Re: Brushes with "the other side"?
Posted: Mon Apr 16, 2018 11:24 am
Jeffrey Long -- God and the Afterlife
Got this book on Audible, and have been listening to finish it off. A lot of it is interesting, but 2 things finally -- FINALLY -- have been addressed: 1) the idea of grace allowing horrible people to walk free; 2) the whole idea of a true religion.
Some of the people who claim NDEs and were able to ask questions have addressed the idea of judgement. This, for me personally, has been perplexing for several reasons: A) it appears that when someone dies they see their life in rerun, but they don't see or seem to reflect on what others have done to them that may have damaged them--they see ONLY what they have done, both good and bad, to others; B) those who act as companions or escorts to the newly deceased person always have an air of non-judgmentalness about them. Its this latter part that is the most troubling. I know some people, for example, who border or fully exist as sociopaths. They don't feel any remorse for things they do, and frankly, don't care. So what happens to them if they get to heaven (or whatever it is), see the movie of their life, and feel nothing as the result? Do they walk free if they have been sadists?
The book explained that when the "movie" was playing back life events, those who experience that are required to feel the consequences of their choices, not only from their own sociopathic perspective, but also from the perspective of those they hurt: all the anguish, sorrow, heartache and terror; or all the happiness, joy, peace and acceptance--whatever the case may be. The point is, this seems to be something that happens to those who have to "learn lessons" from their pasts.
I liked this explanation. It helps.
Another thing in this specific train of thought was addressed directly by the author and harmonizes with some of the NDE reports. Those who are horrible people (and in the book the author used Adolf Hitler as a prime example) can't hide what yhey did. There is a "nakedness" associated with their actions and even thoughts. As a result, there is discomfort that can become unbearable when around those who are cleaner and know how "dirty" and "evil" they have been. This drives people to flock together with those who are similar. This idea is exactly consistent with the book "Return from Tomorrow" by George Ritchie. He saw a field filled with disembodied people who were hurling insults and hate at each other. According to Ritchie, those people were not being held there--they were there by choice, as though they sought each other out intentionally. He wondered why they stayed there, and it dawned on him that perhaps they were there simply because that was the only place they felt they belonged, among those who were the "damned" (by their own choice).
Anyway...Long indicated that a sense of justice DOES appear to exist, as supported by NDEs, as the result of being unable to escape prideful selfish activities that hurt people. We get to feel the consequences of our actions as though we were the recipient, and THAT brings a reality that is inescapable from death--or so the NDEs report.
Now, the second thing was about the "one religion".
A NDE person reported asking the question about which religion was true, and was told they all were, as long as they taught love and kindness; however, religions are man made, and most are filled with rules that are about maintaining power and control--things that are themselves completely against the concept of goodness and fairness.
When I heard this explanation as given by a NDE survivor, I immediately thought about the New Testament and how Jesus never setup a "church". He taught love, kindness, tolerance and faith; he did NOT take names, create a chapel to meet in, require people to conform to a set of rules. The scribes and pharisees did that, something Jesus fought against.
I'll be done with the book by the end of the week. It was a good one. I've enjoyed this.
I've got another one I am reading, and will be done with that probably inside of 2 weeks.
Got this book on Audible, and have been listening to finish it off. A lot of it is interesting, but 2 things finally -- FINALLY -- have been addressed: 1) the idea of grace allowing horrible people to walk free; 2) the whole idea of a true religion.
Some of the people who claim NDEs and were able to ask questions have addressed the idea of judgement. This, for me personally, has been perplexing for several reasons: A) it appears that when someone dies they see their life in rerun, but they don't see or seem to reflect on what others have done to them that may have damaged them--they see ONLY what they have done, both good and bad, to others; B) those who act as companions or escorts to the newly deceased person always have an air of non-judgmentalness about them. Its this latter part that is the most troubling. I know some people, for example, who border or fully exist as sociopaths. They don't feel any remorse for things they do, and frankly, don't care. So what happens to them if they get to heaven (or whatever it is), see the movie of their life, and feel nothing as the result? Do they walk free if they have been sadists?
The book explained that when the "movie" was playing back life events, those who experience that are required to feel the consequences of their choices, not only from their own sociopathic perspective, but also from the perspective of those they hurt: all the anguish, sorrow, heartache and terror; or all the happiness, joy, peace and acceptance--whatever the case may be. The point is, this seems to be something that happens to those who have to "learn lessons" from their pasts.
I liked this explanation. It helps.
Another thing in this specific train of thought was addressed directly by the author and harmonizes with some of the NDE reports. Those who are horrible people (and in the book the author used Adolf Hitler as a prime example) can't hide what yhey did. There is a "nakedness" associated with their actions and even thoughts. As a result, there is discomfort that can become unbearable when around those who are cleaner and know how "dirty" and "evil" they have been. This drives people to flock together with those who are similar. This idea is exactly consistent with the book "Return from Tomorrow" by George Ritchie. He saw a field filled with disembodied people who were hurling insults and hate at each other. According to Ritchie, those people were not being held there--they were there by choice, as though they sought each other out intentionally. He wondered why they stayed there, and it dawned on him that perhaps they were there simply because that was the only place they felt they belonged, among those who were the "damned" (by their own choice).
Anyway...Long indicated that a sense of justice DOES appear to exist, as supported by NDEs, as the result of being unable to escape prideful selfish activities that hurt people. We get to feel the consequences of our actions as though we were the recipient, and THAT brings a reality that is inescapable from death--or so the NDEs report.
Now, the second thing was about the "one religion".
A NDE person reported asking the question about which religion was true, and was told they all were, as long as they taught love and kindness; however, religions are man made, and most are filled with rules that are about maintaining power and control--things that are themselves completely against the concept of goodness and fairness.
When I heard this explanation as given by a NDE survivor, I immediately thought about the New Testament and how Jesus never setup a "church". He taught love, kindness, tolerance and faith; he did NOT take names, create a chapel to meet in, require people to conform to a set of rules. The scribes and pharisees did that, something Jesus fought against.
I'll be done with the book by the end of the week. It was a good one. I've enjoyed this.
I've got another one I am reading, and will be done with that probably inside of 2 weeks.
