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.
Sorry for the double posts.
Likewise for me, but I think we will probably have to pass through a gauntlet of screeners first. It is possible that Jesus may even be in one of those crowds to see if we recognize him.
When my grandmother passed away. was on no medication what so ever. she told my dad “ i see you george” my dad said who is named george as well he said mom im right here. she goes no your dad george he is dancing my grandmother reached up from laying down but reached to the sky and said george im coming. she fell back into bed and passed away. My dad said it was the most amazing feeling he ever had and my grandmother died with a huge smile on her face.
My Grandmother left us slowly. She spoke with her Mother daily for the last few months. They broke beans together for supper and Grandma called her “Mother Dear”. When she was “on our side of life” she only spoke to Grandpa and my oldest son who was 2 at the time. Mostly she was more “there” than here.
My hope is to hear Jesus say to me “Well done, good and faithful servant”.
I dont even hope for that much, just “Come in child, you are loved.”
My uncle died in May and right before his final breath he asked my aunt who “those two people are behind you” and when she turned around and saw noone, she said there wasn’t anyone there. He was insistent that there were two people dressed in white standing behind her. He finally turned to her and said he was tired and it was time for him to go, was she going to be alright, and that he’d always loved her and their sons. She said she knew and always felt the same. At that point he closed his eyes and it was over. I still miss him each and every day - he was the same age as me and more brother then uncle. I truly believe it was my grandparents waiting for him.....he was the youngest of 8 and they are going to take care of him....
“Behold the kingdom of heaven is amoung you”
BTTT
In short, everyone I owe money too.
I was told that I was flat lined and required a lot of blood. I saw a tunnel with light on the end and a face. I asked; “Is that you God?” He answered; “My mother in law had the same operation and lived to be 85.” It was my doctor speaking to me as I came to. I experienced what appeared to be a tunnel but it was due to the anesthesia wearing off.
I have read enough accounts of near death experiences to know full well that we are reunited with loved ones who have gone to Heaven before us, and that the reunion will be beyond joyous. Heaven, and its wonderfulness is beyond all human explanation, and those who have already been received into the Lords arms are looking forward to the day they can welcome us Home. Yes, they are the ones who are Home.
I heard it said once that, - “as a Christian, the day I die will be the best day I’ve ever lived. But it won’t be the best I will ever live.”
Maybe I am not that far off on my theory.
It’s the Communion of Saints...quite a crowd!
Harps, white robes, and never-ending boredom represent many believers perception of Heaven, because that is what movies, cartoons, and paintings, and sadly even some messages from the pulpit have showed us what it is like. On the other hand, many without Christ think Hell is going to be one big party. Both perceptions are dead wrong, and not even close to reality.
The Heaven John wrote about in the Bible is so full of wonders and mysteries that in our wildest dreams we could not imagine how glorious it is. Certainly Heaven contains many surprises which we will never be able to comprehend in this life.
The only way I can relate to Heaven’s wonderfulness in my puny little mortal way of thinking, is to ask people to think back to the one single best day of their whole life. Maybe it was your wedding, the birth of your first child, your first visit to Disneyland, the anniversary cruise with your spouse, Whatever. Now imagine each day in Heaven being that multiplied 100-fold, and the number of those days will be endless. Is it no wonder that John also wrote about the multitudes he saw worshiping and praising the one who said he was going away to prepare a place for us, and then fulfilled that promise beyond our wildest imagination.
That is what I firmly believe Heaven will be like.
Our passed loved ones who are experiencing those wonders are not looking back with sorrow, but instead they are anxious for the day when the rest the family will join them.
Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd, and I know My own and My own know Me...” - John 10:14
Some of my in-laws, I’d just as soon not meet again. I mean, my loser brother-in-law was in the KKK and stopped talking to my husband when we joined the Catholic Church.
An interesting story:
When my wife was around 10 years old and her family lived in Chicago, her very young sister (around 4) woke up one morning and, came into the kitchen where the family was gathered for breakfast. She asked, “Where’s Grandpa?” They told her that he lives in California and he’s not here. She said that when she was sleeping he woke her up and told her goodbye.” She was pretty emphatic that she saw him so, to calm her down they made a long distance call to California. It turned out he had died in the night.
Make of it what you will...
I like phrases like, “before the beginning, I Am.” Or “I am the I Am.”
I see it this way: Time is a current that flows in an ocean called eternity.
We are talking about stuff here about which we know pretty much nothing, so I believe we can be very easily fooled. With that said, I’ll throw out something strictly to spice up the debate:
If God is who the bible says he is, and one believes it, do you think God would “make a mistake” and accidentally let people get a glimpse of the afterlife when they are gonna get snapped back into our reality? If not, then is it just possible that Satan could fake the experience of your deceased friends meeting you there.
I’m not saying I believe that. What I am saying is that this could be interpreted to mean literally anything someone wanted it to mean. Heck, it could even be considered your strongest memories coming to the surface as the brain starts its death process.
IOW, it could mean absolutely anything and what you believe it is has to do solely with your view of this life and the afterlife.
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