The theme this week was painful letters to read from grieving parents.
Over and over again, they asked, how can we trust these visions?
Interactions with the dead occur in non-local reality. They are not
really standing at the foot of the bed, or to the side of a mirror.
They are perceptions mediated by a specific area of the brain. Each
person interprets the experience according to his or her own
psychology.
For some, it will be a vision. Others hear a voice. For many it is a
intuition or feeling. Some simply feel a presence. All represent valid
right temporal lobe interactions with another reality.
I hope that the following story helps the many grieving parents who have
written to me:
A reader describes a car accident in which her 2 1/2 year old daughter
nearly died. "My daughter had an NDE when she nearly died in 1990,
which in a way, I shared. When she (almost died), I saw a beautiful
light radiating from her body, and felt a feeling of unconditional love
coming in that light.
Before I tell you our (story), let me say that this was a very difficult
experience to deal with, not only because my husband and children were
seriously injured, but also because the entire event was such an
impossible and unacceptable experience for me. It took me five years to
come to terms with the NDE and related events. For me, the idea that
the experience was real had serious ramifications,. . .and I wasn'
sure I wanted to deal with them. Anyway, I have come to terms with it,
and now regard the NDE as a great blessing, perhaps the Greatest
blessing anyone could have.
(During the car accident) my daughter's face and body seemed transformed
by this light that was radiating from her. Her features took on a kind
of unearthly perfection, and she seemed weightless in my arms. I knew
she was dying. I wasn't afraid, and for a few moments, felt completely
at peace.
But, as soon as the light disappeared (when the child was close to
death), my first instinct was to pray to God to send her back. What
followed then was what, I suppose, is known as an out-of-body
experience, though at the time I had no language to describe it.
Suddenly I was in darkness, looking for my child. It was some void,
some nothingness, all I knew was that I had to find my daughter, and
there was a sense that if I did not find her, I would be permanently
trapped.
Suddenly, all my bodily sensations returned. I could hear the commotion
going on around me, the sirens, my husband screaming in pain. I saw my
daughter's gray and lifeless body in my arms. Then there was a great
jolt in her body, as if my daughter had been dropped from a great
height, or jolted with electricity.
All four of her limbs moved at once, then color came back into her face,
and she screamed "I need a bandaid". I didn't know whether to laugh or
cry. What feelings to deal with! Such a mixture of disbelief, horror,
confusion, awe, gratitude and relief. It never occurred to me that my
daughter might have had an NDE.
BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL
A few months later, she told us a story (about the accident) which goes
as follows: She was floating above the wreckage of the car. Then Jesus
picked her up. He was beautiful (and she had a look in her eyes). He
was made of light, blue light and he was taking her to heaven. I asked
her if she wanted to go, and she said "yes". And I asked her why she
didn't, she said "You were crying so much that Jesus gave me back to
you".
WHY DOESN'T JESUS GIVE BACK ALL THE CHILDREN?
Frank Oski, one of my professors at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine,
had a dream, when he asked that very question after one of his patients
died very young. Oski was the Dean of American Pediatricians.
A woman in white came to his bed and told him that every child's life is
important and has meaning, no matter how short that life is. He was
told that children who die at an early age know secrets of living that
the rest of us never learn. From those children who do come back, we
learn what dying is like.