Afterlife ~ yes, or no?

Yes! This succinct statement also so aptly illustrates what so often divides us. So often the argument rages round the different use of terms, or even the use of some words at all. On the whole contributors on this forum have striven to accept each other's manner of expressing ourselves. For that I am profoundly grateful to you all. Only one exception comes to mind and I am greatly saddened at the manner of his withrawl from the forum as it bodes ill for his wellfare.

Hi,

You are right. But i solemnly think that it is one’s way of seeing things that demonstrate his/her belief.

Hi Blu

We may imagine what we will but the issue from the Bible is that disciples of the Lord Jesus will be with him in heaven. When the Lord Jesus returns to earh his disciples will come with him in new immortal bodies. They will have tasks to do for him on earth. The problem is the process of dying. It seems very often to be extremely unpleasant. So we cling to what we know..

Blue

It is true that most people do not want to die. Fear of dyeing is not necessarily the fear of death.

Some people are afraid to die due to fear of pain and suffering for others it may be more due to the obligations and connections they have on earth.

I look forward to the day I die with great anticipation. Although I look forward to it I understand the amount of grief it will cause my family. I owe it to them to spend as much time on earth with them as I can.

I am not religious but I have a strong belief in life after death. I believe we are to serve our time on earth as best we can and that the choice to stay or leave is not ours to make.

Cheers,

Gloria

Dear Gloria, 

How remarkably similar our views are although our background philosophies are quite different. That gives me something new to ponder. Very many thanks. George

Hi Blu ~

A very close friend of mine passed away a few years ago.  He was only 26.  He was afraid of dying plus leaving his daughter w/o a dad.  One night he told me that he had a dream and that angels appeared.  They took him to the place he was destined to go after death...it was heaven.  He said when looking around, he couldn't see a person persay, but rather he could feel them and only the soul was present.  Afterwards, his destiny to die soon wasn't as bad as it had seemed.  They also showed him his daughter when she passes, she'll be there with him.  He also said that time on earth is much different than time in "heaven" meaning, that time on earth is measured by seconds, minutes, hours etc...in heaven, a day would only be a minute to us on earth.  He said to take time and smell the roses because the ending is sooner than anyone realizes.  

His strength gave me strength.  He died much too early in my opinion but it wasn't his destiny to stay longer.  If he can find solace with a dream, which he believes was real, then I can find solace that there is a life after death, much different than our lives now but it is, in his words, the purest of all love.  Sadly, the next night, he passed.  I thank the angels that came down to help him to go over to their side and allow his daughter time to be with him...remember, to him it may only be 5 minutes to us that would be 5 days.  I would hope longer but that time reference was a gestimate from him as he tried to explain how it is in heaven.  

I'm rambling now, but wantedto share that information with all of you because of the fact that he passed the very next day after he had this dream, therefore it raised a question in me that wonders if the angels come to everyone prior to death and help them through a difficult time.  Who knows?

Warm regards,

Frustrated

Hi Frustrated,

I am glad that for all the wonder of the mystery of life after death there have been many glimpses of what lies on the other side.

It seems as though I have spent a lifetime trying to decipher between superstitions, varies religious beliefs and facts. It seems scientific studies have proven life after death and I do not know of any that have ever proven otherwise.

It seems that all experiences are determined to be wonderful with the exception of experiences after attempted suicide.

I have had a number of experiences that have led me to the belief that there is angles that appear and guide us to heaven as well as guardian angles that help in time of need.

Dear Gloria,

It seems that you have much that you could tell us. I have had no experiences of this sort. I am wholly dependant on the fascinating accounts that various kind people have written. So far no one has claimed that there is no life after death. I find that in itself interesting.

Gloria ~

Do you believe we have a spirit guide?  Mine came in the form of a very large black woman about 6ft 2 or 3 and I was in the hospital wondering why I was so danged depressed.  I had just had a baby that I was so happy about but for some reason, I couldn't shake the depression.  Now, today, I know I had postpartdum depression.  Bake 31 yrs ago there wasn't much  known about it.  But, while trying to hang in there, I was reading through the Bible hoping to find something that would help me and "walla" she appeared.  She walked me up and down the hallway talking about life and told me about the Serenity Prayer.  She helped me through that.  Afterwards, she went into her bedroom and I went into mine.  Later that evening, I was out looking for her and couldn't find her.  Same the next morning and later that afternoon.  I asked at the desk where she was and if she went home...they didn't know who I was talking about.  Oddly, her room was right next to the desk.  There never was a paitent with the description I gave them.  I chuckled inside and thought "oh great, I was walking up and down the hallway talking to myself!"  lol  Later that year, I learned about Spirit Guides and I believe she was mine.  They come in any shape and form and just because I saw her as a huge black woman, mine could appear as something else depending on the situation.  My spirit guide has visited me in form approx 8 times.  I'll tell you more about the other experiences at a different time.

Anyway, wondering what you feel about a Spirit Guide?

Thank you,

Frustrated

Doc and gloria ~

I just wanted to point out that it's hard to persuade someone that there isn't life after as it would take someone to actually die to tell about it.  If they do die and it's dark and seemingly negative, it may be because they did commit suicide.  But I had to address your statement and Docs regarding that "I do not know of any that have ever proven otherwise".  I just think that would be an impossible task.  What are your thoughts?

Warm regards,

Frustrated

Dear Frustrated and Gloria,

 

Accross the world and accoss the span of time there is an abiding expectation that the death of our bodies is not the the end of us. Those that assert that when you die you are dead and that is the end of you are very much in the minority, and not it seems on this forum. The various descriptions do not detract from the reality of the continuing life that they indicate. Inevitably our memories of such occasions is coloured by how we understand our world. So I think the accounts are helpful and indicate a real situation. While individually they may present some difficulties, taken together they are stong evidence of what happens to a person when they leave their body, never to return to it. Resurrection accounts also support the evidence.

(I am dropping of to sleep so I will come back to this later. Sorry to break off now. 😥 , Doc )

( to continue Frustrated and Gloria )

My comment above includes " not it seems on this forum." That is ambiguous. I mean that none on this forum have argued in favour annihilation but all in favour of life after death.

I do not remember that we have had any references to resurection on this discussion. My only references are a few from the Bible. The inferences are that those resurrected died again as is normal with humans otherwise they would be alive today and have great notoriety. That sets them along side near death experiences. Two exceptions come to mind. One is the Lord Jesus Christ. His resurection is permanent and his body is radically different from the body he was born in, grew up to adulthood and which died and was buried. It was transformed in resurection. I understand that to be a physical body but powered by spirit instead of by blood. The other case is Enoch whose blood powered body was instantly changed into a spiritually powered body. These spiritual bodies are able to move between heaven and earth. When on earth they have very different properties to our blood driven bodies. They do give us a glimpse of the ultimate state of hunams. The disembodied state is an interim state. From memory only one of the near death experiences have indicated this disembodied state. The others seem to indicate a body with any helper / guide / angel as also having a body.

Hi Frustrated,

Sorry it takes me so long to reply. Yes I belief we have a Spirt Guide. I have always known that someone was looking me.  I was fortunate as I did keep them quite busy keeping me save. I could write a long list of the times I should have been hurt or worse.

One thing that comes to mind is when I was about 9 my elder sister was away at a friends for the night. She was the only one of us who had an electric blanket. My younger sister and I decided to sleep in her bed. In my sleep I rolled the electric blanket in a ball and slept wrapped around it. Unfortunately my younger sister had been playing with crayons on the bed and yes you guessed it, it caught fire. My sister woke up and seen the flames and went to get my parents. Even though I was totally wrapped around the blanket which by then was totally burnt as well as majority of the mattress I had not one single mark on me. My sister claims she could see bubble around me.

I have never been lucky enough to see my guide properly but during a very bad period in my life it was as though I could see a lady’s silhouette watching me. I pointed it out to my husband and he could see it to. It then faded.

Now this next story is possibly just my imagination. One day about 10 years ago a blue butterfly flew up to me in the yard and landed on my hand it stayed with me for a long time I was able to show it to my husband and children. For some inexplicable reason it felt as though I was being visited by my guide. Several years later I saw another blue butterfly and I was recalling the visit of the first one, as I was thinking this the butterfly flew onto my shoulder and then it flew off. I again had the feeling I was being visited. I am usually reasonably intelligent and don’t belief in such flights of fantasy but the feeling was quite strong.

Gloria ~

When we believe, it's amazing how much of our SG's let us see, isn't it?  You do sound like you had several visits.  The one I may think about is the women standing away from you and your husband.  I might think that it would be one of your family members that passed and they are watching over you.  Shadows and balls of light are said to be a spiritual being from our family or of a different era.  

I don't know, it's just what I've read about and have seen.

Thank you for sharing your wonderful stories.  I hope you have more to  come

Hugs,

Frustrated