Guest Post by Dennis Ernst
A close friend was getting near the end of life, and over our years of friendship we had shared many ideas, speculations, and solved all the world’s problems in our wide ranging conversations.
He had been a history professor and also enjoyed archaeology, philosophy, religion, the sciences. We had debates running over years, on what is consciousness, how humans got to where we are, and the existence of the cosmos.
His academic approach to these issues was always solid science, but it often made it hard for him to peer out side the box. He rarely remembered his dreams, had vivid meditative experiences, or waking dreams, yet his deep insights and sense of whats right was always strong.
Both of us had grown up with Christianity and were well steeped in it’s teachings, and both of us at some point had moved on to something larger. I had shared with him some of my early childhood memories of growing up in church. One memory of mine he particularly liked was when I was 4 or 5 years old in a Sunday School class.
I remember sitting at a low table, coloring with big fat crayons, scribbling on the colors. I can still hear the teachers voice “the bible verse for today is, God is love. Can you say that with me, boys and girls, God is Love?” Sunlight streamed through a window near me and lit the room with a golden glow. I was thinking to myself, of course God is Love, can’t you see that everywhere? It’s so obvious.
I had also shared with my friend my belief that Soul is God’s love in action. We are expressions of Love cast in all the possibilities and human experiences. He liked this idea a lot, but somehow it was a bit past his own experience and seemed to him like a stretch. He told me I’m just not there yet, but I think you may be right. I assured him that when the time was right, he would know that for himself.
As he got closer to the end, he was still probing the possibilities for what might come next, after leaving the human consciousness. I mentioned to him that right before the end, it is common for people to have the amnesia of human life drop away and have a few moments of clarity and remembering. He said, “I hope you’re right and I do get a few moments like that.”
I was not there when my friend passed away. He was with family who were celebrating his leaving his pain-wracked body and going to a better place. The joys and sorrows of a lifetime were all there as his family said their goodbyes. Seconds before he passed, he said: “I received a sign, GOD IS LOVE!” Those were his last words.
God is Love, and so are we.
______________________
Dennis Ernst is a retired Professional Land Surveyor who now devotes his time to sharing the natural beauty he finds on his many treks through photography, blogs, and poetry. Please visit his website, Dennis Ernst Photography, for a glimpse into his fascinating world.