my name is Kimberly Thorne and I've spent most of my life doubting everything that was probably my biggest flaw I was always the skeptic the one who needed proof for everything even at church I'd sit in the back row silently questioning each word of the sermon my family used to joke that Thomas the doubting Apostle must have been my spiritual ancestor but now I understand why God gave me that questioning nature it made what happened to me all the more powerful I never thought I'd be sharing this story it happened on a cold November night
after I'd spent the evening with my grandchildren they always brought such joy to my life even in my darkest moments my daughter Jennifer lives about 40 minutes from my house out in the countryside where the street lights are few and far between I remember feeling tired but content as I drove home thinking about how little Tommy had shown me his science project and how Sarah had played her new piano piece for me the clock on my dashboard read 9:47 p.m. when I first noticed the strange flickering in my vision I remembered thinking I should have
had my eyes checked I'd been putting it off for months that's another thing about me I was always putting things off always thinking I knew better than others who told me to take care of myself the irony doesn't escape me now I wasn't speeding I'm certain of that I've replaced played those moments countless times in my mind the road was dark but I knew it well maybe that was part of the problem familiarity breeds complacency as they say the last thing I clearly remember was seeing a deer by the side of the road not on
the road mind you but beside it I remember thinking well at least it's not in my path then everything changed later they told me I was clinically dead for 4 minutes and 12 seconds the deer I'd seen had a companion that I hadn't spotted and it darted out in front of my car when I swerved to avoid it my car went off the road and hit a tree but that's just what they told me happened what I experienced was something entirely different people always ask me to describe what dying feels like they expect some dramatic
moment like in the movies a long tunnel a bright light their life flashing before their eyes but but for me it was more like switching channels on a TV one moment I was in my car and the next I was simply elsewhere the first thing I noticed was the absence of time it wasn't that time had stopped it was more like it had never existed in the first place in that place the very concept of seconds and minutes felt absurd like trying to measure love with a ruler I felt myself being drawn forward but not
in any physic phical sense it was more like being called yes that's the best way I can describe it like hearing your name called by someone you love dearly and naturally moving toward their voice the space around me though space isn't quite the right word was filled with what I can only describe as living light not the harsh light of operating rooms or the warm light of Sunrise but something altogether different it was as if the light itself was conscious aware full of purpose and meaning I wasn't afraid that's perhaps the most surprising thing of
all I Kimberly Thorne the Eternal skeptic the woman who needed three different opinions before choosing a paint color for her living room felt completely at peace but it wasn't a peaceful resignation or a drugged calm it was a piece that came from absolute certainty from knowing deep in my soul that I was exactly where I needed to be that's when I sensed his presence you know how people say that when you die your whole life flashes before your eyes well that's not what happened to me instead in that moment every question I'd ever had every
doubt I'd ever harbored every skeptical thought I'd ever entertained they all flashed through my mind at once it was as if as if my lifetime of questioning was being acknowledged honored even and then I saw him people often ask me to describe what Jesus looks like they want details height hair color eye color what he was wearing but here's the truth that I've struggled to explain I only saw him for what felt like a single second and yet that second contained more reality than all my years on Earth combined he didn't look like the painting
he wasn't the gentle soft featured Jesus we see in churches what I saw was power pure uncontained awesome power imagine standing before a massive waterfall feeling its raw Force shake the ground Beneath Your Feet now multiply that by Infinity that's the closest I can come to describing the presence I encountered his face his face wasn't beautiful in any conventional sense it was powerful it was truth itself carved into existence you know how people say they can't look directly at the sun this was different I couldn't look away that one second of seeing his face contained
more reality than all the years I'd spent on Earth the most remarkable thing wasn't his appearance it was what happened in my soul when I saw him every doubt every question every every skeptical thought that had ever crossed my mind didn't just vanish they were fulfilled it was as if my whole life of questioning had been preparation for this moment each doubt had carved out space in my soul that could now be filled with understanding he spoke to me not with words exactly but with pure meaning that bypassed language entirely he showed me that my
questioning nature wasn't a flaw it was a gift each doubt had been a chisel sculpting my soul to be able to contain even a fraction of this Revelation Kimberly he communicated and in that name was contained all that I was all that I had been and all that I could become your questions were prayers in Disguise in that moment I understood something profound about faith it's not about having no doubts it's about being humble enough to let your doubts lead you to deeper truth every skeptical thought I'd ever had hadn't led me away from God
it had been preparing me for this encounter the power I witnessed wasn't destructive it was creative it was the power that holds atoms together that keeps planets in orbit that makes hearts beat and flowers grow it was the power of life itself concentrated into a presence so intense that a single second of exposure changed everything about who I am people sometimes ask me if I saw angels or if I met deceased relatives or if I saw the Gates of Heaven the truth is none of that mattered in the presence of such power it would be
like asking someone who was standing before a supernova if they noticed any street lights nearby what happened next is hard to describe I felt myself being drawn back but not before receiving one final Revelation he showed me that death isn't the Fearsome thing we imagine it to be it's more like a doorway or maybe a birth what we call death is really just a transition from one type of life to another I remember protesting not wanting to leave his presence that's when he shared one last truth with me that he is just as present in
our everyday world as he was in that Supernatural encounter the only difference is our ability to perceive him the next thing I knew I was looking up at the worried face of a paramedic the clock in the ambulance read 952 p.m. 5 minutes had passed in Earthly time to me it had been both an instant and an eternity recovery wasn't easy I had broken ribs a concussion and various other injuries from the crash but the physical recovery wasn't what occupied my mind I was too busy processing what had happened trying to find words to describe
something that existed Beyond language my family noticed the change in me immediately not just in the obvious ways like how I stopped sitting in the back row at church but in subtler ways too my daughter Jennifer told me that I seemed more peaceful yet somehow More Alive my grandchildren said I listened differently with my whole being rather than just my ears the greatest change though was in how I viewed my own doubts and questions where once I had seen them as obstacles to Faith I now understood them as the very things that had prepared me
to encounter truth in its purest form my skepticism hadn't been a flaw it had been preparation now years later I still find myself questioning things but the quality of my questions has changed instead of questioning to prove things wrong I question to understand them more deeply my encounter with divine power didn't eliminate my doubts it transformed them into tools for deeper understanding some people seem disappointed when I tell them I only saw Jesus for what felt like a second they want long detailed descriptions of heavenly Realms and comprehensive tours of the afterlife but I've come
to understand that sometimes a single second of pure truth is worth more than a lifetime of comfortable Illusions I still attend the same church still look at the same paintings of Jesus still sing the same hymns but now I understand that these are all just attempts to capture something that can't be fully captured in human terms they're like photographs of the ocean beautiful and meaningful but nothing compared to standing before the actual waves my skeptical nature which I once considered my greatest weakness turned out to be my greatest strength it taught me to recog Iz
truth when I encountered it not because the truth answered all my questions but because it showed me why I had needed to ask them in the first place as I share this story I'm aware that some will doubt it just as I once would have to them I say keep questioning keep seeking keep doubting but do it with an open heart and a humble spirit because sometimes in ways we can never predict our deepest doubts are are preparing us for our most profound encounters with truth I'm not special I wasn't chosen for this experience because
of any particular virtue or wisdom on my part if anything I was chosen because of my doubts to show that even the most skeptical heart can be transformed by an encounter with divine power 1 second that's all it took to change everything one second of seeing pass the surface of reality into its depths one second of encountering power so pure and truth so absolute that it transformed every doubt into a stepping stone toward understanding some people say that seeing is believing but I've learned that true belief comes not from seeing with our eyes but from
experiencing with our souls and sometimes 1 second of real experience is worth more than a lifetime of speculation I still drive that same road to visit my grandchildren sometimes when I pass the spot where the accident happened I feel a trace of that peace that surrounded me in his presence it reminds me that the line between the natural and the supernatural between the ordinary and the extraordinary is thinner than we think my name is Kimberly Morris and I spent most of my life doubting everything until one second of divine encounter showed me that my doubts
were never really doubts at all they were the questions that love asks of Truth seeking to know it more deeply and now when people ask me what Jesus looks like I tell them the truth he doesn't look like anything we expect because he's more than our expectations can contain he is power beyond description truth Beyond Comprehension and love beyond measure and sometimes 1 second in his presence is enough to transform a lifetime of questions into an eternity of understanding that's my story it's not the longest near-death experience ever recorded it's not the most detailed it's
not filled with descriptions of Angels or streets of gold but it's true and sometimes truth is more powerful than any Vision we could invent I still have questions I still seek understanding but now I know that questions aren't the opposite of Faith they're the seeds from which faith grows and one second of encountering pure truth can blossom into a lifetime of growing understanding to those who doubt my story I say this your doubts are valid they're important they might even be sacred because sometimes the questions we ask are just as important as the answers we
receive and sometimes the longest Journey of Faith begins with a single second of Truth thank you for letting me share this with you may your own questions lead you not away from truth but deeper into it because in the end it's not about how long we see him for it's about how deeply that Vision transforms us and one second of divine power seen clearly can transform everything
