To Be Absent From The Body

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Much controversy persists over any and everything that represents what might be defined as "spirit." Let`s consider the implications of the human "spirit" when it is absent from the physical body.  Many critics point to the fact that all who grow up in America have been bombarded with religious ideology, whether we consciously accept it or not. Such a critic thinks that religious traditions, teachings and assumptions heavily influence us into believing in stuff that can`t be substantiated. Surly, if it`s unverifiable, then one must surmise that something is wrong. Right? Moreover, no matter how passionate or sincere we humans can be, anyone at anytime could be mistaken, misinterpret or be flat-out wrong, even, about their own experience.   Therefore, I can somewhat understand why the skeptic takes their position. It`s the subjective nature of religious belief they choose to dismiss, while rigorously  favoring objective truth. The critic thinks believers only accept religious ideology because it has been drummed into us. Many believe it`s preposterous to conclude that something is "real" or true, that is beyond the scope of science to verify directly. 

 I was actually surprised to read of surveys showing that 51% of American scientists having belief in God or some sort of higher power and the spirit realm. Perhaps, the other 49% agree with the above critics and think it`s safer to dismiss the  phenomenon described as NDE ( Near Death Experience) and (Out Of Body Experience). If not wise to dismiss, then what conclusions should we draw from this particular phenomenon whereby people of different cultures, languages, and backgrounds from all over the world describe with great detail the same universal patterns indicative of NDE?  Here, again, the skeptic would wish to explain away such universal patterns as merely being a collective body of opinions. 

One of the consistent details of this phenomenon is the description of being fully aware of literally leaving one`s own physical body, then, observing one`s own physical body and the surroundings from outside  of one`s own body while simultaneously being aware of entering another realm of existence. The question, then, becomes "how is it possible to be cognizant when the brain is still in the physical body when people are aware of having an OBE? To have crystal clear consciousness outside of the physical body not only means that such consciousness  is not tied to functions of the physical brain , and with understanding that the brain and the human mind are not one in the same. (The human mind is not an organ within the body, it is a regulatory and governing  process that observes and modifies varies activities.) Moreover, I`m talking about the functions of a superior set of senses that are non-physical. These senses are spiritual and are essential for consciousness in there own realm. Welcome to the spirit realm.

The bible records Apostle Paul`s NDE, 2 Corinthians 12:2 -4 "...Fourteen years ago, I was taken up to heaven for a visit. Don`t ask me whether my body was there or just my spirit, for I don`t know; only God can answer that. But anyway, there I was in paradise, and heard things so astounding that they are beyond a man`s power to describe or put into words ( and anyway I am not allowed to tell them to others). " Could the profound impressions communicated during such experiences be divinely designed so as to eliminate any doubt concerning the reality of the spirit world?

 In his book Lessons From The Light, Kenneth Ring, Ph.D  says " What my research showed was that just as the NDE itself comprises a distinctive pattern of elements, so, too, were the changes that tended to develop in an NDEr`s life afterward. In the realm of beliefs, values, behavior,and outlook on life generally, NDE`rs, however different they may have been before their experience, showed astonishing similarities. From a psychological standpoint, it was almost as if they had all undergone much the same initiatory ordeal-triggered by the trauma of nearly dying which then, unexpectedly, gave rise to similar, life-transforming insights-and then emerged from it to speak in a single voice and act from the secret knowledge of a shared vision. The result was that the NDErs I studied, though still diverse in their personalities, tended to share a common psychological profile  afterward. In short, most of them appeared not only to be transformed  by their experience, but also transformed in much the same way." Dr. Rings work is remarkable.

  I cannot say that Dr. Ring accepts or even believes in spiritual stuff. However, the results of his work on the subject of NDEs, especially the aftereffects shared by NDErs to him are thought provoking. For example on Spirituality Dr Ring writes, "Interestingly, many NDErs will say that following their experience, they did not become more religious, but more spiritual. By this, they seem to mean that the formal aspects of religion-in the sense or organized religion-become less important to them and a more universal and inclusive spirituality that embraces everyone comes to exert a deeper hold on their allegiance."  Dr Ring goes further. writing about Belief in God, " By whatever they feel comfortable with, and almost regardless of what they had believed before, NDErs tend to aver that now they know, with deep inner certitude, that God exists. Some of them, however, simply prefer to use the expression "the Light" in this context."

 One other question comes to mind. Could it be that NDE`s reveal another way that the Creator has shown us His desire to stay connected to humankind? 

Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths."  It is not only imperative to trust in God completely, but as conveyed in the passage, not to lean unto our own understanding. Get this: the following; Common Elements Are Found in NDE`s  by P.M.H. Article; Atwater. And Evidence of the Afterlife:  The Science of Near-Death Experiences, by Jeffery Long and Paul Perry

1. Crystal-Clear Consciousness. The level of conscious experienced during NDE`s is usually greater than that experienced in everyday life-even though NDE`s generally occur when a person is unconscious or clinically dead. This high level of consciousness while physically unconscious is medically unexplained. Additionally, the elements in NDE`s generally follow the same consistent and logical order in all age groups and around the world, which refutes the possibility that NDE`s have any relation to dreams or hallucinations.
2. Realistic Out-0f-Body Experiences (OBE`s): OBE`s are one of the most common elements of NDE`s. Events witnessed and heard by NDE`s while in an out-of-body state are almost always realistic. When the NDEr or others later seek to verify what was witnessed or heard during the NDE, their OBE observations are almost always confirmed as completely accurate. Even if the OBE observations include events occurring far away from the physical body, and far from any possible sensory awareness of the NDEr, the OBE observations are still almost always confirmed as completely accurate. This fact alone rules out the possibility that NDEs are related to any known brain functioning or sensory awareness. This also refutes the possibility that NDE`s are unrealistic fragments of memory from the brain.
3. Heightened Senses. Not only are heightened senses reported by most who have NDE`s, normal or supernormal vision has occurred in those with significantly impaired vision, and even legal blindness. Several people who have been totally blind since birth have reported highly visual NDE`s. This is medically unexplainable.
4. Consciousness During Anesthesia. Many NDEs occur while the NDEr is under general anesthesia-at a time when any conscious experience should be impossible. While some skeptics claim these NDEs may be the result of too little anesthesia, this ignores the fact that some NDEs result from anesthetic overdose. Additionally, descriptions of a NDEs differ greatly from those people who experience "anesthetic awareness." The content of NDEs occurring under general anesthesia is essentially indistinguishable from NDEs that do not occur under general anesthesia. This is more strong evidence that NDEs occur independent from the functioning of the material brain. 
5. Perfect Playback.  Life reviews in NDEs include real events which previously occurred in the lives of the NDEr-even if the events were forgotten or happened before they were old enough to remember.
6. Children`s Experiences. The NDEs of children, including very young children who are too young to have developed concepts of death, religion, or NDEs, are essentially identical to those of older children and adults. This refutes the possibility that the content of NDEs is produced by preexisting beliefs or cultural conditioning.
7. Worldwide Consistency. NDE`s appear remarkably consistent around the world, and across many different religions and cultures. NDE`s from non-Western countries are incredibly similar to those occurring in people in Western countries.
8. Family Reunions. During an NDE, the experiencer may encounter people who are virtually always deceased and are usually relatives of the NDE. Sometimes they include relatives who died before the NDEr was even born. If NDEs are merely the product of memory fragments, they would almost certainly include far more living people, including those with whom they had more recently interacted.
9. Aftereffects.  It is common for people to experience major life changes after having NDE`s. These aftereffects are often powerful, lasting, life-enhancing, and the changes generally follow a consistent pattern. NDEr themselves are practically universal in their belief that their experience of the afterlife was real.

While researching the reality of NDE I ran across  a couple of  stories involving  Kimberly Clark Sharp. The first one was a video from  NBC 10  Investigators, which recorded the following, " Social worker Kimberly Clark couldn`t come to terms with her own OBE near death experience until one of her own patients had one." The clip goes on to record, " Maria was a patient of Kim Clark who went into cardiac arrest. After Maria was resuscitated she insisted that she had risen out of her body and floated up around the hospital where she saw a blue tennis shoe on a third floor ledge." 

Their were three or more videos that  I clicked on that were relative to this testimony. What dominated my contemplation about this particular story was the significance played by a ordinary worn-out blue tennis shoe. I refer to the  depth of the details describing the shoe and its position  on the third floor ledge. You see, their are various  distinctions revealed to us which separate the physical world from the realities of that which is spirit, which would have remained hidden if not for Maria`s explicit detailed observations of the shoe, and its position on the ledge. What I mean is based on 2 Corinthians 5:8 " We are confident, I say, and willing to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord." In the context of this passage  to be absent from the body means to die because at death the human spirit is separated from the physical body.  The significance here is based on the shoes location, because, the only way Maria could have provided the detailed observations was for her to be absent from her physical body. Furthermore, based on a biblical perspective, because she was experiencing an OBE we know that her observations came from her spiritual senses which are superior to her bodily senses.  

1 Corinthians 15:50 "Now this I say, brethren, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God; neither doth corruption inherit incorruption." This passage refers to our  humanness or present physical state or nature. That which is physical is not suited or capable to enter the spirit realm. This is what Apostle Paul refers to when he writes that "flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God..." You see, for example, in the spirit realm the mode of communication is much more sophisticated; absent a physical body, their are no vocal cords. When my (RIP) father was communicating to me, no words were spoken, perhaps he was employing telepathy.  This obviously points to a heightened superior complexity of spiritual senses over and above bodily senses. Every thing is elevated and in a much more pure form in the spirit. Their is no death in the spirit realm, no decay. Therefore ones intellectual capacity is increased significantly based on entering the realm of the spirit. This occurs the moment all bodily limitations are subdued or removed. 

Once I was asked to come over a friends mothers home to pray for my friend s terminally ill father. All of his bodily fluids had changed, and the doctor told the family that he probably wouldn`t live through the night. My friend and his siblings and I gathered around the bed and I gently grabbed their fathers limp hand. He was so weak that he could not lift his head, arms, and his hand was very cold. I`m no medical professional but based on what the doctor had said we all knew that my friends father was dying. We all held hands and I began to pray. While praying, suddenly, the best way I can describe it, I felt a tremendous serge of warmth or energy.  My hearing changed, what I mean is that even thought I believe I kept praying, and could hear the others still crying, but the sound of their cries changed.

 Obviously I was still there, but I somehow knew I was in a different place. At the same time their father`s hand gradually went from being totally limp and cold to increasing in strength and warmth, so much so, that the power of his grip not only startled me, but the strength of his vice-like  grip somehow seemed to bring my heightened awareness back to a normality as well as the sounds of the others cries. He had more strength in his hand than I had in mine.  Even now I can not accurately describe how I felt during this experience nor can I express what happened when our eyes met. I mean when this terminally ill man and I looked into each others eyes we were both conscious but in a different way and conscious of something indescribable . He did not die that night. He did not die that year,  and my brother, my sister, I trembled in awe all the way home.  I share this testimony  because It is one of the experiences that I was  graciously chosen for. From this and other profound experiences I`ve learned more about the difference between physical senses and spiritual ones. Moreover, I gained experiential knowledge relative to the power of prayer. Glory be too God!     

Getting back to the use of the blue shoe also reveals that, despite  the above distinguishing factors  separating these two realms, that God provides a  marvelous way to stay connected to humankind. God does this despite the fact that he, being Almighty God exists in unapproachable light! 1 Timothy 6:16 "...dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen, nor can see; to whom be honor and power everlasting. Amen" What a mighty God we serve! Oh yes!! God has chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. 

Let`s return to the experience, when Maria was resuscitated (as recorded on one of the videos) she gave the following explicit details of the blue tennis shoe that she saw while having the OBE.  " It was a tennis shoe, the canvas type well worn with laces that came all the way to the top. It was dark blue, but faded, and it was heavy scuffed along on its side and the area of the little toe one of its laces draped over the side and ran under its heel."  The shoe was in no way exceptional, except in its location. It sat there precariously high above ground on a ledge on the third story of Harborview Hospital in the city of Seattle, in the state of Washington. 

The description of the shoe that Maria provided could not have been given if she were standing on the ground looking  up toward the window`s ledge. The ledge was to wide making it impossible to see the shoe from below. She could not provide the explicit description from looking from inside the window outward, because the downward angle where the shoe was positioned would have obstructed her view of the shoe`s side and the little toe area. Where Harborview Hospital sits there is no building directly across a street that Maria could have been on the third floor, using a high-powered pair of binoculars to spot the old worn-out blue tennis shoe. Furthermore, Maria`s NDE occurred at night, oh yeah it was dark! The only way Maria could provide such an accurate description would be for her to be positioned outside the  third floor window somehow suspended in midair facing the shoe. 

Envision what the above testimony conveys. It challenges observers to consider what`s presented. See Maria`s lifeless physical body lying on the operating table inside the hospital while Maria`s spirit is floating or hovering on the outside of the hospital three stories above ground. Try doing so with the understanding that Maria`s spirit has crystal clear consciousness and heightened senses while facing the worn-out blue tennis shoe. Perhaps its too difficult for you to rap your mind around. Maybe you dismiss such stories as mere foolishness. Or, perhaps while envisioning  this scene, you might just ask yourself if Maria`s OBE could represent some of those things which are freely given by God? Are you receptive to such things? 

1 Corinthians 2:12-15 "Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. Which things also we speak, not in the words which man`s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man." The next testimony takes us deeper.

"When all of Pam`s vital signs were stopped the doctor turned on a surgical saw and began to cut through Pam`s skull. While this was going on Pam reported that she felt herself "pop" outside her body and hover above the operating table. Then she watched the doctors working on her lifeless body for awhile. ...Pam heard and reported later what the nurses in the operating room had said and exactly what was happening during the operation. At the time, every monitor attached to Pam`s body registered "no life" whatsoever. " 

The following is a portion of Pam Reynolds account of her NDE in her own words. " The next thing I recall was the sound; it was a Natural "D". As I listened to the sound, I felt it was pulling me out of the top of my head. The further out of my body I got, the more clear the tone became. I had the impression it was like a road, a frequency that you go on...I remember seeing several things in the operating room when I was looking down. It was the most aware that I think that I have ever been in my entire life...I was metaphorically sitting on (the doctor`s) shoulder. It was not like normal vision...There was so much in the operating room that I didn`t recognize, and so many people. 

I thought the way they had my head shaved was very peculiar. I expected them to take all of the hair, but they did not. The saw-thing that I hated the sound of looked like an electric toothbrush and it had a dent in it, a groove at the top where the saw appeared to go into the handle, but it didn`t....and the saw had interchangeable blades, too, but these blades were in what looked like a socket wrench case. I heard the saw crank up. I didn`t see them use it on my head, but I think I heard it being used on something.It was humming at a relatively high pitch and then all of a sudden it went Brrrrrrrr! like that.

Someone said something about my veins and arteries being very small. I believe it was a female voice and that it was Dr. Murray, but I`m not sure. She was the cardiologists. I remember thinking that I should have told her about that...I remember the heart-lung machine. I didn`t like the respirator...I remember a lot of tools and instruments that I did not readily recognize..."

"Be still, and know that I am God..." Psalms 46:10 This passage comes to mind when I think of the surgical procedure that was employed on Pam Reynolds. A Near Death Experience article by Kevin Williams sheds light. Observe: "Dr. Michael Sabom is a cardiologists whose book entitled Light and Death includes a detailed medical and scientific analysis of an amazing Near-death-experience (NDE) of a women named Pam Reynolds (1956-2010) In 1991, at the age of 35, Reynolds underwent a rare operation to remove a giant basilar artery aneurysm in her brain that threatened her life. The size and location of the aneurysm, however, precluded its safe removal using the standard neuro-surgical techniques.

She was referred to a neurosurgeon, Dr. Robert F. Spetzler, of the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix Arizona, who had pioneered a daring surgical procedure known as Deep Hypothemic Cardiac Arrest. It allowed Pam`s aneurysm to be excised with a reasonable chance of success, This operation, nicknamed "standstill" by the doctors who perform it, required that Pam`s body temperature be lowered to 60 degrees, her heartbeat and breathing stopped, her brain waves flattened, and the blood drained from her head. In everyday terms, she was put to death.

After removing the aneurysm, she was restored to life. During the time that Pam was in standstill, she experienced an NDE. Her remarkably detailed veridical (i.e. verified) out-of-body observations during her surgey were later verified to be true. Her case is considered to be one of the strongest cases of veridical evidence in NDE research because of her ability to describe the unique surgical instruments, the surgical procedures used on her, and her ability to describe in detail these events while she was clinically brain dead."

At the end of the previous testimony I stated that the next one would take us deeper. After reading the description of Pam Reynolds NDE we have arrived: deeper. You see, I can`t overemphasize what`s stated above.  We know that based on the surgical procedure "standstill"  ( evidence of brain death) that their was no way possible for Pam to provide the information she did naturally. Since the details Pam provided were verified, then we have moved beyond subjective  self-reporting, Oh yes! for Pam to have crystal clear consciousness about surgical instruments and procedures, rules out hallucinations, or fragments of memory, (no prior knowledge of medical instruments or training). We have no brain waves; clinically brain dead, crystal clear consciousness, and verified details during an OBE.  The question, then, becomes, "Do you define this as objective truth?"  One more question, "Can we go deeper?"

 Jeremiah 29:11 " For I know the plans I have for you , declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Another astonishing aspect of NDEs, is the consistent aftereffect patterns. The consistencies show much higher levels of consciousness, greater knowledge, deeper appreciation of life, stronger confirmations of belief in God, ( some were prior atheist), more concern, kindness, and deeper love for others.   Oh yes! these higher kinds of  psychological and behavioral changes for the NDErs, apparently,  changed the NDErs for the better. Moreover, I`m strongly convinced  that the consistent aftereffects display how to some degree, God intended humans to see, interact, and operate, and to do so, despite the acceleration of evil upon the earth. Furthermore, the revelations of this higher level of human capacity is shown to convey an even higher and greater all-around superiority we will gain when, as spirit, we leave our current  physical bodies permanently.   

TESTIMONY OF BLIND NDEr

Although the meaning of Jeremiah 29:11 is often misunderstood, their is a appropriate application relative to our subject matter. It is often employed as a promise of hope to people who are discouraged, hurting, and/or struggling. I well elaborate on the misunderstandings later. For now, lets consider its`  application as we examine  a NDE testimony from someone blind from birth. While researching various testimonies of this sort I came across a Utube video about Vicki Norauk who has been blind from birth. Vicky says "I`ve never seen anything, no light, no shadows, no nothing. A lot of people ask if I see black, no I do not see black. I do not see anything at all. And in my dreams I don`t see any visual impressions, it`s just taste, touch, sound, and smell, but no visual impressions of any thing."

In her early 20`s Vicki was involved in a serious car accident.  Vicki says, " The next thing I recall I was in Harborview Medical Center. And looking down at everything that was happening, And it was frightening because I`m not accustomed to see things visually because I never had before. And initially it was pretty scary. And then I finally recognized my wedding ring and my hair, and I thought, is this my body down there? And, am I dead or what? " Later on the utube video during a radio interview, Coast to Coast with Rollye James,  Vicki talks about how she could identify her wedding ring. She says, " I knew that ring, because I knew the feel of it, I know that it had a little tiny diamond chip in the wedding ring, and it had a bigger stone in the in the engagement ring, it was a very tiny little ring, and it had orange blossoms on the corners, and it was kind of straight, and I recognized it, just recognized it. Oh that`s my ring. That is me. And it was really weird. And then I couldn`t communicate with the female doctor, and I wanted to talk to her..."

(Getting back to the beginning of the video she says) "They kept saying, "We can`t bring her back! We can`t bring her back! And they were trying to frantically work on this thing that I discovered was my body and I felt very detached from it and sort of so what. And I was thinking, what are these people getting so upset about. (again returning to the radio interview) Vicki says, "The male doctor said "Its a pity now that she could be deaf as well as blind, because their`s blood on her left ear drum." And then the female doctor said, "Well we don`t even know if she`s going to survive and she could be in a permanent vegetative state if she does." And that made me mad. I tried to reach out to the female doctor, you know how you try to grab hold of somebody to get their attention? To make them listen, and I was trying to tell her that I was all right, and I could sense her caring and concern too. And I reached out my right hand, and it went right through her right arm. And she couldn`t feel me, she couldn`t hear me, and she couldn`t see me, and I got really frustrated and I thought "the heck with this noise I`m out of here." And as soon as I thought that, I went up through the ceiling as if it was nothing at all. And I thought, I remembered thinking, oh that`s how Jesus did it. When   he was resurrected and went into the closed room and they couldn`t figure out how he got in there. He went in, I went out. 

And I was up above the street again. And I was converting in the air, feeling like a puppy rolling around in the grass, because I didn`t have to worry about running into anything and it was so nice just to be free." Vicki describes the place  of her arrival moments later, " It was beautiful, it had huge  flowers,...Jesus was there, I was greeted by two deceased classmates and two people who had taken care of me when I was a child. And then, Jesus was there as well and my grandmother was there. She had died two years before. Everybody that was there to greet be was dead. And Jesus held up his hand and he goes "No." My grandfather was there in the background as well too. I was going to say too, but anyway,I hadn`t known him. He passed away just prior to my birth. And he predicted, he appeared to my mother and told her, "Don`t worry sis you are going to have a little girl and she will live." So that was kind of an interesting situation too, because I was only in the womb for 22 weeks. But anyway, he told me that it was not my time yet. When Jesus held up his hand, he said "It is not your time yet. You may not go to my Father`s house now. You must go back and give birth to your children. And you must learn and teach about loving and forgiving. You will be severely tested. You have been through many hard things and you will go through many more, some of which, man will call unforgivable. But you must ask me for help, and you must show love and forgiveness in all of your dealings with your fellowman. Because loving and forgiving are the key to life."

Vicki say, "He was very specific about it, and he told me that, it didn`t matter whether I thought they deserved forgiving or not. That that would be up to him. Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord. And he was very emphatic about it. That I should let it be dealt with through him. And to ask him for help to deal with it all. Vicki says, "Before he sent me back, I argued with him, at first, and I said I didn`t want to go back, and I didn`t want to leave that place, and he said you will return. But you must do this, your work is not finished. Let them know of this day. And tell them that I am."

While prayerfully contemplating various aspects of Vicki`s testimony what often  surfaced in my mind  were the probable aftereffect patterns. To be specific, I kept thinking about how , upon entering her OBE Vicki went from being completely blind to gaining not just vision, as incredible as that was in itself, but how such an expanding mental awareness must have accompanied her entire OBE. In my thinking, I kept revisiting how the depth of such awareness, coupled with the instructions she received from Jesus had to enhance the aftereffects for her. 

With these observations in mind. let`s return to Jeremiah 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."  Prayerfully consider this passage as it relates to, as told by Vicki,  the following words spoken by Jesus to her, "It is not your time yet. You may not go to my Father`s house now. You must go back and give birth to your children. And you must learn and teach about loving and forgiving. You will be severely tested. You have been through many hard things and you will go through many more, some of which, man will call unforgivable." 

The above context of Vicki`s NDE provides the kind of situation or circumstance , during which, Jeremiah 29:11 would be applicable. Just think about it. Try placing yourself in Vicki`s shoes; seeing, and listening to Jesus, not only saying that he clearly knew how difficult your earthly journey had been, yet, simultaneously giving you explicit instructions which entailed going back to earth, regaining all the physical limitations you`ve been freed from, including total blindness, and the pain you were experiencing in the E.R.  prior to having the NDE, and  learning that you`re going to be severely tested much more than you`ve already experienced, etc...With all this in mind, here in her own words , Vicki describes what coming back was like. " It was awful, that it was awful and it was a reverse of my going there, but then the pain began, and then I was back in the body, and it was heavy, and horrible, and I was nauseated and in shock."

Recall, my stating how the meaning of Jeremiah 29:11 is often misunderstood. By applying it here in Vicki`s case, perhaps readers will gain a better understanding of its original meaning. You see, although Jeremiah`s central message is to encourage, it did not and does not want us to think that we would escape current nor future difficulties during our earthly journey.  Jeremiah 29:11, in its original context, the prophet Jeremiah confronts the false prophet, Hananiah, who had boldly proclaimed that God was going to free Israel from Babylon in two years. However, (Jeremiah 29:7) assures us that they would not be freed anytime soon. Obviously this was not what the Israelite's wanted to here. Moreover, the biggest blow of all in (Jeremiah 29:10) was when they learned that they would remain in captivity for seventy years.  Subsequently, some of them would never return to their home. This was quite difficult to hear. They needed to come to terms with what seemed unbearable. This was the context which led to Jeremiah 29:11. 

Getting back to Vicki, she also had to come to terms with what seemed unbearable when she was sent back into the physical realm. Envision the following things Vicki shares, with the understanding, that even though she is dressed in all the physical limitations again, what she brings to life`s table, now, is priceless.  For example, during the radio interview Vicki says, " During the time that I was being shown this review of my life he was with me in all of it. And not only  did I feel my own feelings in exquisite details I saw everything. But, I also felt what everyone else had felt. To be aware of everyone else`s perceptions at the event, the emotions were very overwhelming" She also says, "Debbie and Diane we went to the school for the blind in Oregon, and blind kids can be unkind too, And Debbie and Diane were mentally challenged and the kids at the school made fun of me for being their friend And I said if you guys have a problem with it live with it, but they are my friends and that`s the way it`s going to be. And when I saw them I knew instantly who they were. But they were fine, their was nothing wrong with them anymore and everybody had different brilliance or brightness's,"

Their is so much significance here, but what comes to mind for me first, is how Vicki knows, first hand, how all physical limitations vanish when we go to our Father`s house. She learned this first hand when she received vision and heightened awareness, and then when her two friends could see also and had no other limitations either. Vicki learned that the present state (in the physical realm) is a state of affliction, especially for those who live in the world but not of it. Vicki observed her physical limitations and sufferings from outside the arena of time and she did so with spiritual senses which were superior and  beyond her natural senses. She also realized that everyone within ( as her two friends) the spirit realm were operating, pretty much, in the same way. Then as stated above, Vicki returned to her physical body within the arena of time.  The following passage comes to mind.  

 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 " For which cause we faint not; but though our outward man perish, yet the inward man is renewed day by day. For our light afflictions, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory. While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen; for the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal." 

In this passage Apostle Paul reveals a profound truth by what is meant when describing  and comparing  '"outward man perish" with "inward man is renewed" and "a moment" with "eternal" "our light afflictions" with "weight of glory." and "things seen" and "things not seen", and again, "temporal" and "eternal."

These comparisons reveal a exalted state of mind. One need only to read more of Apostle Paul`s testimony shown in 2 Corinthians 4:1-18, and 11:23-27, 12:1-5. Reading these chapters will lead readers to conclude that Apostle Paul could see the brevity of human suffering because his perspective had changed after having his NDE/OBE. Think of it; Apostle Paul was not exaggerating of his ability to endure suffering, nor was he trying to downplay, or gloss over the reality of human sufferings or limitations. He does, however, make his assessments due to having gained a heightened awareness, and a keen understanding of objects of time and sense, as distinguished from things he experienced while in the spirit realm. 

The question, then, becomes, " Why is it so significant to accept the unseen reality of the spirit realm?' Put in biblical language the question would be, "Why would Apostle Paul write 2 Corinthians 4:18 that "While we look not at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen,..." Why is it important to do this?  I love the way Maclarens Expositions answers this question, "Paul`s notion is, as you will see if you look at the context, that if we want to understand the visible, or to get the highest good out of the things that are seen, we must bring into the field of vision, "The things that are not seen."   I desire that readers  receive  this truth, in Jesus name I pray. Amen and Amen.