In His Presence - Rick's Story

Imagine this:
One second you are on earth going about your business and the next second you are in the presence of  a   Light so pure and holy that you are instantly aware that this is the Holy Spirit. Every thought that you have ever had, every moment of your life is made present to you all at once. The great, the good, the bad and the ugly, every action and deed is known clearly in the light of truth. There are no ands, ifs or buts about it, you have just died, you are in the presence of Truth Itself and are about to be judged by Jesus.

Why, you may ask am I writing this? Well, I was thinking of a conversation I had with a man named Rick years ago. His wife worked for my mom's company and she kept on telling me that I had to hear her husband's story. One day Rick came over and proceeded to do just that:

Rick was riding his motorcycle one day, got in a terrible accident, died and found himself in the presence of Jesus. He was surrounded by Love but was also made aware of how far from Christ he had lived his life. Every single second of his life was shown to Him. He also met, "A beautiful lady dressed in blue." Rick said that he thought this was Mother Mary. After his life review Rick had no words but these, "I'm sorry Lord. I'm just a little guy from Minnesota." The Lord sent him back to earth after this and Rick was a new man. He was in the hospital for 7 months but cherished every day that he was alive. It was very hard on his wife, Carol, because she had a hard time understanding the new Rick. If she made even the slightest negative comment about another human being he would get up and walk away. She told me that his ears couldn't take it :) Rick  had a powerful conversion, he also came away from the experience with a great devotion to Our Lady. He calls her his mother.

I was touched by his story but it also made me realize how imperfect I was and still am. Still...what an amazing story. I have no reason to doubt it. As Carol put it, "Something sure happened to him because this Rick is nothing like the Rick I knew before the accident!" It makes one wonder doesn't it? I ask myself if I would be ready for this and the answer is: No, not yet. I have my work cut out for me. His story lingers in my mind, though. God was very merciful and gave him a second chance. I do like to pray for the dying, who knows what kind of grace our prayers obtain for them. Rick said that he was rotten before this happened. I think his next review will go much better :)