Some suggested readings on near-death experiences

Some suggested readings on near-death experiences December 1, 2024

 

Christmas in Hong Kong
The entryway to my office at Interpreter headquarters, in a photograph taken just before we decorate it for Christmas this year (to the extent that our modest budget will permit).  One of our fundraising priorities for 2025 is moving from this spare and spartan facility into something more appropriate to our dignity and, of course, to my exaltedstatus.  (Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

The following note went out to several Interpreter Foundation mailing lists yesterday:

This coming Tuesday is Giving Tuesday, when the hearts of many (in the United States, at least) turn to charity or, anyway, to tax deductions. We know that there are thousands of worthy causes out there, and we hope that none of them is neglected. Still, among all of their competing claims and amidst the wonders and the pressures of Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Winter Solstice, Festivus, Christmas, Boxing Day, Kwanzaa, New Year’s Day, and Epiphany, we ask that you please remember The Interpreter Foundation as you plan your year-end giving.

The Interpreter Foundation is a private, independent, non-profit organization that supports The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with the goal of increasing the understanding of scripture through careful, faithful, and scholarly investigation and analysis.

For more information about donating to The Interpreter Foundation, please visit this page:

We wish you the best and hope that you enjoy the holiday season that is upon us.

Sincerely,

The Interpreter Foundation

Bosch's "Ascent to the Empyrean"
Hieronymus Bosch (d. 1516), “Ascent of the Blest” or “Ascent to the Empyrean”
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)

As I try to move into a more systematic approach to near-death experiences for a volume that is already substantial — and that I still hope to “complete” before I myself head through the tunnel of light — I’ve been surveying bibliographies on the subject.  Here’s (a partial) one, with useful annotations, from the International Association for Near-Death Studies.  I own (and have read) the majority of these, but there are still some potentially useful suggestions that I haven’t seen:

Westminster Cathedral is the mother church of all Catholics in England and Wales and the seat of the Archbishop of London (Wikimedia Commons public domain photo)

I said the other day that I would soon begin to share favorite Christmas music here.  Today is 1 December, and I think it’s time.

In my judgment, one of the most unearthly, ethereally beautiful pieces of modern classical Christmas music is Morten Lauridsen’s setting of  O magnum mysterium.  A representative recording of it comes from the Westminster Cathedral Choir in London:

Latin text

O magnum mysterium,
et admirabile sacramentum,
ut animalia viderent Dominum natum,
jacentem in praesepio!
Beata Virgo, cujus viscera
meruerunt portare
Dominum Christum.
Alleluia.
English translation
O great mystery,
and wonderful sacrament,
that animals should see the new-born Lord,
lying in a manger!
Blessed is the Virgin whose womb
was worthy to bear
Christ the Lord.
Alleluia!

Posted from Park City, Utah

 

 

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