Tuesday, June 21, 2011

"Would you like to come home now?"

I was thinking about death today (my pastor passed away this morning) and it made me think about a near death experience that my father had a few years back. My father takes a number of medications for many medical problems. We are talking many pills per day. One day, and we can only guess this is how it happened, he must have forgotten he had already taken his morning meds and took them again. Within a short time my father started acting strangely and my mother called my sister (she's an RN ) who lives a couple of streets away. Good thing she called her before she called the ambulance, because, by the time my sister got there my Dad had stopped breathing. Julie resuscitated him before the EMT's came and then he was rushed to the hospital. While we were at the hospital, my father had another crisis. We were sent out of the room while the doctors and nurses worked on him. Thankfully, they revived him and a short while later we were allowed back in the room to see him. He quickly improved over the course of the day and after I left to go care for my family, he told my mom this story:
At a certain point while the doctors were working on him he was suddenly enveloped in a great peace that he had never before experienced. All pain left him. While in this peaceful state my father heard a beautiful male voice, filled with love, and this voice asked him one simple question, "Would you like to come home now, Sylvio?" My father instantly knew this was Jesus speaking to him and wanted to cry out with all his being, "Yes, Lord, please take me home!", but then he noticed my mom sobbing uncontrollably. He said to the Lord, "Ahh, Lord....look at her...I cannot leave her yet." After this my dad no longer heard the voice and was filled with pain again. What is so strange about this story is that my Dad could not possibly have "seen" my mother sobbing as we were not in the room when they were working on him and there was a wall between us and him...yet, "see" her he did. I can confirm what he saw and all I can think is that he had a near death experience. Jesus actually gave him a choice of whether to stay on this earth or "go home". For the sake of my Mom he chose to stay.

This experience has left my father with absolutely no fear of death. Actually, he's looking forward to that day when the Lord takes him "home" for good.

19 comments:

  1. Mary, how much your dad must love your mum! With prayers for Fr Kelly. May he rest in peace.

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  2. Sue,
    I know, I thought it was so sweet of him :) My Mom did too! Thank you for the prayers for Fr. Kelly.

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  3. Mary,
    I am sorry for your loss of your pastor. I pray he went to meet his Lord peacefully and I know our great God will reward him for his suffering.
    Prayers for the repose of his soul, his family and his parish family. That is an amazing and beautiful story about your Dad. What a gift!

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  4. Mary, may Father rest in peace.

    Wow! Thank you for sharing your personal story. All of us were around my dear dad when he passed away. He was not conscious but we know he had a happy death.

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  5. Karin,
    Thank you for your prayers for Father Kelly. We will miss him so much but I think he was more than ready to go home - he had been suffering for a long time.

    To be honest, I'm surprised my Dad didn't say yes, because he suffers a lot, too. It touched my mother that he chose to stay. I was glad to keep him for a bit longer myself!

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  6. Esther,
    I'm glad your father had a happy death with his family all around him :) Sometimes you can just "sense" the presence of God during a person's dying moments. Thanks for commenting! I was supposed to send you an e-mail today but I'm going to send it out to everyone at once tomorrow 'cause I'm a slow typer and my typing finger won't get as worn out ;)

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  7. As a nurse,I've had many patients relate similar instances to me. There's such a similarity between all their stories that it's a great consolation to me now facing the death of one my loved ones. Thanks for posting this!

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  8. What a beautiful, inspiring story! I wonder whether the memory brings your father comfort in his sufferings? God bless you and your family, Mary:)

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  9. Thank you Mary for your lovely story about your father.

    As for Father Kelly, his work has just begun. He looks down on all his parishioners and remembers their individual situation and their needs ... and he prays, for each one personally.

    God bless.

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  10. Sorry to hear about your pastor Mary, but knowing he is home and at peace must be very reassuring for you.
    I love how your dad stayed behind for your mom, I have heard of these type of experiences before and am always amazed by them....:-)Hugs

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  11. Dear one I am so very sorry for your precious loss. Appreciate the touching story as well Mary. Blessings and hugs.

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  12. Thereserita,
    I am praying for your cousin (and you). May the Lord keep him wrapped in his peace during his final days here.

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  13. Vicky,
    Yes, it brings him great comfort and helps him bear his infirmity with great grace :) God bless you and yours, too!

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  14. Victor,
    Thank you for these consoling words. Knowing Father K., he is already hard at work!

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  15. Bernie,
    Yes, I am glad he is not suffering anymore. Thank you for your kind words :) I love hearing about near death experiences too. They make dying sound far less frightening than we tend to think it is.

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  16. JBR,
    Thank you, my friend. I hope your mom continues to improve. You are in my thoughts and prayers.

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  17. Mary, I missed this one earlier. The description of the peace and the voice . . . Beautiful! Thank you for sharing.

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  18. Very beautiful, thank you for sharing this.

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  19. You're welcome, Joan. Thanks for commenting!

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