Tag Archives: NDE

Sunday Devotional: Live as Children of Light

Ephesians 5:8-14

Brothers and sisters:
You were once darkness,
but now you are light in the Lord.
Live as children of light,
for light produces every kind of goodness
and righteousness and truth.
Try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord.
Take no part in the fruitless works of darkness;
rather expose them, for it is shameful even to mention
the things done by them in secret;
but everything exposed by the light becomes visible,
for everything that becomes visible is light.
Therefore, it says:
“Awake, O sleeper,
and arise from the dead,
and Christ will give you light.”

Today’s reading reminds me of a feature in many near-death experiences (NDEs), which is that often, the experience begins with the individual seeing a bright (but not blinding) light. Sometimes, the individual encounters what is described as a “being of light” of great love.

In contrast are the few reports of unpleasant near-death experiences (few because, I suspect, those with such experiences are ashamed to report them), notably that of Bill Clinton who underwent a quadruple bypass cardiac surgery in September 2004. In an interview on ABC’s “Primetime Live,” he said that during his heart operation, “I saw, like, dark masks crushing, like, death masks being crushed, in series, and then I’d see these great circles of light and then, like, Hillary’s picture or Chelsea’s face would appear on the light, and then they’d fly off into the dark.” (Free Republic)

John 3:20-21

For everyone who does wicked things hates the light
and does not come toward the light, 
so that his works might not be exposed.
But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, 
so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.

May the peace and light of Jesus Christ, Our Lord be with you,

~E

New evidence gives credence to life review in near-death experiences

1 Corinthians 15:54-55

Brothers and sisters:
When this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility
and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality,
then the word that is written shall come about:
Death is swallowed up in victory.
Where, O death, is your victory?
Where, O death, is your sting?

Near-death experiences (NDEs) — events that take place as a person is dying or, in some cases, is already clinically dead — are compelling evidence that there is life after death.

People who have NDEs are called near-death experiencers (NDErs). Medical doctors and other researchers have examined this phenomenon in depth. An excellent book is Evidence of the Afterlife, by Jeffrey Long, M.D. (with Paul Perry).

Among the near-death experiences is the phenomenon of life review, when the  life of the dying person flashes before him/her, sometimes as a three-dimensional, panoramic review of everything significant that had happened in the NDEr’s life. From Evidence of the Afterlife, p. 110:

[The NDErs] view themselves from a third-person perspective. They watch themselves interacting with the people in their lives. They see how they treated others and often step into the other person’s place so they know how that person felt when interacting with them….

A spiritual being sometimes accompanies the person who is having the life review. This being may serve as a kind of loving guide…discussing the spiritual ramifications of the events of the NDEr’s life…help[ing] the NDEr put his or her life into perspective….

[L]ife reviews are often one of the most transformative elements of the NDE.

Now, we have scientific evidence of NDE life review.

Joe Pinkstone reports for The Telegraph, Feb. 23, 2022:

Our life may very well flash before our eyes when we are on the brink of death, according to the first recording of a dying brain.

The discovery was made when a patient died while having their brain activity monitored by experts. Electrodes detected an uptick in activity linked to memory recall and dreaming.

Experts believe this backs up reports and accounts from people who have suffered near-death experiences and claim to have seen their life flash before their eyes.

This is the first empirical data from an actual death to support the theory….

The individual who died was an 87-year-old man from Estonia who had been admitted to hospital after a fall.

He was sent for various scans that found a significant brain bleed and an operation was successful. Afterwards, the patient was stable for two days in intensive care.

But he then began to suffer from epileptic seizures, undergoing at least a dozen episodes, so the clinicians organised an EEG — electroencephalography — to help track and treat the haywire brain activity caused by the trauma.

While the EEG was still ongoing, the patient suffered a cardiac arrest and died, with the data being the first and only time the activity of a dying human brain has been recorded.

This gave the doctors and their colleagues a unique opportunity to study what happens in the brain as a person passes over the threshold from life to death.

They saw that at the time of death, brain activity was very similar to what happens when a person is meditating, dreaming, or reliving past memories….

While all brain waves began to dwindle, gamma accounted for a larger than normal percentage. Previous studies have found gamma waves to be responsible for some high-functioning processes and are intrinsically linked to concentrating, dreaming, memory retrieval and conscious perception.

Dr. Ajmal Zemmar, a neurosurgeon at the University of Louisville, who had studied this case, told Frontiers Science News: “Through generating oscillations involved in memory retrieval, the brain may be playing a last recall of important life events just before we die, similar to the ones reported in near-death experiences.”

~E

Sunday Devotional: To whom we must render an account

Hebrews 4:12-13

Brothers and sisters:
Indeed the word of God is living and effective,
sharper than any two-edged sword,
penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow,
and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.
No creature is concealed from him,
but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him
to whom we must render an account.

Did you know a life review is common in near death experiences (NDEs)?

“There is evidence that a type of judgment occurs at the time of death. This judgment involves a review of a person’s life and results in their placement in the spirit world. Sometime after the judgment the person is assigned (in many cases this assignment is self-imposed) to a specific place or level in the other world – a place where his or her spirit feels most at ease.” (Dr. Craig Lundahl)

From Kevin Williams, “The Life Review and the Near Death Experience,” NDE, September 22, 2019:

The life review is an amazing experience having many interesting characteristics – not all of which are found in every life review. The following is a list of some of those characteristics.

a. Instantly becoming everyone you came in contact with in your entire life (feeling their emotions, thinking their thoughts, living their experiences, learning their motives behind their actions).

b. Reliving every detail of every second of your life, every emotion, and every thought simultaneously.

c. Re-living the way you dealt with others and how others dealt with you.

d. Viewing a few special deeds in your life.

e. Replaying a part of your life review to focus on a particular event for instruction.

f. Viewing past lives and/or your future.

g. Feeling a strong sense of responsibility.

h. Feeling a sense of judgment or self-judgment (often these feelings transform from judgment to self-judgment).

i. The review is a fact-finding process rather than a fault-finding process.

j. Your motives for everything will be as visible as your actions.

k. The negative events you expected to see did not show up because you had a change of heart.

[…] The life review reveals how God is concerned about deeds – not creeds. This fact becomes crystal clear during a person’s life review. Many [near death] experiencers have expressed the astounding realization of how life on earth is one gigantic “test” for which our deeds will be graded during our life review. […]

The overwhelming consensus among experiencers is that love is supreme. Love is where we came from. Love is where we will return. Love is what life is all about because love is God.

May the peace and love of Jesus Christ our Lord be with you,

~E

Ashes form silhouette of beloved dog

Ashley Lang recently lost her beloved dog — a 12-year-old Golden Retriever named Wagner.

Lang had Wagner cremated.

When a friend took a photo of Lang spreading Wagner’s ashes, the picture showed the billowing ashes forming the silhouette of a dog.

Lang told CBS Chicago: “It’s pretty remarkable…the tail and the legs and he looks like he’s, you know, leaping to go up. Everyone keeps calling him the angel dog.”

Ashley said she believes it was Wagner’s way of saying one last goodbye.

H/t PawMyGosh

I believe our pet animals have souls.

Many near death experiences (NDEs) include being greeted not just by family members, but also by departed pets.

Many years ago, my husband and I obtained a yellow kitten from the local animal shelter to keep his elderly mom company. His mom lived in an in-law cottage. We named the cat, Chester, who spent most of his days outdoors.

To prevent Chester from hunting birds, I attached a bell to his collar.

Chester lived to a ripe old age, and passed from natural causes. For a full week after the cat died, both my husband and I independently heard  Chester’s bell ringing outside.

I experienced a similar phenomenon with my cat, Charles Elmo.

Charles lived to be 17 years old.

When I returned home after bringing Charles to the vet to be put to sleep, I  was sitting before my desktop computer when I heard Charles’ distinctive meow.

I believe that was Charles telling me he’s okay and saying “Goodbye”.

~E

A woman’s near death experience: “I felt peace in my heart”

A male presence was beside her the whole time.  He was filled with light. And offered comforting words. And love.

Pretty powerful.

DCG