Pretty much the inevitable image for an entry such as this. But a wholly inadequate one.
(Wikimedia Commons public domain image)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
In their book Glimpses Beyond Death\u2019s Door: Gospel Insights into Near-Death Experiences<\/em> (Orem: Granite Publishing, 2005), Brent L. Top and Wendy L. Top cite the case of a man who had a near-death experience when he was the victim of an attempted murder:<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I became aware of the most powerful, radiant, brilliant white light.\u00a0 It totally absorbed my consciousness.\u00a0 It shone through this glorious scene like the sun rising on the horizon through a veil which had suddenly opened.\u00a0 This magnificent light seemed to be pouring through a brilliant crystal.\u00a0 It seemed to radiate from the very center of the consciousness I was in and to shine out in every direction through the infinite expanses of the universe.\u00a0 I became aware that it was part of all living things and that at the same time all living things were part of it.\u00a0 I knew it was omnipotent, that it represented infinite divine love.\u00a0 It was as if my heart wanted to leap out of my body towards it.\u00a0 It was almost as though I had met my Maker.\u00a0 Even though the light seemed thousands and thousands of times stronger than the brightest sunlight, it did not bother my eyes.\u00a0 My only desire was to have more and more of it and to bathe in it forever.\u00a0 (quoted from Heading Toward Omega<\/em>, 66)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Carol Zaleski writes that \u201cthe light radiates wisdom and compassion; it floods the mind, expanding awareness until one seems to comprehend everything in a single gaze.\u201d\u00a0 She then shares the account of a woman who returned to life after she had \u201cnearly died\u201d in childbirth:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was a dynamic light, not like a spotlight.\u00a0 It was an incredible energy \u2014 a light you wouldn\u2019t believe.\u00a0 I almost floated in it.\u00a0 It was feeding my consciousness feelings of unconditional love, complete safety, and complete, total perfection.\u00a0 It just powed<\/em> into you.\u00a0 My consciousness was going out and getting larger and and taking in more; I expanded and more and more came in.\u00a0 It was such rapture, such bliss.\u00a0 And then, and then, a piece of knowledge came in: it was that I was immortal, indestructible.\u00a0 I cannot be hurt, cannot be lost.\u00a0 We don\u2019t have anything to worry about.\u00a0 And that the world is perfect; everything that happens is part of a perfect plan.\u00a0 I don\u2019t understand this part now, but I still know it\u2019s true.\u00a0 (quoted from Otherworld Journeys<\/em>, 124-125)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Charles P. Flynn, who wrote a book about the remarkable transformations that occur in those who have had near-death experiences, said that \u201cNDErs refer to the Light as total love and total knowledge.\u201d\u00a0 He then cited this fairly typical assessment by someone who had \u201cdied\u201d and experienced an encounter with \u201cthe light\u201d:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Feeling myself enveloped in that love, feeling myself surrounded with the knowledge that came off of it, I felt like I knew the secrets of everything from the very beginning of time to infinity, and I realized that there was no end.\u00a0 I realized that we are but a very small part of something that\u2019s gigantic, but as people we interlock into each other\u2019s lives like puzzle pieces, and that we are just an infinitely small part of the universe.\u00a0 But we\u2019re also very special.\u00a0 (quoted from After the Beyond<\/em>, 12)<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
Reading those accounts above, I was forcibly reminded of such scriptural passages as Doctrine and Covenants 88:11-13 and John 1:4-5, 9:<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your\u00a0understandings; which\u00a0light\u00a0proceedeth forth from the presence of God to\u00a0fill\u00a0the immensity of space\u2014the\u00a0light\u00a0which is in all things, which giveth\u00a0life\u00a0to all things, which is the law\u00a0by which all things are governed, even the\u00a0power\u00a0of God who\u00a0sitteth\u00a0upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.<\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
In him was life; and the life was the light of men.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not. . . .\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 In their book Glimpses Beyond Death\u2019s Door: Gospel Insights into Near-Death Experiences (Orem: Granite Publishing, 2005), Brent L. Top and Wendy L. Top cite the case of a man who had a near-death experience when he was the victim of an attempted murder: \u00a0 I became aware of the most powerful, radiant, brilliant […]<\/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":[1727,16266,16263,1104,5817,1008,1011,16257,16260,2193,903,9916],"class_list":["post-88059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-afterlife","tag-brilliance","tag-brilliant","tag-death","tag-eternal-life","tag-immortality","tag-life-after-death","tag-life-after-life","tag-life-after-life-after-life","tag-light","tag-near-death-experience","tag-near-death-experiences"],"yoast_head":"\n
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