Donna’s Story
She died, if only for a few moments. When Donna woke up, the nurse was poking the bottom of her foot with a needle and anxiously saying, “Donna, come back to us!”
Donna was in the hospital for a complicated surgery. It was the umpteenth trip and infection was becoming a serious problem.
Before coming back to the awareness of her body that day, Donna was physically unconscious due to the anesthesia but her subconscious mind was still experiencing and she found herself crouched in a long dark hallway. Someone above called her name, but she was too tired to respond. At the very end of the hall, was a light, but she had no strength to walk the distance to it.
Moments later, the darkness melted away into golden daylight. Vibrant colors filled her eyes and peace engulfed her. She heard two women talking as they were walking by. Donna looked at them and they in turn, stopped and looked at her. Their brief glances exchanged, Donna returned to her physical body and consciousness.
We Almost Lost Her that Day
I was a teenager when my mother suffered complications due to her hysterectomy. It was years later that I learned we almost lost her that day.
As of this writing, I am blessed to say that my mother is still on this side of the veil. She is 84 going on 85 and though the years have taken a toll on her body, her spirit is still strong and undiminished. This is as good a time as any to reflect on what my mother has taught me.
I won’t bore you with the details of learning to eat everything on my plate or washing the dishes after dinner, or doing my homework and mowing the lawn every Saturday. Every soul has stories about the mechanics of growing up. But it is the ability to look beyond my physical world that my mother has given me that I want to share.
All my life, my mother, Donna, has taught me to see the evidences of the world we don’t see. The unseen world is the realm that will be visible when this mortal life is over. You see, we are all eternal beings on a journey. We are connected to this world by our physical body but when that connection is done, then we will see the next life. This is what happened to my mother in the hospital during her surgery.
There are evidences of the next life that can be seen but it takes time to learn them because too often they are written off as a coincidence or just plain ignored because we don’t understand their meaning.
I will share another of my mother’s examples.
Donna Always Had Pen and Paper
She was 15 and very sick. The pneumonia wasn’t life-threatening but did keep her in bed while she recovered.
Donna missed being at school. She wrote for the high school newspaper and enjoyed the time with her friends. No matter how sick she felt though, Donna always had pen and paper by her bed. Thoughts are perishable and she never missed an opportunity to save them. Ask any writer and they will tell you that they don’t always know where the words come from, but when they do, if they are special, then a writer does not want to lose them.
That pen and paper worked on this night. It was the worst of her illness when she woke up in the middle of the night with words going through her head. The words that came to Donna on this night were very special. Even if she could not understand their meaning, Donna wasted no time in writing them down.
Speak to Me
This is what she wrote down.
“Speak to me, not with conventional words, but with thine eyes convey the thought. Suffer not thy lips to utter forgotten speech, thy heart and mind and soul are far easier to believe, for words are a gift too often carelessly used, so, sprinkle them wisely o’er Life’s traversed road ‘til through its many turns and heights, we find ourselves at the very end where there is nothing, save Time and Space – A great, black void where hangs the soul, where words shall fail and Peace shall prove its worth.”
That was 1953. As a teenager, Donna didn’t have the understanding it took to fathom their meaning. Now, at the other end of life, she understands those words better but still ponders their depths.
Clearly, the words she wrote down that night were not of this world. They are from and pertain to the world we don’t see. Maybe you haven’t considered that world. You are not alone. Most people are so focused on just getting through the day that they don’t consider what will happen when this life is over.
There are more evidences of the world we don’t see. The question is whether we will believe these testimonies when they happen.
Alone in Darkness
An experience in my own life is reflected in the words my mother wrote. I work in retail and often have more than 2000 people a day come through our doors, so I have met a lot of people.
One of my customers shared the story that he died and came back to life. When he died, it was dark and there was nothingness. I didn’t share my experiences and never asked to hear his story. What he told me was not prompted by anything on my part. My customer said that the hospital recorded the event.
The disturbing part of his story though, was that for him, death was a dark place. There was no light at the end of a tunnel, no green grass, blue sky, or colors of any kind. There were also no people. He was alone in darkness.
In my conversation with this man, no word was shared about a faith in God or Jesus Christ. That idea seemed to be the furthest thing from his mind. That is his choice. To each his own as they say. I think though, that if there is life beyond this physical life, that we should consider it with all our heart.
No One Like Her
When I put together words written 70 years ago with a man’s testimony in the present time, then I must conclude there is deep truth in words given to a sick teenager. I am grateful that my mother has taught me to see evidences of the unseen world. It has made my own journey of faith in Jesus Christ a deeper one.
Mothers are a special gift from God. I have friends who have lost their mother and friends whose mothers are still here. Either way, take a moment today to reflect on your mother and the good things she has taught you. There is without a doubt, no one like her in your life.
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