Lifting the Veil

YouTube: Lifting the Veil

With Memorial Day coming up, our thoughts turn to those who gave their lives in service to our country, from military to our first responders. Many of us who haven’t lost loved ones in the line of duty will remember those we have lost in other ways, and we will think of them as continuing on their unique path.

While we continue to associate death with pain and sorrow, we are slowly opening our collective consciousness to the ongoing nature of life. From this earthly perspective, we see death as an end. We are learning from those who have momentarily lifted this veil that there is no end. There is change, but there is no death. When a loved one steps from our life, we suffer the pain of shock and loss. I had experienced this with pets and with grandparents. But the loss of our son, and then my mother, revealed a whole different level of loss.

The grieving period is a time of readjustment. Hopefully we gradually move from what we lost to what we gained through our relationship. When I think of Ashley and my mother, I do not think of them as dead. I wonder what they might be experiencing in their new life. This is not simply an attempt to help myself feel better; it is grounded in the understanding that they continue to live.  

Many NDE’rs express surprise when they realize they are technically dead. The surprise comes from the fact that they are still very much alive. They only know something has changed because no one can hear them explain that they are perfectly fine, and everybody should calm down. One universal take-away from their experience is the loss of the fear of death. While the average person may think death is the worst thing that could happen, the typical NDE’er will insist that their brush with death was the best thing that ever happened to them. The loss of the fear of death seems to spark a new enthusiasm for living life.  

My interest in the NDE is not an obsession with death. As I have said many times, I see this emerging body of information as a window into the soul. I do not think there is a remedy for our feeling of loss. I do think the more willing we become to lift the veil of this thing we call death, the better we understand this other thing we call life.