In reference to the above post about NDE (near death experience) I want to copy a poem I read by Mattie J.T. Stepanek from "Loving Through Heartsongs." This was the boy who had a form of cerebral palsy. He was on Oprah as well as other talk shows because he was so young and ill yet so wise and strong. He describes so well the experience of NDE:
Awakening After A Close Call:

Don't believe the Christmas trees!
Everything is so much more beautiful
And wonderful, and glorious
Than anything we can imagine
Or compare, or create.
Especially the Light, and the Angels!
The Light is so many things...
A window
A tunnel
A sunset at the edge
Of a polished pier.
And the Angels...
The Angels are more than
Just males or females with wings,
They glow with the Light
Of Every-color!
One color at a time,
Or all at once, or none at all.
But there is no darkness.
There is no darkness in Heaven.
And there is no death.
Even though we must die to enter,
As we face the Light and the Angels,
We are beyond any type of death.
Don't believe the Christmas trees!
Heaven is beyond human description.
Believe in the Spirit behind the trees.
Believe in the Life related to the decorations.
Believe in the Word leading us to our Future.
And always,
And always, and always,
Believe in the Light, and the Angels!