Recently I’ve been doing some reading and study on a topic that is referred to as Near Death Experience or NDE. When a typical NDE occurs, the person’s heart stops beating and with no blood pumping the cessation of brain activity soon follows. At that point, the person is dead, clinically speaking. And conventional thinking within the medical field would suggest that the person would then have no consciousness of any kind.
In hundreds of case studies, however (actually it’s probably thousands) people who have “died” and yet been revived reported consciousness including extraordinary “afterlife” experiences during the time when they are clinically dead. Some people believe that these NDEs confirm the reality of some type of life after death and others remain unconvinced. But enough of these NDEs have been documented that we can now be certain this is not just the silly imaginings of a couple of odd people.
Last week, I was reading a book about one of the largest NDE studies that has been undertaken thus far, and several times, during the course of my reading, I thought, “it would be interesting to have one of these Near Death Experiences.” The description of NDEs by those who have had them sounds amazing.
Yesterday, I experienced a mild discomfort in my chest that very quickly turned into a fairly severe pain. I took some deep breaths thinking it would go away. Hoping it would go away. It didn’t. I wanted to convince myself that “hey, this is nothing” but the pain was real enough and persistent enough that even though I wanted to deny it, I could not.
I began thinking, “Oh man, I’m probably going to have to go to the ER.” If you’ve been to the ER lately, you know that death can actually seem, momentarily, like a more attractive alternative.
(Okay, I’m just kidding, relax. Can’t a guy joke a little? It helps release tension, you know.)
As I was walking from the church to my house and the pain in my chest continued, the NDEs that I had recently been reading about came to mind. I thought to myself, “Alright, Mr. Smartypants you were thinking it would be interesting to have an NDE, huh?”
And then I said to God, “Lord, are you going to give me one of those ‘be-careful-what-you-ask-for’ lessons?”
Well, I’m happy to report that I did not have a Near Death Experience. (The closest I came to death was when my friend Greg looked at one of the numbers on my monitor in the ER and suggested to myself and one of the nurses that it seemed to indicate I only had 99 minutes left to live. With friends like these, who needs… oh, never mind, you know the line.)
So, no NDE occurred and all of my medical tests indicate that I did not have a heart attack. In fact, I was told that my heart is very strong and healthy.
What happened then? What was the cause of the chest pains? Well, they don’t know for sure. But the cardiologist said to me, “Mr. Marler, when a person has such an extraordinary amount of muscular development, like yourself, sometimes the kung fu power in the muscles can cause a constriction in the chest…”
You know, I would go on with the cardiologist’s comments but I sense that I’m losing some of you.
It’s good to be alive! And, as always, God is still good!
Love and blessings,
Dan
*Sorry the picture's a little blurry. This is
shortly before the stress test.
P.S. The good news is that I will be at church on Mothers’s Day. …At least, that’s good news to me. And I hope to see you, too. “The guys” are leading the worship as a treat for the moms! It’s going to be TERRIFIC!!! And hey, I’ve got a great idea, bring your mom to church with you on Sunday and then take her for a lovely brunch following the service. What do you say? (And don’t forget to buy her a nice card and some flowers.)
P.P.S. I know that many of you were praying for me and I am so thankful for your prayers on my behalf. I am TRULY BLESSED by God to have such wonderful friends!
Here's Greg right around the time
of his prognosis of my condition.
One day, many years ago when I was a kid, I was
walking through our house and it seemed strangely quiet. I knew my brother was
not home but I did not know where the others were. It was late afternoon and I
had just gotten home from school.
