A nice image from southern California, where I was born and raised, suggestive of a tunnel with light at the end. \u00a0 \u00a0(Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I share here quotations from an account of an experience reported by Ian McCormack, a native of New Zealand, who, at the age of twenty, was stung four times by a school of box jellyfish while scuba diving on the reefs off of Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean. \u00a0His account is included in John Burke,\u00a0Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God\u2019s Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You<\/em>\u00a0(Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2015):<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Then a brilliant light shone upon me and literally drew me out of the darkness . . . \u00a0I could see that the source of the light was emanating from the very end of the tunnel. \u00a0It looked unspeakably bright, as if it was the centre of the universe, the source of all light and power. \u00a0It was more brilliant than the sun, more radiant than any diamond, brighter than a laser beam. \u00a0Yet you could look right into it. . . .<\/span><\/p>\nThe first wave of light gave off an amazing warmth and comfort. \u00a0It was as though the light wasn\u2019t just material in nature but was a \u201cliving light\u201d that transmitted an emotion. . . .<\/span><\/p>\nI came out of the end of the tunnel and seemed to be standing upright before the source of all the light and power. \u00a0My whole vision was taken up with this incredible light. \u00a0It looked like a white fire or a mountain of cut diamonds sparkling with the most indescribable brilliance. \u00a0(139)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I was so close I wondered if I could just step into the light that surrounded God and see him face to face. . . . \u00a0As I stepped into the light it was as if I\u2019d come inside veils of suspended shimmering lights, like suspended stars or diamonds giving off the most amazing radiance. \u00a0And as I walked through the light it continued to heal the deepest part of me. . . . \u00a0Standing in the centre of the light stood a man with dazzling white robes reaching down to his ankles. \u00a0I could see his bare feet. \u00a0The garments were not man-made fabrics but were like garments of light. \u00a0As I lifted my eyes up I could see the chest of a man with his arms outstretched as if to welcome me.<\/span><\/p>\nI looked towards his face. \u00a0It was so bright; it seemed to be about ten times brighter than the light I\u2019d already seen. \u00a0It made the sun look yellow and pale in comparison. \u00a0It was so bright that I couldn\u2019t make out the features of his face. . . . \u00a0I knew that I was standing in the presence of Almighty God \u2014 no one but God could look like this. \u00a0(140-141)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 I share here quotations from an account of an experience reported by Ian McCormack, a native of New Zealand, who, at the age of twenty, was stung four times by a school of box jellyfish while scuba diving on the reefs off of Mauritius, an island in the Indian Ocean. \u00a0His account is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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