Ray-Deen F

I had given birth to my baby about 24 hours earlier. It was a natural birth without any medication. I had never used drugs in my life, so what happened to me could not have been caused by drugs or medication. I had been trying for hours to get the nurses' attention. When they finally came into my room, they panicked. I had apparently lost too much blood after giving birth. By this point, I was lying there calmly. Suddenly, I felt myself lift up and out of my body. I was floating above my body, looking down at the doctors and nurses as they frantically worked on me. It was strange because I had risen straight up while lying flat, yet I could see my body perfectly and everything the medical team was doing to me. I could also hear what they were saying. Then I became aware of a beautiful hand reaching out toward me, inviting me to come along. I saw what appeared to be the shape of a face surrounded by light. I could not see the face clearly, but I could see a beautiful smile. I felt that this being was so happy that I was choosing to come with him into this wonderful new existence. I happily reached my hand toward his, wanting nothing more than to go with him. What I experienced was the most beautiful, overwhelming feeling of peace imaginable. Actually, it was far beyond anything we can imagine as human beings. I cannot find words to explain how peaceful it was. Even though I have a wonderful life here on earth, nothing in this world could ever compare to what I felt there. It was complete, perfect, heavenly peace. There was nothing to worry about, nothing to fear, and nothing that could disturb this incredible feeling. It was as though I was being welcomed into a place where that peace would last forever. I was so happy and so ready to go. My hand was reaching toward the beautiful hand extended to me, and I wanted to take it. But just before our hands touched, I suddenly remembered that I had given birth to a baby only 24 hours earlier. I immediately thought that my new baby might need me. At that instant, I saw the expression on the being's face change. He had been so happy that I was coming with him, but when I remembered my baby and thought about returning, he looked disappointed and sad for me. I felt that he understood I was choosing to leave this wonderful, peaceful existence and return to earthly life. Our hands never touched. I began to descend slowly toward my body. As I descended, I could still see and hear the medical team working frantically to revive me. I remember hearing them shouting, "No pulse! No pulse!" They seemed to be attacking my lifeless body, trying desperately to bring me back, when all I wanted was to be left in that beautiful peace. Then I heard someone shouting, "The color in her lips is coming back! The color is coming back!" I continued to descend slowly until I was back inside my body. The most important part of this experience is something I desperately wish I could explain to other people. It happened 38 years ago, yet I remember it more clearly than anything else in my entire life. No other memory has stayed with me the way this one has. Most of all, I remember that extraordinary feeling of peace. It is impossible to describe because nothing we experience on earth comes even remotely close to it. There was also an understanding about time and the importance of earthly life that has never left me. While I was there, my entire life on earth felt as though it amounted to only five minutes compared with the forever that existed in that beautiful place. It was as though earthly life was just a drop in the bucket. What seems so long and important while we are living here felt incredibly brief and insignificant compared with the reality I experienced there. I do not mean that our lives or the people we love are unimportant. I mean that, from that perspective, all the worries, difficulties, and struggles we experience on earth seemed so small compared with the immense peace and eternity that awaited us. There was no need to worry about the people still living on earth because I understood that they would eventually join us when the time was right for them. There was no sadness about being separated from anyone. There was simply a peaceful understanding that everything would be all right. That is one of the hardest things to explain. While we are here on earth, five minutes can seem like a very long time when we are suffering, frightened, or worried about something. Our problems can seem enormous. But when I was up there, I understood how incredibly brief this earthly existence really is. The real existence felt so much greater, so much more beautiful, and so much more peaceful than anything we know here. Even now, after 38 years, I can sometimes bring back a tiny bit of the feeling of peace I experienced. But I can never fully recreate it while living in this earthly body. I know what I experienced, and I remember it perfectly, but the actual feeling of that peace is beyond anything our human minds can understand or imagine. I wish I could somehow give everyone just a moment of that feeling so they could understand what I am trying to say. I especially pray that innocent people who have suffered terrible pain, cruelty, and evil during their lives on earth will experience that same beautiful peace when they die. The thought of them finally being surrounded by such extraordinary love and peace means so much to me. When this happened, I had never even heard of a near-death experience. I did not know there was a name for anything like this. I had no expectations or ideas about what might happen when someone nearly dies. It simply happened to me because I had lost too much blood after giving birth. I have carried this memory with me for 38 years. Nothing has ever diminished it. I know that life here can be difficult, and even knowing what I experienced does not always make those difficulties easy. But deep down, I understand that our time on earth is only a very brief part of something so much greater. I wish there were words powerful enough to describe the peace I felt. There simply are not. All I can say is that the peace was beyond anything imaginable, and I have never forgotten it.