Nov 19, 2015

Death is the Greatest Blessing (6)

Life after Life

“OH WOW, OH WOW, OH WOW”

              Steve Jobs final words

We know very little or nothing from direct evidence of what happens after death, but there has been a surprising amount revealed by many ‘near death’ experiences that is one of the latest points of interest as revealed by many books detailing these experiences. These many experiences have a lot in common, and therefore we can begin to see the patterns that have been revealed in their telling.

These experiences have a common core: they see a bright light, and a tunnel wherein they see many forms, usually of those they know that have gone before the person, but sometimes even including someone that they know is still alive. Everything is beautiful, and throbbing with love and joy beyond belief. There is a welcoming, and a sense of belonging, and a knowledge that all is indeed well and that greater joy than this awaits us. At this point, the person telling the experience says that either they understand they are not finished with their journey in the physical plane, or that they have a choice to stay or go back; understanding that there is still more to accomplished here if they come back. Obviously, they decide to return and complete or further their mission or purpose for being here, rather than having to do it once more later.

But what happens if a person has reached the end? When Steve Jobs transitioned in 2011, his sister Mona Simpson, in her eulogy of her brother, talked of his death, and the last words he spoke:

“Before embarking, he looked at his sister Patty,

then for a long time at his children,

then at his life’s partner, Laurene,

and then over their shoulder past them.

Steve’s final words were:

OH WOW, OH WOW, OH WOW.”

               Mona Simpson, Eulogy for Steve Jobs, 2011

What better way to express the inexpressible? Oh Wow!!

We will, as St. Paul said, see God clearly, face to face, in the no-time that is eternity.

The Life That Never Ends

The best book I have read on this subject is the last book in the Conversation with God series of nine books that purportedly came from a conversation with God over a 15 year time span by Neale Donald Walsch, and is the book “Home with God in a Life That Never Ends”. The book describes in great detail the various passages we pass through in the process of moving from the world of physicality to the spiritual in full process. You can believe it or not, but it gives a very real plausible chain of events.

We are, after all, a three part being: body or physical potential, mind, and soul. All parts are part of our eternal presence, and we never lose any of that, just as God is the All in All, so we too have all parts in our being as being part of the infinite structure we call God. While those of various faiths describe their initial journey into ‘near death’ in both similar ways but different, depending on their beliefs in eternity, since we will experience first of all just what we believed we would experience – until we no longer feel that is relevant to our soul.

For instance, there is no hell. What happens, it is said, that if we believe we belong in hell, we will observe our body burning in flames, but only observe it from afar, and not feel it. After awhile, we will realize that is a false scene, and move on.

The book gives in fascinating detail the process we undergo in no-time to reach the goal of face to face with God. But since that is no-time, it occurs out of time, and that is why we greet and are greeted by friends and relatives that are eagerly awaiting our venture.

Questions to Ponder

What is your thought about what happens at the moment of transition? Is that moment fearful, or are you looking forward to that moment of seeing friends and relatives?

What does the last words of Steve Jobs , “Oh WOW” seem to you? Does it move you to a warmer place in your thinking of that moment in your own life?

Meditation

Oh Wonder Maker, my Eternal Wisdom, I place myself in your embrace of comfort and joy, so that when I am at that moment of truth in my life I may be as open to the Joy that awaits me as Steve Jobs was, and I know that I will express that wonder in a similar fashion: Oh Wow!, whether consciously or unconsciously. Your wonder has filled my life with joy, and I know that infinite joy awaits me as I move towards that moment of transition. My trust in Your Love for me embraces me in all that I do, now and forever.

 

Next we will look at Life before Life.