When you die, there is a great likelihood that you will not only be greeted by deceased loved ones, but that there will be a roomful of them.Posted on 08/09/2010 9:21:15 AM PDT by NYer
When you die, there is a great likelihood that you will not only be greeted by deceased loved ones, but that there will be a roomful of them.
This comes to us from actual hospice researchers -- who increasingly are describing the experiences of those who approach the glorious threshold of death (as are hospital medical personnel).
In our dark times, to declare the threshold of death as glorious seems strange, and yet it is also totally accurate: there is a glorious Light at the end of the tunnel for those who are not condemned. And even before that, there is a glorious reunion.
One of those who has come out to reveal the mechanics of "passing over" is David Kessler, a health-care worker whose book is even entitled Visions, Trips, and Crowded Rooms (and was recently highlighted by the Los Angeles archdiocesan newspaper).
"I've been intrigued by the use of the words 'crowd' and 'crowded,' writes Kessler. "When I started compiling examples to include in this book, I was surprised by how similar they were. In fact, it was hard to pick which ones to use because they were all so much alike. Perhaps we don't have a full grasp of how many people we've met, and we certainly can't recall all of the individuals who crossed our paths when we were children. In the tapestry of life and death, we may not always think about those who have come before us; we just know where we as individuals are positioned in the family tree. In dying, however, perhaps we're able to make connections to the past that we'd missed earlier in life."
Intriguing indeed. Will we encounter everyone in our family lines back to Adam? Plus all our friends?
"I often say that when someone is dying, it may be a 'standing room only' experience," the researcher says. "As I've stated previously, I firmly believe that just as loving hands greet us when we're born, loving arms will embrace us when we die."
He then cites several examples.
In some cases, those dying list every person they "see" to hospice workers. They carry on conversations with an invisible world that is every bit as real to them as the physical one. Parents. Spouses. Sisters. Brothers. Uncles. Aunts. Even friends and in-laws.
Said one: "I saw something last night that doesn't make sense. In the middle of the night, I woke up and my room was filled with people. I couldn't understand what was going on. I knew that doctors weren't making rounds with their students at that hour. I looked at the faces I saw -- they went on and on. While I only knew some of them, they all seemed familiar. Then I had this realization that all of these individuals were dead. I even noticed a colleague from work who'd died five years ago from cancer."
When asked by her daughter who she was talking to, another one said, "Why, people I've know my whole life. They've been gone a long time, but they're here to see me. So many of them -- what a crowd!"
The dying will sometimes use expressions like, "Look at all the old-timers going by" (in our own recollection of such cases).
This is how merciful Jesus is -- He never allows us to be alone, not even at the moment of death. Although we may have problems with some of those who endorse Kessler's book (as often occurs, New Agers gravitate toward many sorts of spiritual phenomena), it is fascinating. Many may try to chalk it up to hallucination, but cases where drugs were used that could cause such effects or symptoms indicating hallucination were not cited in the book.
Moreover, skeptics will have trouble explaining cases like that of one woman who was dying of pancreatic cancer while her husband Joseph was at a separate facility for severe Alzheimer's. Suddenly, recounts Kessler, she looked up and said, "Joseph died. Why didn't anyone tell me this?" She was assured by her daughter that Joseph was still in the nursing home. "Look, there he is!" insisted the dying woman. Gazing past everyone, she said, "Joseph, you came back for me!"
In the meantime, the daughter had decided to bring her father over to see the mom, and a cousin went to the nursing station to call the nursing home -- only to find out that Joseph indeed had died fifteen minutes before, of a heart attack.
Thanks! I believe it! Notice the 4 year old did not come in crying or upset, nor was she frightened as one would expect if visited by a spectre. She was calm yet adamant. Thank you for posting it.
After C.S. Lewis’ death, an acquaintance of his said that he appeared in a leather chair in his office and said one thing:
“It’s not that hard.”
Again, make of it what you will...
Absolutely! That would be their guardian angel. We all have a guardian angel; you know that, right?
I relate death to the equivalent of birth. You pass from one very limited reality to a “bigger” one.
I feel the Bible attempting to explain God and the afterlife is akin to explaining “green” to a man blind from birth.
And, unfortunately, many refuse to believe it exists simply because they do not have the eyes to see it. It makes one ponder what DOES exist that we simply do not have the “eyes” to perceive it.
She came in as someone like that would. She figured grandpa was visiting and just was excited to see him. She was actually quite surprise that he wasn’t there and pretty adamant. That’s one reason they called. I wasn’t there, but I suspect another reason was that he may not have been in good health and, frankly, her attitude was creeping them out - and it turned out there may have been a reason for that.
On a side note, an acquaintance of mine back in the 1980’s had her dead grandmother, right after she died, appear at the foot of her bed and tell her everything was going to be all right.
>>Isn’t it possible that satan is influencing your thinking and causing you to cast doubt?<<
Anything’s possible. That’s my point.
I trust the Word of God and Him alone. I find this stuff interesting - very interesting - but it does not influence my faith one way or the other. I don’t need it to.
I didn’t get any of the floating thing either. I just thought I dozed off. I woke up to find a guy pounding on my chest and heard a nurse behind me say “she’s flatlined.” What I did remember were some very short dreams where my body parts were basically twitching. One was a bicycle ride in a local park. I could feel my legs moving. I was told later that the staff had to use those paddles on me seven times. I suppose the twitching came from those paddles.
Wow—my sister tells a similar story about the night my dad died.
I happen to think that nothing God does is accidental. He has a purpose for everything. We just don’t always know what that purpose is.
Closer to the Light, Transformed by the Light, Parting Visions were written by Melvin Morse. They are an in depth look at the near dying experience. Well researched and lots of interviews done. I believe it. These books are well worth reading.
I have a friend who had one (Lascerated liver) She is not Christian but saw the light and relatives.
Interesting article, My Mom is almost 96 and has recently been having a parade of dreams about dead relatives. She is still relatively healthy for her age. It makes one wonder? Maybe she is obsessing about her mortality?
When I read The Last Battle, Narnia’s final book, Lewis’ description of Heaven is kind of like how I have envisioned it myself. Running, faster and faster through beautiful fields and mountains and waterfalls, and never getting tired. Drinking from a mountain stream the most delicious water anyone has ever tasted. If you haven’t read it, I beleive the chapter is called Further up and Further in.
>>I happen to think that nothing God does is accidental.<<
Exactly.
>>He has a purpose for everything. We just don’t always know what that purpose is.<<
Yes. Like when he “allowed” Judas to be one of the 12.
That said, the great deceiver is still in action and, in some ways, more than ever for “he knows his time is short”. I know God is in control. These “visions” may or may not be from God, but my salvation, my faith, my perspective of God does not need them. I see them as crop rings: something we do not understand. I consider it very dangerous to put too much belief in any one spiritual explanation, unless one get’s a message directly from God explaining them. I have not received such instruction so I still consider it a curiosity.
I think Satan is pretty darned smart and he has at his disposan weapons which we do not understand. The bible very strongly warns against false teachers and false teaching. It is one reason I am reticent to support any one explanation of this definitely real phenomenon.
You’re right about Satan. Who knows for sure if these things are for real?
I liken it to the story about the Rainbow Bridge where, supposedly, our pets go after they pass from this life. Maybe it is hooey, but there is some comfort there. I doubt such a belief would harm the soul. There are a heckuva lot more things that would doom us.
>>I doubt such a belief would harm the soul.<<
I think you would be surprised. One of the great “tricks” of people that misslead is to get you to accept a very tiny lie as truth, and then build monstrosities on it. I actually read a thesis back in 1972 where the writer “proved” that black is white. It took some people multiple readings before they could find the tiny fallacy the author got them to accept, upon which he built the logic.
Getting people to, on a spiritual level, even entertain the idea of animals being similar to humans can be the starting point of getting them to accept great falsehoods about God and his plan for mankind, who was created in His image, while animals are clearly not.
I really like what Billy Graham said to an elderly man who asked if he would see his dog in heaven. Billy said that if he needed to see the dog, it would be there. Hehehe...I don’t think, once he is in heaven, he will need to see his dog. ;)
Why? Look at the bible, right down to the ten commandments. It can ALL be broken down to two concepts:
1. Man’s relationship with his fellow man.
2. Man’s relationship with his Creator, God.
Everything else is the mere frame around the picture.
Ok - can someone explain this? This is hypothetical! Let’s assume I go to heaven when I die but knowing that my son will never arrive because he doesn’t believe in God. How can I be happy in heaven knowing I’ll never see him again?
A lady at our church talks about when her husband died. She was there with him for several days. The day he died she had left the room for a break and lunch. When she got back she quipped to the nurse something like “Well, I better not leave him alone for too long”.
The nurse said - oh, he hasn’t been alone. The lady was surprised as the rest of the small family had left for the afternoon. The nurse described the older gentleman that had visited. The description was that of her husband’s father who had died years earlier.
My old man on his death bed said with a smile “I’ve always said the day I die will be the best day of my life - finally get my crown of glory”. I replied “That may be true, but it’s going to be a real drag for the rest of us.”
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