the Light and the Way

Today, I had lunch with a lovely lady. We met a year ago in the hospital where I work at. She was an inpatient and we had a very interesting conversation about her near-death experience. Here is what I wrote about her in a previous post. 

. . .

This lady is an inpatient, she had her injury only a few weeks ago. She is a new comer from China, she doesn’t speak a lot of English. My colleague Ivan asked me to translate for him and become her peer support. I will call her Lee.

Lee told me that she was hit by a car while crossing the street. She had a head injury, a spinal cord injury, a wrecked shoulder and a broken pelvis. The doctor didn’t think she would make it and asked her husband to fly to Canada to prepare for her funeral. Her husband took the very next flight and didn’t even pack a luggage. As she was describing the chaos, I asked her, “did you see a light when you were in the coma?” Her eyes were wide open, “Yes! I remember, for a very long time, I saw this blinding light above my head, I was in this place that was just so, so, so bright, to a point where my eyes were hurt.”

“Did you see a colorful world?”

“No, it was just a place that was really bright.”

I asked again, “did you see a man?”

“I saw a figure wrapped in light. I think it was a woman.” 

“You sure it wasn't a man?”

“It was a woman.” (My Catholic friend told me that it was Mary)

“Were you at peace?”

“I had no fear, I just felt normal.”

What amazed her was, for days, she had been telling people about this experience, which she could not explain. Everyone around her kept on telling her that she was in a confused mental state. I was the first person who told her what she had experienced before she even brought it up

. . .

We reunited for the first time since her discharge. I could not even recognize her as she was walking toward me without any aids. Though people might not be able to tell if she has a disability, she told me that she still has a blood clot in her brain that can potentially trigger a stroke. One of her arms is partially paralyzed and her entire body is stiff.

We were having lunch together. And very quickly, we began to talk about her supernatural experience again. This time, she had even more to share. . . .

“When I first came to Canada, I really didn’t have any friends. My roommates were Christians and they brought me to a church retreat. At the time I didn’t have any knowledge about God and I was an atheist growing up. During the first and second day of the retreat, I was really bored and didn’t understand what they were saying. On the third day, I wanted to head back home, but my friends said that the agenda on this last day was the highlight of the entire retreat, in fact it was what others came here for. We had a preacher from the States, she was about to pray for everyone, one by one and she was going to give each person a prophecy of their life. I wanted to leave early so I lined up early and sat in the front row. Everyone had their phone out to record what the preacher was saying to them. Out of respect, I pulled out my phone but I realized that my battery was low. My friend used her phone to record my “session”.

The preacher is a white lady and she only speaks English. Both of us couldn’t understand a single word she was saying and she talked superb fast. We played the recording to another friend afterward. Her English was a little better, but all she could understand was the phrase ‘you will enter a deep sleep.’

At the time, I really didn’t believe in anything like that and didn’t give much thought. The retreat happened on the 2^nd of that month, and I got hit by a car on the 21^st of that month. I was in a comma for nearly 14 days.

While I was in the comma, my friend was completely overwhelmed by the fulfillment of that prophecy, she asked her son to dictate the entire audio word by word, and over and over until it was translated to its entirety. Basically, the prophecy was saying that I will enter a deep rest, I will be placed in an uncomfortable situation, I will be troubled, but I will be okay and I will rejoice again and God will protect me.

When I was out of the hospital, my friend came to visit me and brought up the audio tape and told me everything that she knew. That’s when I remember that when I was in that really really bright place, I heard a powerful voice rumbling and said, ‘you will be alright, you will rejoice again.’ Now that I have a better understanding about God, the “figure” I saw in that bright place was an angel with giant wings.

My friend and I are forever changed by this experience. Though I have so many problems with my health and I might die any time because of that blood clot, I have no fear, I am happy every day. My old friends in China always tell me how much they worry for me and how sorry they feel for me, I am so tired of explaining to them that I am fine, I am so joyful. They won’t understand it and I cannot even explain fully. ”

We had a superb long conversation that the diners sitting at our neighboring table changed three times. I also shared my experience with her and stories of other people that I know of.

I used to refrain myself from writing anything too “religious”. I don’t want to turn my readers off. But now I think that this is something that I must share freely and widely. At the end it is the most important aspect of one’s life and afterlife. If you are still with me at this point, please continue to read to the end.

One of my Mom’s friends made a very interesting comment the other day. He said that at his age, he has no drives, no aspirations, no dreams and no goals in life. There is no point fighting for anything, living for anything. The only thing that he hopes for is a good death. He hopes that he won’t be so sick when he gets even older, he won’t have to suffer before he dies, and he can die in his sleep. That is really sad. If you think about it, if this life is all you have, if this life is all that you believe in, then once you surpass the prime of your life, every day is a downhill, every day is closer to the day of your death. But for us who truly believe and live for God, we have hope in every life’s stage and situation. When we are at the end of our life, we have even better things to look forward to. As I said before, who cares if others say what we believe in is a delusion, we have already made the most out of this life by having a heavenly mindset.

Last week, 60 Minutes had a segment that talks about the Hubble telescope. It’s about to be replaced by the latest technology, another space telescope that will see even further into the vast universe. The program was sharing some of the photos that Hubble took. The scientists concluded that the number of stars and planets in the University is more than the grains of sand on earth! To the Creator of Universe, we are even smaller than an ant. Yet, He knows each of us by name. He looks after us, He cares for us and He died for us. That is a very humbling thought.

I guess my goal in this article is to help you become more aware of what is more than just this life. That’s an exciting thing to ponder over. And Jesus said, “Ask, you will receive; Seek, you will find; Knock and the door will open to you.” If you will just have an open heart and attitude to know God, try Him in prayers for all the right reasons, He will for sure reveal Himself to you. 

Blessings!