My most recent experience, (as if they were commonplace, and one might rightly surmise they have been) occurred in the past couple of days.
It might be helpful for you to understand that after I broke my ankle a few years ago, given the presence of an ankle to knee cast, I was forced to sleep in my recliner. It was simply the only place I could get comfortable. Call it a mindset, but since that little season transpired I have often resorted to my easy chair, rather than heading off to my bedroom, and my much more comfortable bed.
After I assured the doors were locked, and turned off the lights, I sat down in my mother’s old recliner, threw the footrest up to the desired level, and wrapped a single cover around me.
I cannot begin to tell you how long I slumbered prior to the event. Upon reflection, I only know I was asleep. And then…
I experienced the most profound preview of …my own death.
I struggled to breathe. It was as if two great hands were pressing against my respective sides, and disallowing my next breath. And as I struggled to breathe, it was as if I were as much an observer of the event, as I was its victim.
Pt. 2
As a counselor, I have often ‘sat with’ victims of abuse, and listened to their characterizations of what is commonly known as a defensive mechanism. Many, if not most, speak of having experienced a disconnect between their body and spirit, and an out of body modality; whereby they hovered above ‘the scene of the crime’ and casually watched the event as it transpired.
I think it was very much this way with me.
And indeed, as the scene finally faded from my spiritual grasp, it was all too evident the nearby me had surrendered himself to the evitable.
Odd. A preview of one’s own death.
Granted, I cannot be sure I will expire in the prescribed manner. Perhaps it’s as good as any other, and preferable to most. Quite often in the past several decades, I have asked my heavenly Father to allow me a quick and easy end, as well as my family members.
There is an ominous scripture in my favorite book of the New Testament.
“It is appointed unto man once to die, and after that the judgement.” (Hebrews 9:27)
If we are to believe the Bible, in the annals of recorded history only two men have been spared this certain experience. Enoch and Elijah. Many religious scholars believe these are the two witnesses in the Book of Revelation, and that they will ultimately have their turn at it.
Speaking of taking turns, I have so often told friends, family, and clients,
“We all get our turn.”
(And indeed, we do).
What is that old adage?
“As certain as death and taxes.”
Afterward:
Since it occurred, I have thought about my recent experience a great deal. I have wondered if I was, at the time, experiencing something physical; (rather than metaphysical). However, I am healthy, and after I awoke, there were no ongoing symptoms at all.
And I cannot fully account for something which may be more a dream, than a premonition.
But having reflected on this unique experience, I think I am the better for it, and I don’t regret having been given this entre into a world of which we know so little.
I cannot account for such grace. I cannot account for having been offered a multitude of grace a multitude of times.
But I am better for it, and I am more assured than ever that not only will I be given grace to endure the unendurable, but that a loving Savior will take me up in His strong arms and bring me safely over.
William McDonald, PhD. Excerpt from (Mc)Donald's Daily Diary, Vol. 62. Copyright Pending.
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