Life After Death: Where Do We Go From Here?

Partial transcript from 9/12/11 episode of my radio show, A Fine Time for Healing

Death is one of the greatest mysteries of life. Haven’t we all thought about what happens to us after we die. Every religion claims to have the answer, but all the answers differ. There are many points of view about the afterlife. Is there a definitive answer? Perhaps we are not meant to know the answer; perhaps we could not fully comprehend the answer. In the show today, I’ll present the facts and theories as I know them, and then you can draw your own conclusions.

Through this show I’ll offer you my perspective on life after death, substantiated by personal experiences, case studies, and scientific research. Though I do believe in God, I am not a religious person. My point of view never comes from a religious slant. So if you’re listening today, hoping to understand more about life after death from a religious point of view, you may be disappointed. I’m sure there are other shows and articles that will offer that perspective to you.

Since “Earth” and “The Other Side,” where we go after we die, are merely two different dimensions, a difficult concept for most of us to grasp, communication between the two dimensions is absolutely possible. I have personally experienced this awe inspiring phenomenon on a few occasions. I am thoroughly convinced that our loved ones who have passed on are very much alive and very accessible to us.

I’ll tell you about my latest experience. A little over a year ago I had a reading with a medium named Jonathan Lewis. Jonathan, a friend of renowned medium John Edward knew nothing about me. He was in New York, I was in Florida. He did the reading over the telephone. And I have to say that it was one of the most joyous, impactful experiences of my life. Not the least bit eerie. I made the appointment hoping to hear from my ex-husband Keith who had died twenty years prior from a drug overdose. I’m happily married and have long since moved on, but I wanted to connect with him because I was in the middle of writing my memoir, Fine…ly and Keith was a main character in the story. There were times, as I was writing my manuscript, that I felt his presence very strongly; especially when I was recalling painful experiences that had to do with him. Due to limited time I can’t elaborate on that story, but if you’d like to hear it you can listen to my July 19th show, A Woman’s Journey to Find Hope, Love, and Destiny. Jonathan was passing on the information but he didn’t know who was coming through, but I knew almost immediately. There was no doubt that it was Keith. In the first five minutes of the reading Keith’s smart ass personality came through loud and clear. He said that in life, some people thought of him as obnoxious. But he didn’t care…because that’s just who he was. That was all very true. He said that had died from drugs and that he had died quickly and alone. Those facts were also true. And he wanted me to pass the message on to his mother that he, his brother, and his grandfather, all three dead, were worried about her because she wasn’t doing very well. I tell the story of what he said in my blog article entitled, Message to Loved Ones Confirms Belief of Life After Death. Keith described the three pets that we had had together and that had died many years ago. And he described my husband’s German shepherd that had died over twenty years ago – he even knew the circumstances of his death. My husband and Keith had never met. Keith and my husband’s dog had never met – I’d only met the dog once. He wanted me and my husband to know, that all four animals were with him and being taken care of by him. The next things he talked about were things that he could only have known by recently watching me. Keith was making references to butterflies, but Jonathan didn’t want to pass that information on to me because it seemed too general and too cliché. Keith insisted that Jonathan mention the butterflies. I knew immediately what he was referring to. Whenever I find a butterfly outside that has died, I bring it inside and attach it to an artificial topiary in my house. Very few people know that I do that. Amazing! Keith commented that he likes my husband – that I did much better the second time…and that my husband was much easier to train than he was. No truer words have ever been spoken! He knew a lot about my husband and even described a very unusual birthmark in the shape of a dagger wound that my husband has on his lower back; a place where no one can see it. Then he kidded me about giving my husband a hard time about not fixing the bathroom tile. That conversation actually took place one week before. I could go on and on. There were so many accurate details shared in the hour and fifteen minutes that he came through. It was a fascinating experience and left me totally convinced that there is life after death.

I’m not the only one who believes in it. According to various polls taken on the subject, the majority of people around the world believe in some form of life after death. Yet it is often claimed that there is no evidence to prove that live after death exists. That is simply not true. In fact, the evidence is overwhelming.

In 1977 a ground-breaking book called Life After Life was published. It had been written by Dr. Raymond Moody, a psychologist and medical doctor. Before his book was published, very few people had ever heard of the near-death experience. Doctors and psychiatrists had heard reports of them from their patients who had been resuscitated after dying on the table, but had been reluctant to risk their reputations by sharing these bizarre incidents with others. And many people who had had these experiences did not talk about them for fear of embarrassment or having their sanity questioned. Dr. Moody, a pioneer in the field of near death experiences, wrote Life After Life after studying 150 people who had been brought back to life after experiencing clinical death. He found that the testimonies and descriptions given by these people were incredibly similar. And these extraordinarily vivid near death experiences were so positive, that after the people were revived, many had a new lease on life and an unshakeable belief in the hereafter.

Based on his research Dr. Moody concluded that the following experiences are common to all those who have had near death experiences. After the person has been declared dead they describe feeling more alive than ever. They float up out of their bodies and watch any efforts to resuscitate them from above. At first they can’t understand how they can be dead, but when they realize that no one can see them they gain the understanding and accept that they have died. At this point, any earthy roles they have played in life are gone. The uniqueness of their personality remains. Any pain that they have suffered is gone, any disabilities they had disappear. Their senses become more acute, their memory is clear, and they feel energized.

Then transcendental experiences begin happening. The people say that the feelings experienced are indescribable in our language, utterly beautiful and serene beyond anyone’s ability to put into words. They become aware of a tunnel and feel themselves going through it. A warm, brilliant, accepting light at the end of the passageway gives feelings of peace and comfort, unlike anything they have ever experienced before. Relatives and friends, who have died before them are waiting within the light; there to greet them and guide them through the transition. Their loved ones don’t appear in a physical body, but more in a recognizable form of light - and they seem to be in the prime of their life. Then they are met by a religious figure that they feel close to; Christians report being met by Christ, Jewish people may be met by God or an angel. Based on their religious beliefs, everyone has a different experience. The religious figure asks them one question. The communication does not take place in the form of words, but rather in the form of an immediate awareness. The essence of the question they are asked is, “What have you done with your life, and how have you learned to love?” Then they undergo a life review that is played all around them like a panoramic hologram. It’s understood that everything we do in life is recorded and that everything, including our thoughts, has a consequence. Through a third party perspective they watch themselves go through their entire life - from the point of birth until the point of death. During this review they empathetically relate to all the people with whom they are interacting. They see the perspective of others, and feel exactly what others feel, as if they shared their consciousness. One thing stated from everyone who has had a near death experience is that life has nothing to do with fame, money, or earthly success. The most important thing in life is cultivating loving relationships with others.