There was an interesting and, for me, reassuring in the extreme, interview on CBC Radio One, The Current, about the elves in Iceland. It seems that the elves are granted all but official recognition in Iceland as being both normally benevolent but malicious when their places are infringed upon by development.

Before planning buildings or roads, the Icelanders consult psychics who are friends of the elves to establish that they have no interest in the land under proposed development. To fail to do so is to incur the wrath of the elves who can be quite destructive. Lots of folk in Iceland lay claim to the elves as "Hidden People" whom they have met one way or another.

So, what was reassuring about that? Was I happy to learn that Iceland is full of crazy people who believe in elves? The answer is yes, I certainly was.

Another collection of interviews on the same CBC program the day after the story about the elves in Iceland had a couple of scientists emphatically propounding the old theories about hard evidence, mathematics and scientific proofs being the only admissible confirmations of any empiricism. Anything else is born of fantasy or a wandering of the mind. Everything seemingly mystical can be explained, they declared; rational explanations all round - just for the asking.

Those chaps skirted around religious beliefs and experiences, though, careful not to upset the tightly controlling regiment of the church, synagogue, temple, etc.

A few days later, closer to home, I heard a story from some of the staff at Theatre Orangeville about the ghost that walks the Town Hall/Opera House. There have been many sightings and, recently, a troupe of paranormal researchers came to the theatre to have a feel for the ghost.

Their visit was rewarded with "manifestations" and they went away declaring that the ghost is a lady. "Granny Newton" is the name the theatre staff gives to their apparition, she being a lady who lived in a house on the property before the town hall was built there.

In Ireland, it is absolutely accepted that there are faeries. In every land around this world, this evidence and belief in "hidden people", ghosts and all sorts of ethereal beings not wholly of this physical earth but entirely of this world is accepted.

As we come into Holy Week, where the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ dominates the concerns and interests of the Christian churches, we are once again flying in the face of scientific theories. We are asked to not only accept but also, indeed, to truly believe that a man died and, after three days of death, rose again to walk the earth and to appear at random to several of his followers.

As a matter of fact, the Roman historian, Tacitus, tells us that there were a number of incidents in those years of people being called back from the dead, as Jesus did Lazarus. There were reports at the time of a prophet in Palestine who was crucified and was later reputed to have been seen alive. Why should Tacitus be any less believable than the Globe and Mail?

Well, rationalists have been trying to explain Jesus away for centuries, while others have been desperately trying to use scientific methods to confirm His story.

The whole issue of the truth of what exists that we cannot see has raged, been debated and worn out every theory and proof all through our existence as "rational" creatures, right down to the argument over whether we have that within us what cannot be shown - a soul.

And here is the truth as I see it: that which cannot be seen, our spiritual life, the mysticism of our nature is as real and as hard as nails. To fail to understand the vital existence of our "soul" (it's only a word: call it what you like) is to fail to understand any important thing about ourselves.

We prove this by longing for it, by going to church, maybe being disappointed and so seeking some other venue to satisfy that within us that cannot be seen, by going to "wellness centres" and getting in touch with our "chakras", by learning yoga for its spiritual aspects, by attending extraordinary religious institutions, with unusual names.

Whether one refuses to accept the existence at all of a soul, spiritual entities, even hidden people, or whether one believes but cannot find a community that fits one's needs, we are lost. Yet, it is much better to believe and wander than to deny.

As we deteriorate as a species, as we destroy our planet and sink daily deeper into a general degradation; all the while that we agree wars must rage and it is acceptable for humanity to be divided into large groups of those who suffer incredible injustice, poverty-stricken conditions and horrible murder; middle sized groups of those who are dumped out of their jobs for no fault of their own and tiny clusters of those who live with ridiculous wealth born of the suffering and in spite of the injustices, we draw further and further away from that which is mystical, which is unseen, yet is the most important part of ourselves.

I am not a voice in the wilderness. Even the most hypocritical of our leaders have begun to pay lip service to the needs of this earth and its peoples. They have been bent by the constant hard work of heroes who have captured the public eye and call out for a stop to damage and reversals of horrors.

Perhaps, the only way to a true revolution is for the whole of humanity to find its soul, for the spiritual side of humanity to have the upper hand in our behaviour. Seeing as a primarily spiritual being, our current state of being would be impossible. It is only our physical perceptions that keep us bound to the worst of our nature.

Jesus died and lived a very long time ago, leaving His disciples the tremendous burden of a message to love and save and preserve. But over the centuries, the burden of proof has prevailed and His followers have largely failed.

That acknowledged, I wonder if the spiritual world around us will send yet another Messenger that will finally convince us to pull back from the brink before it is too late.