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I'm new to the belief in universal reconciliation or salvation, but I've been reading a lot on the subject lately. I have experienced a deeper understanding of God's will as a result of discovering this truth, and I am very thankful. I am writing this not so much to try to persuade anybody to believe what I think goes on after we die because I don't know, but I have had an out of body or near death experience. I don't know if it proves that we are conscious after physical death, but, whether it was just a "vision" or not, it was definitely the most real and most "spiritual" experience I've ever had. One thing I would like to say before I tell about it though is that there seems to be a lot of confusion between soul and spirit when people are using these terms. I don't know if it was my soul or my spirit, but I left my body and was floating up in the top of a hospital room looking down at my self in the bed. Then suddenly I was rushing down a deep dark tunnel, and I was never so scared in all my life. Then suddenly again I was surrounded by a very white light brighter than the sun, but it didn't hurt my eyes. I just felt totally overwhelmed with peace. A person of light that I think was the Lord put his hand out to me, and I grabbed it. Then I was back in my body in the hospital bed with a very strange compulsion to look in the drawer of the bedside table. I felt that I had to do it to maintain the peace that I was experiencing. I opened the drawer, and the only thing in it was a Gideon's Bible. I was raised a Roman Catholic. So I wasn't familiar with the Bible. But I picked it up and began to read it. As I did, tears began to stream down my cheeks as I was overcome with mixed emotions of guilt and joy. I had been on a spiritual quest in the 60s via drugs and eastern philosophy. I was in the hospital due to a drug overdose. I suddenly realized that God was talking to me personally through the words in that Gideon's Bible. I thank God for loving me and giving me hope. I know this experience was not just a drug induced hallucination because I knew I had to open that drawer even though I didn't know why. And when I read God's Word, it cut right to my heart. I get emotional even thinking about it now. It's my understanding that the soul, which is the natural desires, is the connection of the spirit and the body. So I guess it's our spirit that's our real essence. I guess it was my spirit that was conscious and out of my body even while my body "slept". I've read that those that are asleep in Christ will be raised first. I've read that the body returns to dust, the soul goes to the unseen or unknown, and the spirit returns to God. In what time frame, I don't know. Maybe time is what everybody is hung up on, and maybe it all happens in eternal time in the present. I don't know, but I do know that I existed out of my body for a time. And it had to be the Lord's will that I came back in to my body with the knowledge of that experience. And that experience led me to seek further communion with God's Spirit through His Word. It was very strange how I seemingly "accidentally" arrived on a website, led by the Spirit of God of course, espousing universal salvation. Since studying about this, I now have an even clearer understanding of God's will and even more faith, hope, and love. I don't know if any of this has helped, but I just wanted to share my knowledge of consciousness outside the body with you. Some day I think we will all know the answer to all these questions, but I think the important thing is to love God and your neighbor here and now. Then, even if your mind doesn't know everything, your spirit will be at peace with God's will. God bless you. I've read a lot on your site. It's a blessing. Thanks for all the hard work. Editor's Note: See the following pages in the Christian Universalist FAQ for more discussion of the afterlife and near-death experiences:
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Christian Universalist Testimonies -- Christians Transformed "From Hell to Hope"
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Heavenly Father, please bless this ministry, lead multitudes to this website, and help them see the truth of Your love and forgiveness for all people through the power of Your Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior of the whole world. Open their eyes to Your true nature, take away their fears, and fill their hearts with the Holy Spirit. In Jesus' name we pray, Amen. |