horrible life events serve as catalysts for major changes in our outlook on life and as teaching tools to help others by dannion brinkley ah because of the near death experience my life was pushed under the scientific microscope and then was catapulted into the spiritual spotlight from the day i was struck by lightning having been raised in the fundamentalist tradition i had been taught that our reward for living a good life would be redeemed in heaven however as a child i had no interest in that faraway wonderland' where angels played golden harps on fluffy white clouds you see i had always been in the now i was only interested in the present and quick pleasure whatever was waiting for me behind an invisible veil 70 or 80 years afterwards it meant little or nothing to me nor did it motivate me to do good deeds nor did it deter me from being the born demon raiser that I was. i had become infamous in my hometown deep in the carolinas like most young people my age i believed myself to be invincible therefore the thought of dying rarely if ever crossed my mind until that unforgettable afternoon a furious lightning decided to teach me how tenuous and fragile mysterious life really is in september 1975 i was only 25 years old and at the peak of my career i returned to aiken to spend time with my family after being in south america had word got out that I was back in town so my phone had been ringing constantly all day just as I was sitting down to dinner it rang again I thought about not answering but there seemed to be some urgency in the tone so I walked over to the bedroom and picked it up anyway from that day on i refer to it as the phone call from god i had no idea what hit me when i heard the deafening roar of thunder and felt a do stabbing pain on the side of my head then my whole body was lifted just below the ceiling and momentarily suspended in mid-air it was as if some incredible force was intentionally throwing me towards the floor the impact caused me to slam into my bed hard enough to break the frame my body felt like it was being incinerated from the inside out my veins were on fire and every inch of my body was in excruciating pain then i heard my girlfriend sandy scream from the kitchen wow she was close in the next instant I saw her come running down the hall to the bedroom but I wasn't looking at her from the bed now she was out of my body and I was watching the whole scene from above as fate would have it I had recently completed a cpr course at work so she started hitting my chest and breathing into my mouth as she had been trained it worked instantly i was back in my body experiencing all the excruciating agony again then i came out again from above the scene once again i saw my friend arrive at the house and right behind him was the ambulance i sat right next to my body on the frantic ride to the hospital and in in the midst of all the chaos inside the ambulance i remember looking at myself and thinking i always thought i was more handsome in the emergency room the medical team that attended me did more cpr by beating my chest until my ribs broke then they put the electric paddles on my chest one doctor even gave me a shot of adrenaline in my heart but all to no avail by then my whole family had gathered in the hospital waiting room and now the doctors had the unenviable job of having to tell them I didn't make it. I had gone but what they didn't know was where I had gone while the stretcher bearers were preparing my body for the morgue I was off on the most extraordinary adventure of my life I wasn't really sure from being dead i just knew i was so thankful to be free from that intense physical pain and whatever was happening to me was really cool first i found myself surrounded and embraced by a tunnel i moved effortlessly around i could hear the beautiful sounds of seven different chimes further on i could see a light and as i got closer the light got brighter the next thing i knew i was standing in the light when a powerful being approached this great being intensely radiated feelings of love unconditional and nonjudgmental compassion that I had never known suddenly and for the first time I had the feeling of being light spirit without the heaviness of my physical body I looked at my hand and it seemed phosphorescent as the light danced through it looking above and below I witnessed the presence of other beings, they looked like me, some vibrated high and others lower, however, my attention was quickly diverted when the being powerful enveloped me and I began to relive my entire life one incident at a time in what I call the panoramic life review I observed my entire life from a second person point of view while experiencing this it was myself as well as anyone else whom I had ever interacted with when the panoramic review of my life ended despite the many obvious mistakes I had made I experienced no retribution or judgment or punishment I was the only judge who presided over my day in court given time to assimilate my life in hindsight i was given the opportunity to know firsthand both the happiness and sadness i had created through my actions i realized that most of the time i had lived in a devastatingly selfish way my heart was filled with shame and remorse the impact of that emotional avalanche remains in my mind to this day however after my reflection time in heaven that day the s er of light telepathically transmitted these words who you are is the difference god makes and the difference is love as the being moved away from me i began to feel lighter the pain and guilt lessened and i realized that my works had been shown to me on earth not to challenge me harshly but to instruct me with love through the panoramic review of my existence I was given the knowledge of how to correct my life and use my power of love to make a difference in the world later on they said that human beings are powerful spiritual beings destined to create good on earth and that good begins with small acts of kindness I had one more stop to make on my journey through the heavens before they send me back then the being took me to the crystal city where I met 13 beings of light that seemed much more powerful than each one of them emanated a special power or force for example it was as if a being were the epitome of the s wisdom while another was the epitome of strength to stand before them all was most humbling they were lined up behind a glass podium in what appeared to be a great hall of knowledge one by one the beings of light approached me when they did it a small black box came out of his chest and flew towards my face before the impact the boxes opened to reveal images or what I now call visions of the future initially it was difficult to understand and make sense of everything they showed me that day already Over the years I have had to change my opinion on many things however it still amazes me how much of what I saw the day I died in 1975 has happened over the years after seeing more than 100 visions the beings of light they gave me one last task they told me to create stress relief centers on earth and then they told me it was time to go back but i didn't want to leave this wonderful place of peace and love i remember thinking how sad this is I was about to leave with no time to even finish the thought I was standing in the hospital corridor with no idea how to get back into my body I stood there thinking about the dilemma for just one before finding myself staring at a white sheet that covered my entire body but i couldn't get up and tell anyone i was alive i was completely paralyzed so i started blowing on the sheet hoping someone would notice i was breathing again and someone did from that moment on i was involved in the fiercest battle ever my life I was so angry that I had not been allowed to stay in the loving paradise we call the afterlife and I was even more enraged that I had been sent back with all this knowledge and a broadcast to a body so wracked with pain and damage that It took me two years to learn to walk and feed myself again when I could finally remember the names and faces of my loved ones.
None of them wanted to hear my words. about my trip to heaven they just wanted the whole incident to go away this thought of all my relationships and destroyed my love affair with sandy at the time i thought i was going to lose my mind they stole my life now i just wanted to go home back to heaven it wasnt until i met dr raymond moody in 1976 i began to put the pieces of the near death experience puzzle together dr moody had been researching the phenomenon for several years when he read my experience in a local newspaper i think as certainly as it was my fate being struck by lightning was equally true that it was fate that brought me to raymond because without him and his extensive research data i would surely have lived my life in pain confusion and resentment armed with the knowledge raymond had gained through collecting hundreds of near death experiences I was able to face my life and find a new way to be of service to humanity.
