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Bereavement

Do you believe in life after death? - If you post ...

(144 Posts)
Imperfect27 Tue 11-Jul-17 13:48:06

I am starting this thread because I know this is a topic that has brought forth a lot of responses on a bereavement forum I used to belong to and I think it helped people to share / express what they thought/ experienced. However, I am also mindful that this is a delicate and emotive subject and so I thought I would add a plea to please post/respond with due care and sensitivity.

Thank you.

Anniebach Wed 12-Jul-17 13:51:42

I was receiving healing for sciatica from a lady who had recently retired and moved to Wales, she was also a medium. As she was giving me healing she said - ' you came only for healing but will you accept two gifts I am being pressed to give you?' I agreed , she said 'I have two little girls asking me to give their Mummy two roses, they are aged about five, they said Daddy gives her red roses, we are giving gold ones, ask her not to cry anymore,we are with her Granny Mary' My two babies who died at birth would have been five and six if they had lived , my grandmother Mary died giving birth to my mother.

Imperfect27 Wed 12-Jul-17 13:47:58

No, not crazy ... there is enough out there to make us wonder ...

wellingtonpie Wed 12-Jul-17 13:43:07

I know it seems weird but I believe that in some way we are reincarnated. I don't believe that every human being is completely unique and there wouldn't be enough room in the universe for all the souls so I'm sure people would have to be reused as it were. Am I crazy!

Imperfect27 Wed 12-Jul-17 13:38:44

Grannyknot, thank you for sharing that. When my eldest brother was very little - about two and a half - he woke my mother with his crying one night. When asked what the matter was he said ' Don't put nanny in the sheet.' They learned the next morning that my great grandmother had died. When my nanny died, my cousin, who was four, told us 'Nanny is in the garden, but she can't come in.'

Grannyknot Wed 12-Jul-17 13:26:57

imperfect 're the steam metaphor, I've had similar explained to me but think of a tightly stretched rubber band that you pull at - it vibrates until you can no longer see it but it is still there.

We've had similar threads on this subject in the past and I think I have posted this - my personal "weird" experience: in the days after my mother died, I was woken by the sound of my daughter sobbing in her room at something like 5 a.m. in the morning, all was quiet in the house but for the sobbing. My daughter was about 13. I rushed to her room and she said that she had seen my mother as if in a vivid dream, through a window, in a garden. She described my mother (knew it was her) but as a young woman (so not as she would ever have known her gran). The "dream" or vision was so real to my daughter that she found herself throwing the window open wide so as to talk to or touch her grandmother, and (in the dream or vision) my mother moved towards her but as their hands touched, my daughter "woke up". Whatever had gone on there, it left my daughter in a deeply emotional state, but she was not scared or upset, just deeply affected. Just to add she was very close to her grandmother. My daughter is a not religious and a very grounded person but if this subject ever comes up in conversation she will usually just quietly say "I know there is life after death".

Imperfect27 Wed 12-Jul-17 12:57:47

Emelle smile I like the thought that Evelyn was met by family - she was the youngest and had not had to attend a family funeral herself so would not have known anyone who passed before her if she was met ...

I heard that welcoming shout of 'Nanny' - her voice, her call, on the day my mum died and it has given me a great sense of affirmation about life after death.

As a fully paid up practising Christian for over 30 years, we were taught not to have anything to do with mediums ... there is a biblical reference about it ... but then the bible also talks about keeping slaves as a norm and eating rock badger so I don't go with any literal interpretations smile.

Scientifically ..someone pointed out to me that if you boil water, it doesn't just disappear .. it turns to steam and evaporates, but it is still out there - just in a transformed state ...

sunseeker Wed 12-Jul-17 12:56:53

As I have said, I do believe there is something after death however I don't believe in mediums who claim to speak to "the other side". They use a technique called "cold reading" and are basically just skilled at reading body language, have some knowledge of human nature and probablity statistics. They also ask questions which appear unrelated but which gives them clues as to the way a person is thinking and what they are looking for in a "reading". I accept there are some who truly believe they have a psychic gift but they are just unknowingly skilled at cold reading.

pinkjj27 Wed 12-Jul-17 12:55:00

Imperfect27 Thank you for that. I am sorry for your loss losing a child must be unbearable. You have confirmed my feelings on a medium so thank you again. Emelle19 love and hugs to you.

grandtanteJE65 Wed 12-Jul-17 12:54:59

Yes, I do believe in a life after death, and I agree with all of you who say that we cannot know what it is like.
However, it is only a belief, grounded in my personal religious convictions, so I may well be wrong - no one knows.

I think most of us have had experiences that could lead us to believe that there is some existence after death, but a lot of these experiences can be explained in other ways too. Mine certainly can.

I came home from abroad to visit my sister, for what I had good reason to think would be the last time, as she was dying of brain cancer. Arriving at the hospital, I needed a minute or two to collect myself before going to her ward, as my nieces had warned me that she wasn't always willing to admit that she did know she was dying.

Wanting to be alone, I went into the Ladies' and while washing my hands I distinctly felt my mother standing behind me. As she died 13 years before that day, and as she and my sister had never, after we grew up been on the best of terms, I was considerably surprised.

Obviously this could well just have been my imagination, or my need to have mummy to make everything all right - although I knew full well she could not do so, but I chose to understand it as a sign that my sister would not have to go out of the world on her own. Although I still feel my sister would probably have wanted Daddy rather than Mummy as her escort!

On the night before our father died, my sister woke at four in the morning to see our grandfather standing at the end of her bed - he had died when she was 10. She was puzzled why he had "come" to her - I could only think he perhaps felt the need to drop in on his way to collect his son.

Again, it could just be imagination, but does it really matter whether it was or was a "real experience" if it consoles us at a difficult time?

Emelle19 Wed 12-Jul-17 12:50:34

Disgruntled, I love that smile

Emelle19 Wed 12-Jul-17 12:47:27

Never mind resting in peace! There are things to be done and my husband has the most beautiful vegetable patch you could ever imagine - that was his passion. You cannot die, you carry on and meet again all your loved ones who have gone before. And you do all the things you love as well as help others when you are ready.

Trinity Wed 12-Jul-17 12:44:52

Yes I am absolutely convinced that there IS life after death. I have been a Christian for 30+ years now and know what it is like to live life not believing and life knowing God and I know which life I would rather live now. For me it's not been just about feeling (although there is nothing like the peacefulness even in the middle of tough times that I have experienced and believe me I have been through some real toughies as I am sure everyone of you have. From illness, bereavement and the everyday strife that comes from being in a familysmile) BUT it has for me also been about logic. I like to make my own mind up about things and to find out facts and so I decided I would read the bible and having done that the logic, the facts, the evidence is overwhelming and makes sense. So ladies (and gents - sorry) I can say hand on heart after 30+ years I can honestly say YES I am convinced there IS life after death and I for one am looking forward to itsmile

Emelle19 Wed 12-Jul-17 12:42:44

My husband died on 6th June this year. He didn't believe in any afterlife - I heard from him last week (via a medium) he threw his head back and laughed out loud and told me that he had 'landed safely' and what a wonderful surprise! He was with my Dad who was helping him to adjust. He described his funeral in detail, and told me other personal details nobody could possibly know. I have never met this medium before and she lives 20 miles distance. It was a joy to know he was safely home and I will see him one day. In the meantime he is with me around the house - I still cry because we adored each other and we didn't want to part but I am heartened to know he is around me. There is so much more to life than we can possibly know from our earthly standpoint - and I'm no churchgoer.

Imperfect27 Wed 12-Jul-17 12:39:12

pinkjj I am so sorry for your loss. Two years on is still 'early' and you are bound to still feel raw at times. As time goes by we tend to lose support as other people assume we must be 'getting better' or are 'over it' by now. I hope you have support from people who realise it can still be tough for you. x

I have steered clear of the very idea of going to a medium. My sister-in-law went after my DD died and apparently received a message from my daughter for me, but I said I had no interest in hearing it ... nor did my ex-husband. MY Ex had been driving when the crash occurred and I know my sister-in-law was very deeply distressed on his behalf and wanting to find ways to alleviate his pain.

My view was that I had no 'issues' or 'unfinished angst' with my child ... she was a beautiful, healthy, happy girl and I want her to 'rest in peace' - whatever that may mean! I didn't want to dabble / disturb what should be left alone and felt no need to. And besides - I reasoned that if she had anything left to say to me she would make it known directly as we were very close smile.

Some people do seem to have some sort of genuine psychic power, I don't discount that. BUT I think some people are easily exploited because they are very vulnerable and searching for signs to comfort them.

spabbygirl Wed 12-Jul-17 12:36:30

I totally agree Imperfect27, a local teenager, Jasmine Clarkson age 14, hung herself a few years ago in town. I was so upset she missed school donned black clothes & sat on a bench crying beforehand. No-one spoke to her & she hung herself. I was so upset though I never met her cos I was a youth worker & thought I could have saved her had I been in the right place. I was upset for a while then I smelt a beautiful smell, I wondered what it was & a voice came to me, 'whats my name?' she said, cheekily, then I realised Jasmine. She told me she was ok, but wouldn't speak to me again cos I'm not really related to her & never met her but she wanted to put my mind at rest. Since then I always advocate for speaking to people who seem upset. The whole town was sad about that, teenagers were crying & buying flowers for her. One girl in tescos didn't have enough money so someone topped up for her. I do think its harder to hear these messages when busy etc. it does help to be still, quiet & open to these things which may be why some people don't hear.

Disgruntled Wed 12-Jul-17 12:31:58

What a fascinating thread! I believe in reincarnation, so my answer is yes. My granddaughter used to see her late grandfather and late great grandmother. She once (aged about 4) asked my daughter if she missed her dad. "Of course, yes" "I don't know why - he's standing behind you."

pinkjj27 Wed 12-Jul-17 12:20:12

I lost my husband two years ago and the grieve and loss is quite bad still so I guess I want to believe and say yes. My best friend has just lost her husband and she is convinced he is still around. She spends a lot of time talking about it and wants to visit a spiritualist but I am not sure I want to. I dream about my husband all the time and odd things do happen. My baby grand son who was only a year when he died waves to him and talks to grumps all the time. but hand on heart I just don't know what I think or believe I know he lives on in my head and heart.

hildajenniJ Wed 12-Jul-17 12:17:24

We should.

hildajenniJ Wed 12-Jul-17 12:17:05

I think I've told this story before on here. When my DGD was almost two she asked her mum about Christmas. DD was telling her about baby Jesus and said, "well, you know baby Jesus", and before she could go any further my DGD said, "no, but I know God", and then, in a wistful voice, " heaven".
One day, picking her up from nursery school we passed a pub on the way home. She piped up from the back seat and said, " she should put on our make ups and jewels and go to the plub". We are sure she must have been here before!

Imperfect27 Wed 12-Jul-17 12:13:34

I can accept that 'imagining' I heard my dead daughter's voice greeting her nanny the day the mother died could be my brain 'misfiring' - a projection of my thoughts if you like, even though it felt very 'external' and interrupted what I was doing and thinking a the time. However, many accounts given here - including the two dreams had by strangers to each other - and in different countries - that seemed to be about my daughter - are inexplicable and point to there being something beyond / some 'wiring' and connectivity between those who are here and those who have passed. And time and again, these accounts, like my own, are given by people who would never have sought such experiences, never believed in ghosts / supernatural experiences - are almost embarrassed to give a recount because they can be met with disparagement. There is always the implication that we are a bit needy, or imbalanced, or have not grieved properly / not let go etc. Just not the case.

harrigran Wed 12-Jul-17 11:59:33

The brain plays tricks on you especially when close to death, nerve endings misfiring and chemical balance going haywire. I have seen many people die and I have not seen one that looked towards the light or spoke of going to relatives.

grandMattie Wed 12-Jul-17 11:56:44

Like Anniebach, my answer is yes.
But, I don't think that one has to be a "Christian" or any sort of believer to have a life after death. Good people join good people there, bad people get a chance to redeem themselves, or choose to go to the other place...
It is a comfort to me, but if others don't believe, it is up to them. I shall certainly not condemn them to eternal hellfire or whatever!

Margo583 Wed 12-Jul-17 11:55:21

Yes, I believe in life after death. I try to live a Christian life and trust in God's promises to mankind. Jesus is the way the truth and the life, look for him as he looks for you.

Tiggersuki Wed 12-Jul-17 11:46:43

I do not believe in life after death. You only live once, make the most of it and enjoy what you can. I believe memories live on and that's quite helpful. If you are buried ,or cremated and scattered , physically tiny pieces of you continue a life of their own. In a way people are constantly being recycled or so my son assured me when he was 13 and my father had died and we scattered some of his ashes in our garden and planted a tree for him.

rosesarered Wed 12-Jul-17 11:30:54

My DH hopes that will be nothing......he is a worrier and finds the thought of endless 'sleep' more comforting.