I was curious about whether comatose patients near death were still in possession of their soul on earth during those final hours. When my wonderful dad passed away a few weeks ago, I had my answer. YES, he *was* there, and in an instant, not a second, but an instant, I knew that he was with God. His eyes had been closed, and his head remained still, but I watched and witnessed that exact moment that his soul left earth.
In a strange way, it was comforting to see that he was taken, not slowly, but *instantly* into eternity with God. God is good. Bob
I have observed ths many times in my work as a hospice chaplain.
While I was not present, I have been told the story of my dear grandmother’s death... She had been suffering from Alzheimer’s disease for many years, significantly deteriorated by it’s signature dementia. Fr a long time, she had been in a mental ward, unable to recognize any of her loved ones but for fleeting, yet still irrational moments.
As the time of her death drew very near, her sons and daughters, accompanied by many of their children, gathered from the four corners to bid her a fond farewell and see her on her way.
In the last moments, she became absolutely lucid and free of pain - recognizing all of her loved ones gathered around her long enough to catch up on things and receive the love of them all, chatting as merrily as the many times we spent as a whole family at her kitchen table. Then her eyes shifted to the door, and she saw something which gave her incomparable joy... And with three sighing breaths, she was gone; nothing left but the eternally peaceful expression on her face.
Such a thing is a gift from God.