, humans in this spacetime. These extremely unusual occurrences have opened our eyes to the endless possibilities for the future of existence beyond this lifetime.” We hope that by sharing them with you, they will have the same positive effect on your life!
We genuinely believe that the One God of Israel, and the world, our Creator, and the Creator of all life, brought us together, while influencing our lives through helping, protecting, providing for and guiding us on an amazing life adventure. This has happened in many ways we can understand, and also in so many more ways we can’t even begin to comprehend.
As our time, strength and energies are winding down, we have attempted to determine the best way to continue to live our lives with purpose in the ways we believe to be the most valuable, by positively contributing to a better, healthier world for all life.
These writings are the way we feel we can most achieve this goal.
We hope that we have opened your eyes and hearts through our efforts and that you will join us on this journey to enlightenment!
THANK YOU! REALLY! The encouragement and support we receive for our efforts motivates us in continuing to live worthwhile and meaningful lives! Our goal will be to continue to do what we do as long as people value our efforts, so that we will know that we are making a positive difference to people’s lives and our world! Todah Rabah!
L’Chayim (to life)! ONWARD TOGETHER!
Light of the Nations
Telephone: 812-837-9976
E-mail: info@lightofthenations.org
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