Have you ever witnessed a sudden death? It brings everything into perspective.... regarding the small stuff of life, and how everything is really small stuff. I've been a midwife to a graceful death, when my dad died 14 years ago. I held his hand as it became cold and was taken aback by the beauty of that moment. But there was nothing elegant or lovely about Dan's death. I'm still not sure what to make of it.
Originally published on Beyond Blue at Beliefnet.com. To read more of Therese, visit her blog, Beyond Blue, on Beliefnet.com, or subscribe here. You may also find her at www.thereseborchard.com.
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While most near death experiences involved people in hospital, I actually willed my death once. See if my experience fit into yours.
When I graduated from college and took my first job, I had to take public transport to work leaving in the wee hours of the morning and coming back at night. On the way back I could see homeless people many were old, sick, hungry and feeling cold.
Every night coming back home I feel sad and disturbed by these scenes.
Then one night I came home so sad I asked why? Why are people suffering like that? Why? I was very emotional and began to cry deep inside my heart I could literally feel warm tears in my heart. I made a vow to take care of my mother and never let her suffer like that. I don’t mind dying to find out why people are suffering. That night something strange happened.
As I laid on the bed I became distinctively aware of my every breath coming in and out. It came to a point that my breath was slow until it was almost one with the consciousness to breathe and the heart beat. It became very slow. There was hesitation but because of what I said to myself about dying so I decide to let go. The breathe stop and the heart beat also stopped. There was a moment of
complete darkness as if someone switched off the light. Then there was a light above and I felt very light as if all these years I had been carrying a bag of cement on my shoulder had just threw it away. When I entered the light I was happily welcomed by many beings without form and we were telepathic. We bath in a golden light and there were very beautiful sceneries. Then I saw a bright light coming to me and I said I am no ready yet. The light acknowledge by replying, “ Yes you are not ready yet.”
From there the sequence was a reverse action as I moved from the bright towards darkness enter my body and I could feel my first heart beat and taking the first breath.
I opened my eyes it was 5'oclock in the morning. The reason 'I was not ready yet' was because I made a vow to take care of my mother.
I never treasured this experience even until now, but the strange thing is for the first two weeks there was completely no fear of death at all. I could just walk into the middle of the road and not fearful of being killed. After all these years I still do not fear death.
Within minutes of discovering my father was in a hospital on life support in a foreign country he died. An hour later I was on a plane to bury him.
Beyond the loss of a loved one, deaths are also red flags that go up announcing that this too is our fate....it is so quick this life.
I don't think death is negative it is just a fact that we the living seem to never quite feel at ease with. As long as we are living our capacity and loving more than is our capacity....it's all good I think.
Thank you for your courage in sharing this video. I feel for your grief.
God bless you abundantly in every way.
Anne
I know this: time does not heal, but it does allow our human brains to slowly accept a new reality, a world in which that person no longer shares our physical space. I think you are making the very best of an inconceivably tragic event: you are learning and you are sharing. One cannot now imagine how the lives of those who witnessed Dan's death will be affected by his last words, to the very ends of their own lives--but be assured they will be. Truly a blessing, shrouded in terror.
You are a good friend to so willingly share your thoughts. Keep up the good work.
Thanks for the video, it made me once again see how important they were in my life.
More rarely are videos worth a thousand.
What Therese does here is so deeply personal, so completely exceptional, that her video is worth the effort it took --- and, now, the time it takes for us to react.