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Trying to get a glimpse of what’s over on the other side (Signs of Life after Death?)
.theheraldbulletin ^ | June 11 06 | Jim Bailey

Posted on 06/10/2006 9:45:53 PM PDT by churchillbuff

Despite lifelong beliefs that have been ingrained in my faith since childhood, I have to admit that like almost everyone else I have from time to time wondered if my existence will simply come to an end on the day I draw my last breath.

There is, after all, no way to prove one way or the other that human life continues in another realm after the body ceases to function. Nobody has come back to testify about it, with one notable exception of course, and those who reject his divinity also tend to doubt what he had to say about life after death. And the late Madalyn Murray O’Hair, the infamous atheist, hasn’t weighed in on the subject lately either.

Some would insist such doubts are implanted by the devil himself. Others counter there is no scientific basis for belief in a hereafter in the first place.

But just about every time I entertain such doubts, something comes along to reinforce my long-held belief in the hereafter. It’s often the experience of a dying saint getting their first glimpse, as an old gospel song puts it, of what’s over on the other side.

I’m told the Rev. Dr. Hollis Pistole appeared to have one such experience at his passing a little over a month ago. According to the story, Dr. Pistole, after a long battle with debilitating illness, raised up and put his arms out just before he drew his last breath. Apparently he received that glimpse of what awaited him.

My wife’s father had a similar experience, opening his eyes and reaching heavenward just before his passing.

I also recently went over my mom’s notes made at the time of my dad’s death more than half a century ago. “Under me? Under me? Thank you, Jesus,” he said.

A whole category of what have been termed near-death experiences have been catalogued by those looking for insight into what happens at the end of life. A common phenomenon is a light-at-the-end-of-a-tunnel vision. Many claim to have seen friends or relatives but were unable to reunite with them when they were suddenly jerked back into life.

My Uncle Melvin had such an experience, claiming to have seen his brother and another loved one at the time he was suffering a severe heart attack from which he recovered.

It is impossible to figure out the working of the subconscious, thus rendering any attempt at concrete conclusions problematic. Are any or all of these phenomena merely the gyrations of an active brain or might they be an indication of a link between this world and one to come?

Belief in life after death has been part of human experience as long as mankind has pondered its existence. It has been reinforced by the most sacred writings of most of the world’s major religions, including Christianity, which bases its entire concept on the idea of God personally demonstrating life after physical death through the manifestation we call Jesus.

In this life, of course, our existence is tied to our physical body. But to define human life according to our physical limitations is an obvious understatement of our role in the universe. Human interaction is limited by our physical senses. But the true self that has developed over the course of our lifetimes would seem to go far beyond the senses.

And certainly there can be no doubt that the rationality of human beings and their capability to build on their life experiences place them in a category entirely separate from other living creatures.

Is there life after death? The question defies physical proof, to be sure. But there would seem to be glimpses enough into the future to show that our existence has only just begun.

And anyway, by preparing for eternity, I think I’m building a pretty good life here as well.

Jim Bailey’s column appears on Sunday. He can be reached by e-mail at jameshenrybailey@earthlink.net.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: afterlife; artbell; callingartbell; lifeafterdeath; nde; ndes; neardeathexperience; zaq
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1 posted on 06/10/2006 9:45:56 PM PDT by churchillbuff
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To: churchillbuff
Nobody has come back to testify about it, """

Well, nobody - except One particular Person.

2 posted on 06/10/2006 9:46:51 PM PDT by churchillbuff
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To: churchillbuff

"I walked down a long corridor, and into a room...and they had me take a number..."


3 posted on 06/10/2006 9:51:31 PM PDT by Darkwolf377
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To: churchillbuff

If anyone were allowed to come back, would they be believed?


4 posted on 06/10/2006 9:54:19 PM PDT by CindyDawg
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To: churchillbuff

My much loved, Christian Grandmother, who had been a widow for decades, reached out (actually up toward the ceiling of her hospital room) and had a beaming smile on her face as she passed over. The realm of Angels is only an arms length away anyway don'tchaknow.


5 posted on 06/10/2006 9:55:11 PM PDT by MHGinTN (If you can read this, you've had life support from someone. Promote life support for others.)
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To: churchillbuff
I have a shot at Purgatory. At least I did the last time I checked the bulletin board.

I need to get more monks praying for me.

6 posted on 06/10/2006 9:56:26 PM PDT by battlegearboat
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To: churchillbuff

The Transfiguration is all anyone needs to know that there is life after death. Moses and Elijah talking. What else does one need besides Jesus's promise? If a person denies this, than hearing about someone's experience from the otherside certainly isn't going to bring someone to faith.


7 posted on 06/10/2006 9:56:51 PM PDT by taxesareforever (Never forget Matt Maupin)
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To: CindyDawg

not sure they would be believed, seeing as is someone doesn't believe Jesus came back, why would they believe a person came back...


8 posted on 06/10/2006 9:57:21 PM PDT by votelife (we need 60 conservative senators)
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To: CindyDawg

"They have Moses and the prophets, let them listen to them." If they can't listen to Moses and the Prophets, they won't listen even if a man came back from the dead.


9 posted on 06/10/2006 9:58:05 PM PDT by churchillbuff
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To: churchillbuff

Some people have had experiences that they know better than to talk about with others who have not.

Yes, there is more.


10 posted on 06/10/2006 9:58:43 PM PDT by RonHolzwarth ("History repeats itself - first as tragedy, then as farce" - Karl Marx)
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To: churchillbuff

We have TWO bodies : physical and spiritual, like the particle/wave duality of matter. When the silver cord is snapped, the golden bowl broken, they go their separate ways; the "particle" to the junk car yard called the cemetary, the "wave" either up or down. From statistical studies of the NDE about 2/3rds go up to heaven(thru the tunnel, like the birth process itself), 1/3 go down to hell. It may have to do with the UP Quark(+2/3 charge)and DOWN Quark(-1/3 charge); but, hey, that's just a guess...Jesus will explain it all when he gets back as our ambassador to intelligent species thruout the universe.


11 posted on 06/10/2006 9:59:30 PM PDT by timer
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To: churchillbuff
The proof there is life after death is an indirect one. It goes like this: if nothing we do survives death, then no new generation can build on the work of the one that preceded it.

(Denny Crane: "Every one should carry a gun strapped to their waist. We need more - not less guns.")

12 posted on 06/10/2006 10:03:23 PM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives On In My Heart Forever)
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To: churchillbuff

There is, after all, no way to prove one way or the other that human life continues in another realm after the body ceases to function.

Creation is enough proof for me, every creation MUST have a creator!


13 posted on 06/10/2006 10:06:54 PM PDT by garylmoore (Faith is the assurance of things unseen.)
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To: Darkwolf377
"I walked down a long corridor, and into a room...and they had me take a number..."

BWAHAHAHAHA! I love that film! Nice to know that someone else remembers it!

14 posted on 06/10/2006 10:07:07 PM PDT by Alex Murphy (Colossians 4:6)
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To: churchillbuff

That's what the Bible says. Remember the guy who wanted to go back and warn his kin? People would probably come up with all kinds of rationales to explain that someone hadn't really died.


15 posted on 06/10/2006 10:07:37 PM PDT by CindyDawg
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To: RonHolzwarth; devolve; ntnychik; PhilDragoo

I've read a number of books on NDE's - Near Death Experiences. Very interesting to read, especially the stories told by young children!


16 posted on 06/10/2006 10:09:32 PM PDT by potlatch (Does a clean house indicate that there is a broken computer in it?)
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To: battlegearboat

I have a DSL:')


17 posted on 06/10/2006 10:11:23 PM PDT by CindyDawg
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To: churchillbuff
"You don't have a soul. You are a Soul. You have a body."

- CS Lewis

18 posted on 06/10/2006 10:13:22 PM PDT by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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To: churchillbuff
Whose fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly purge His floor, and gather His wheat into the garner; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire" (Matthew 3:10-12 KJV)

"I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in Me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. If a man abide not in Me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned" (John 15:5-6 KJV)


The interesting thing about the branch and the chaff is they do not burn forever. If wheat chaff or a branch is cast into a fire they burn until nothing more is left. In essence the branch or chaff cease to exist. Burned from existence, blown away on the wind , no more a branch or chaff.

I think the Lord is kind. I don't think he intends an eternity of hell for the average Joe that doesn't believe in Him. I think He will honor the wishes of those who think and believe when they die they are dead, that they cease to exist.

He will give them what they want, no more existence.
19 posted on 06/10/2006 10:14:04 PM PDT by A message (Zarqawi dead, Democrats deeply saddened)
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To: garylmoore

I have a first cousin who had not one but two NDEs. He was an agnostic ass before the first one. Became a Christian following the first. Had a second one during which he claims several truths were evident: all animal and plant living things continue to recycle through the earth, over and over into the world, but humans only arrive once because we have a spirit that the rest don't have. OH, and Angels have bodies but unless they want you to know it, you cannot touch or sense them yet they can see you any time they choose. His 'intuition' now is astonishing also.


20 posted on 06/10/2006 10:18:04 PM PDT by MHGinTN (If you can read this, you've had life support from someone. Promote life support for others.)
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