Recently, two Christian friends died suddenly under different circumstances during a three-week period. As I thought of our friends, I imagined them coming out of their earthly bodies to depart for their heavenly homes.
Some of this imagery came from a book I read a few months ago called “Imagine Heaven” by John Burke. A New York Times bestseller with over a million copies sold, it describes over 100 near death experiences (NDEs). Those who had the NDEs died from various causes and were deceased for a very short period of time.
When some died they recounted hovering over their bodies and remained there before they returned, while others saw a light and went through a tunnel. Some even described going to heaven and encountering Jesus, only to be told it wasn’t their time. And some sat with Jesus while watching portions of their lives replayed as if watching a movie.
While I never had an NDE, years ago my husband and I met two individuals who did. One was a furniture store salesman. We chatted with the salesman, George, for a while before he and my husband discussed how they had lived in Roanoke, Virginia years earlier.
George proceeded to tell us how he had been shot during a robbery in Roanoke. He described how he came out of his body in the operating room and hovered over it, watching the surgeon, Dr. Shelton, work on him. He even remembered some of the surgeon’s negative comments about his poor prognosis. At some point, he went back into his body.
Dr. Shelton came to see George in the recovery room.
“Let me tell you what I did,” Dr. Shelton said.
“You don’t have to,” George replied. “I saw the whole thing.”
Dr. Shelton was amazed when George described what he had done during his surgery, and the statements he made about George’s small chance of survival.
“It made a believer out of me,” George said casually.
Several years later we were having repairs done to our cable television and chatting with the technician, Jeff. During the conversation, Jeff told us his story. He had been playing in a high school football game when he was hit with a deadly blow by his opponent.
“The next thing I know I’m hovering over my body watching a medic perform CPR,” he said. “Then I woke up.”
1 Thessalonians 4:13 says, “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.”
Though we grieve with the families of our two friends, the one hope we have is that we will see them again. And the next time it will be for all eternity.
Mary Therese Hutchinson 