celtic, at no time was I embarrassed or hurt. I was in a totally different place. I'm over it now. No apology necessary.

My younger brother called me Saturday. We ended up talking about a great many things mentioned on this thread - our discussion stemming from a statement I made about our mother. He is not a Christian. He doesn't believe that our salvation is based on what he calls a d--- j--. I asked if he would call him George or something as generic, if nothing else, but don't use d---j--. He obliged. We ended up laughing, even though my insides were curling in upon themselves.

Back to what we discussed... He told me he has been pronounced dead 3 times in his life (something I did not know). First time was a cycle accident. That time he said he remembers looking down at his body and everyone standing around him. But, most of his memory was about him trying to open his eyes and not being able to. He wasn't in his body to open them, or something like that. The second time he "died", he doesn't remember floating above his body, or much of anything else... no white lights, tunnels, etc. He has the document saying he was dead, tho. The third time he died, he was in Cambodia (during the Vietnam conflict) and was shot 3 times in the stomach. Again, he was pronounced dead. He remembers floating above his body that time, too. He didn't want to re-enter, he said. But the attendants kept working on him and he survived. He was unconscious for a long time, but when he regained consciousness, he said he was pissed. He said he didn't want to be back in this place. He said he saw no heaven, no hell, no white light, no tunnel, no loved ones waiting, etc. He might have some denial issues, or some memory loss, but that's not for me to judge. I was hoping to hear from him that he finally felt loved, tho.

We ended up laughing our a---- off. He's 11 months younger than I am, was reared by the same people, lived in the same environment, and we believe so differently... yet, we were able to talk, share deep feelings and respect each others' input... and come away laughing and thinking how wonderful it is to have someone to talk with on an interesting level.