I had been ill with a bad case of bronchitis
for several weeks. It was hanging on and on. I was traveling from
Indianapolis to Terre Haute one day, and I got so tired, I decided to
pull off at the little town of Cloverdale to take a brief rest. It was
very cold. I parked the car in an empty parking lot and turned off the
engine. I covered myself up with my coat and reclined my seat, just to
try to get a short nap. The time was 12:02 pm. I did not go to sleep.
After a few minutes, I began to have difficulty breathing. I fumbled in
my purse for my inhaler, took a couple of inspirations from it, then lay
back down - but I still could not breathe. I tried to sit up, but I was
too weak. I struggled and struggled for air but simply could not
breathe in or out. I started to pass out, and I became aware of my body,
as if I were looking at it from the outside. I wasn't seeing it with my
eyes, I was just aware there was a body there, that was struggling for
air, and it was getting weaker and weaker. Then the body became very
quiet.
I knew the body was mine, but I didn't seem to care very
much about it. Suddenly I found myself in a tunnel. The tunnel was made
of some transparent kind of bricks or blocks. Light shone into the
tunnel through the bricks. It was a beautiful golden light, and it felt
warm and comforting. I wanted to get to the light. I stepped into the
tunnel, and as I did, the tunnel began to slowly rotate. I told myself
to be careful of my footing so I would not fall as the tunnel rotated. I
walked a step or two before I saw a door at the end of the tunnel. It
was a heavy, ornate, blue door. I had no sooner determined that I wanted
to go up to the door, when suddenly, there I was. I tried to open it,
but I couldn't. Then information just flowed into me. I was told that
once the door was opened, I would be confronted with a choice. It was
going to be a very difficult choice, so I should think carefully before
making it.
I stood quietly before the door, pondering the
information, when suddenly it opened. I looked out on a great expanse of
darkness immediately below and in front of me. Beyond the darkness, in
the distance, was an endless galaxy. A bright Light, brighter than all
the stars in the galaxy, shone from the center. This Light felt as if it
were pulling me toward it. Below me, in the expanse of darkness, I
could hear human beings in distress. I could tell they were suffering.
It sounded something like a busy emergency room, but the suffering was
palpable. Somehow, I knew if they would just turn to that Light, their
suffering would end, but they were stubborn and would not turn to the
Light.
As I looked out at this most beautiful sight of stars,
planets, and the great radiant and loving Light, I saw tiny trails of
blue, pink and green lights traveling across the expanse of darkness
toward the Great Light. I wondered what they were, and instantly I had
the information that they were prayers from people seeking the Light.
They were very beautiful, and once they reached the Light, they were
absorbed into it. Then larger trails of white light traveled from the
Great Light outward. I knew that these were answers to prayers. I just
wanted to watch the traveling of the lights, be warmed by the Light and
enjoy the beautiful view. The Light turned a magnificent blue and rolled
toward me like an ocean wave. It was not really close to me, but
nevertheless I could see the image of Jesus within the blue wave. Love
poured out upon me, like warm water. Jesus looked just like he did on
the poster in my Sunday School class. I had the thought that if I had
been a Buddhist, perhaps he would look like Buddha, and I was told,
'That is right. God appears in a familiar form.' I wanted to ask Jesus
some questions, but suddenly I was told I had to make a choice. I was
not told by a person, it was more like a chorus of voices that were not
heard with my ears, but somehow communicated another way. They told me I
could stay or I could go back. I was to think carefully before making a
decision.
I thought about my three teen-aged children at home.
They were all troubled. We had all been abandoned by my husband the year
before. We were dealing with poverty and abandonment, in addition to
all the stresses of puberty. I was very tempted to stay with the Light
(which was now changing color and turning back into its original form),
but I knew I could not abandon my children to a mean world without a
mother. I did not even get a chance to tell the chorus that I had to go
back to my children. As soon as I knew that I could not abandon them, I
felt as if I had been dropped from thirty feet in the air onto a
concrete slab. I slammed into my body with the most crushing pain
imaginable. I could feel the fluttering of a preliminary heartbeat. I
heard my body try to inhale. I felt the very cold fingers and cheeks.
This body was extremely cold, and still it could not move. I heard it
inhale sharply and groan. I listened for it to inhale again, and it did.
I coaxed it, telling it when to breathe in and when to breathe out. I
felt its heart gain a rhythm, and then I was completely within the body,
struggling for a good breath.
I have never been so cold. The
outdoor temperature was about twenty degrees, and my body seemed nearly
that cold. I looked at the clock. It was 12:40 pm. It took nearly an
hour of heating the car and my body until I could move effectively. My
breathing was very tenuous. Eventually I became strong enough to drive
home.
NDERF.org # 4964