I have lost so many people in my life. At an early age, I had to seriously question what happens when we die. My father passed when I was just six years old. By the time I was 22, I lost both my father’s parents and a young aunt. Desperate to make sense of the afterlife, I started reading books about near-death experiences. One book that I read changed my perspective on death and comforted me more than any other. That book was Embraced by the Light by Betty J Eadie. That book, along with a few others has led me to this philosophy about death and the afterlife that all paths lead to the same place.
Two things I know are true:
- We are made up of energy
- Energy never dies, it only transforms
In the book Embraced by the Light, the author explains how she died and went to the afterlife and gained knowledge 
about why we are here and why some people suffer throughout life. She stated that all souls chose to come here and that they chose who they will be and the trials they will suffer through for their own benefit. Like, we should see life more as a “school for the soul” than the whole point of existence.
It’s both comforting and scary to think you chose your life. If you chose your life, then you knew what sort of trials and tribulations you would have to survive, and the things that you would go through.
Most of the books I have read on near-death experiences agreed that we have “helpers” on the other side that are always near us. Some people call them guardian angels. I like to think that my dearly departed are never actually far from me.
The author also clearly explains how religion doesn’t matter as much as how you live. That all religions lead to the same ending, and maybe our religions are there to offer us comfort and guide our lives a little. I like that idea better than thinking there is only one path. How could a loving God, or whatever you call it, allow for so much confusion? Why do so many religions have the same elements and beliefs? I like to think we all end up in the same “heavenly” place where love is the guiding force.
This philosophy has offered me so much comfort. If this is actually real, then death is nothing to fear. Wouldn’t that be a comfort, to know that we all are going home when we die? In fact, maybe we should celebrate when a soul completes its mission here on this plane and gets to return home. Honestly, this is harder to do than it sounds, especially when the person you lost is close to you.
Admittedly, not everyone who reads the accounts of near-death experiences is sold on what happens when we die. The fact is that we won’t know for sure until it is our time. Fantastical near-death accounts full of details are questionable. I think it is more questionable how so many different people seem to experience the same thing in a near-death experience. I find comfort in the core messages that these people express. There are other books on near-death experiences that have reaffirmed what I believe to be true, and they back up what Betty J Eadie stated as her experience.
I recently lost someone very close to me. It’s hard to accept this loss especially because of the age of this soul. We only had him here for 27 years. It was not enough time. I know I should be happy for him that he is already home. The struggle is that I selfishly wanted more time. We all did.
I feel conflicted missing him and it is impacting my daily life. It feels like he is very close, and yet I’m not sure how much of that feeling is me wishing he was still here. How close are our dearly departed?
Believing as I do in energy and spirit work as a daily practice it is hard for me to separate my waking life from my wishing. I want to believe he is right here, and also close to his family, and also that he is home.
Armed with the information that I know to be true about my mission in life and everything happening in perfect timing, I wonder about the place where souls come from and where they will return to once their time is done here on earth. How much of how we live is free will and how much is preordained before we are born?
I doubt we’ll ever get clear answers to these questions, but I can’t stop seeking answers anyways. This all leads me to want to learn as much as I can about how to live this life to its fullest while I’m here.
Do you believe in an afterlife?