I suppose it comes with my job. Likely anyone that works at a hospice thinks about death a lot. I don't think about it with fear, but rather with some fascination. Please don't be creeped out by that. Really, it is fascinating that someone can be talking to me, and an hour later that person is somewhere else, a place where they no longer need me to give them pain medications or calm their anxiety. It is a place where their food doesn't need to be pureed to prevent choking, their bills are not a worry and they are experiencing something I do not yet understand.
Sometimes when I attend a death I find myself looking up and around the room. I never see anything unusual. I've heard so many near-death stories, though, of people looking down on the room of their death. It just seems to be polite to try to acknowledge their departing glance, don't you think?
This morning I went to You Tube and looked for videos of people talking about near-death experiences. I suppose that sounds bad but I found many of them to be really hopeful and uplifting. I consider myself a fairly joyful person. There is much about this life that brings great satisfaction. Yet, I feel there is so much more. I know that I am only understanding the surface of what it means to be alive. One thing I hear a lot from those who have had a near-death experiences is a comment that they finally "understood". They didn't go through some heavenly college, they just instantly understood. I like to think that someday I will really understand.
The other thing I come across a lot is people say they felt overwhelmingly loved. I have a wonderful network of family and friends and I will say that I feel very well-loved in this life. I realize that not everyone is given that and I do not take it for granted. But I think that the love we will feel in God's presence is much more than that. I know that I don't yet quite "get it" but I know that I want to.
This video is just one of many that I picked at random.
I like that it was a man who did not consider himself to be a believer or to even have much knowledge about God before his unusual experience. It is over 9 minutes but I hope you will enjoy listening to it as I did. The end is the best part. I loved it when he said he realized that God had loved him the whole time, even before he believed in God himself. Yes, I really loved that.
Sometimes when I attend a death I find myself looking up and around the room. I never see anything unusual. I've heard so many near-death stories, though, of people looking down on the room of their death. It just seems to be polite to try to acknowledge their departing glance, don't you think?
This morning I went to You Tube and looked for videos of people talking about near-death experiences. I suppose that sounds bad but I found many of them to be really hopeful and uplifting. I consider myself a fairly joyful person. There is much about this life that brings great satisfaction. Yet, I feel there is so much more. I know that I am only understanding the surface of what it means to be alive. One thing I hear a lot from those who have had a near-death experiences is a comment that they finally "understood". They didn't go through some heavenly college, they just instantly understood. I like to think that someday I will really understand.
The other thing I come across a lot is people say they felt overwhelmingly loved. I have a wonderful network of family and friends and I will say that I feel very well-loved in this life. I realize that not everyone is given that and I do not take it for granted. But I think that the love we will feel in God's presence is much more than that. I know that I don't yet quite "get it" but I know that I want to.
This video is just one of many that I picked at random.
(from BING images)
I like that it was a man who did not consider himself to be a believer or to even have much knowledge about God before his unusual experience. It is over 9 minutes but I hope you will enjoy listening to it as I did. The end is the best part. I loved it when he said he realized that God had loved him the whole time, even before he believed in God himself. Yes, I really loved that.
2 comments:
and we have to live our lives ready for death!! Some of the greatest wisdom I ever heard was to live your life as if you were going to die today...puts life in a whole different perspective!!
WOW!!! Brings back memories of two bright lights in the corner of my ICU Room. I know my faith became much stronger in 2003, GOD does wondrous things if we let him. Believe you me I'm ready live one day at a time, enjoy every min., love everyone, pray, praise, and give thanks. GOD bless us all. Look foward to the joy of EASTER!
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