Transcription
What we want to do here is connect the lessons learned in heaven to what we go through day to day here on earth. We're lucky tonight to get to hear from three authors and leading voices in the near-death experience movement who are each going to give us something from their NDE that they use every day. And we're going to pair that modern wisdom with Swedenborg's historical structure to get timeless help for how we can apply those NDE insights to our own lives.
Howard Storm, author of the near-death experience classic "My Descent Into Death," relays how "he said love the person that you're with." Jeff Olsen, drawing on what he's learned from both tragedy and beauty, shares how important it is that we realize "we seem to be more connected than ever." And Trisha Barker, organizer of the annual online Near-Death Experience Summit, wants you to reflect daily on "you are not alone on this journey."
Swedenborg's framework will give us the connections and extra tools we need, and we'll come away ready to live the wisdom of the near-death experience right now. And we'll look further. How do you "love the person in front of us," especially when they're being difficult? Yeah, it can be tough to just love someone, because people can act in all kinds of dysfunctional ways. And how do you love that person without reinforcing bad behavior or making yourself a doormat? We'll explore how the good in someone is the essential person, and how caring with discernment can let you take corrective action against someone while still holding love for them. It's not easy to know what the right thing to do is, and the details of how to effectively be kind was actually a major area of study for the earliest people in history. What's the actual mechanism that connects all of us, and how do we act on it? We're all connected by a shared membership in the human race, but even more intimately than that, we're connected by actually all participating in the same one life that comes out of God. So we share something, but it's also important that we're different, because the system of mutual love that we're meant to live in, which Swedenborg and a lot of others have called "heaven," actually becomes more perfect as more and more unique individuals leverage their differences to work together in a unity of purpose. And what is our angelic help doing to guide us in particular? Angels are deeply invested in bringing us every kind of good outcome, even down to actively deflecting negative thoughts and feelings that try to attack us. They also work to give us good dreams, and it's a metaphysical fact that during the times of struggle, when we seem like we're totally alone, we're more closely cared for than ever. There's lots to dig into here, so let's hear from Howard, Jeff, Tricia, and Swedenborg, and find out how we can live every day based on what near-death experiencers learned in heaven.
Love is a verb. It's my total pleasure to get to introduce Reverend Howard Storm. His near-death experience was one of the first I ever read, and one of the most powerful. He's got this amazing story of both this beautiful love and light and this really dark valley that he finds himself in. We've had him here on the channel before, but we got to sit down with him again and ask him about how does he apply what he learned in that experience to life, and this is what he had to say about what he takes from that into his day-to-day.
"During my near-death experience I asked Jesus, what did he want me to do if I came . . . if I were to come back to this world. At that time I wanted to go to heaven. I didn't want to come back. I still want to go to heaven, and, um, he said: love the person that you're with. And I dismissed that as being very simplistic, and as a matter of fact kind of argued with him, like, you know, is there more? He said no, that's it, that's what I want you to do. It's God's will. That's a quote."
So I came back and I tried to radically change my life. I changed my profession and lots of things changed in my life against my wishes, and it's been an interesting adventure because it's been 35 years. I'm still trying to figure out how to do what he commanded me. It wasn't a suggestion, it was a command: love the person that you're with. That's what . . . that's what Jesus wants me to do, that's what God wants me to do. And 35 years, I'm still learning what that means. But some of the things that I've learned, it begins with kindness, always, and I don't believe in the word "love" as an adjective. I believe it as a verb, which is the way that it's mostly used in the Bible, not as an adjective but as a verb. It's the act of loving is the way that it's meant. And that's what is meant in 1 Corinthians 13, which is the great . . . greatest bit of love literature in the world, and it means putting other people's interests ahead of your own. So when someone says something rude or nasty or hostile to you, rather than reacting with anger, or getting back at them, or arguing with them, what's the loving response? So to use a little more sophisticated word: empathy. Being empathetic with people. And an obvious example is being really kind to the people at the grocery store because, especially now, during this pandemic that we're going through, they're putting their lives on the line so we can have our groceries. And they're not very well paid for what they do, but they're out there doing it. At the grocery store I go to they all wear name tags. I use their names and I ask them how they're doing and I . . . I try and make light conversation with them and not be a pest or a nuisance. That's one way. Another way is responding to my wife with empathy and love and kindness. Her work is very difficult to do at home. She's a pediatric occupational therapist and she's very unhappy doing her work virtually because her work is — what she's been doing for almost 40 years — is all hands-on with children and it's been really hard for her to adjust, and sometimes she's been miserable. But she's faithfully down there working every day trying to do her job and adjust to it all and I need to be patient and kind and loving and not react to her mood swings and to not burden her with my stuff, because I'm a human being, too. So, from a very complex relationship that's 24/7 with my wife to the casual relationship with the bagger at the grocery store and the cashier — responding with love that's . . . that's the work. And I think it's the most important work that we have to do in the world. And if we all did this work, we would create a paradise on this earth."
So cool of Reverend Storm to to share that, and what's most exciting is, if there's really a truth out there like the one he's talking about in his experience, we should be able to see these different lanes to it. You should be able to see it from all these angles. Corroboration is what I'm talking about, and since we're a Swedenborg-y channel here, it was fun for us to look through Swedenborg's material and find things that were in great harmony with what Howard was talking about there. I want to bring special attention to this point that he made. "He said love the" — this is talking about Jesus — "He said love the person you're with and I dismissed that as being very simplistic." I think that's really cool. It's candid. And then he grappled with it. I mean, isn't that the nature of even these high-end moral commands we get from God? I think we do, and there's this . . . another dimension with it being simplistic is: what if you're supposed . . . you're supposed to love people, but what if the person is being really difficult? What if they're acting really dysfunctionally? And Swedenborg had this cool insight into it. This is True Christianity 407. "For another example, suppose someone under the attack of an enemy repels the attacker and either strikes in self-defense or turns the attacker over to a judge to avoid being harmed." So let's say you take legal action. Can you take legal action when you're supposed to be acting from love? "Say the victor maintains an intention nonetheless of becoming the attacker's friend. Then the victor is acting on the strength of goodwill." So it's not about . . . it's not even about actions, it's about intentions. Sometimes, if there's a situation that's calling for drastic action, you've got to take drastic action. But do you care about . . . do you just care about protecting yourself, or do you care about even the perpetrator and eventually finding a way to to be concerned with their welfare? Right? And this boils down to an essential principle that Swedenborg describes in True Christianity 418. "Loving goodness in another person from goodness in ourselves is genuine love for our neighbor. In that situation the two goodnesses embrace and form a partnership." So if it's always acknowledging: "Look, I'm not all good, but the good part in me is trying to look for and be kind to and empower the good part in somebody else." So the behaviors and things that lie outside of that doesn't mean we have to support all of those, but just knowing there is some good in everyone. And how do we try to think of people as a continual . . . a project that you're never just going to let go of. Right?
Howard went on and said, "I'm still trying to figure out how to do what he commanded me. It wasn't a suggestion. It was a command. 'Love the person that you're with.'" I love that: "not a suggestion, a command." "That's what Jesus wants me to do, and that's what God wants me to do. And 35 years later I'm still learning what that means." And you may say, well, haven't you figured it out by now? But I think that's totally on point, and Swedenborg even wrote that studying how to love and how to be kind, which right now there's no serious . . . few if any serious schools of thought around that compared to the arts and the sciences. But Swedenborg wrote that the study of charity or of kindness was the primary study of people in earlier spiritual eras on this planet. This is from Secrets of Heaven. "The doctrines of the ancients taught all the major and minor types of neighborly love and identified the neighbor toward whom that love was to be exercised." So how do you exercise love to different people in different situations. "They showed how one person is a neighbor on a different level and in a different respect than another person, so they showed how to exercise charity differently in the one case than in the other. They also divided the neighbor into categories, which they named, calling some the poor, needy, wretched and afflicted, some the blind, the lame, the maimed, some orphans and widows, some the hungry, thirsty, foreign-born, naked, sick, imprisoned, and so on." This is, you may notice, this is quoting Jesus. "From this they knew what their duty was toward this one, that one, and the other." So it is . . . it isn't just about, well, you just . . . if anybody asks you, give them your wallet and your keys. This is a part of what it is to learn to love, is to understand how love is effective for people in different situations and states of life.
So Howard went on: "It begins with kindness, always, and I don't believe in the word love as an adjective, I believe it as a verb." Love is a verb. "It means putting other people's interests ahead of your own." And Swedenborg was always saying that it's about love of the Lord over love of self, or doing things for no selfish reason, but for love. He also had this great quote: "To feel the joy in another as joy in oneself, that is loving." All this love has to do with getting outside of the reward feedback loop and into, you know, looking into what good can really be done. So why is Jesus telling Howard Storm to do that? Well, because that love is what the divine essence is. This is from Secrets of Heaven. "The Lord's life" — the Lord being Jesus Christ — "life was a love for the whole human race, a love so great and good that it was pure, unalloyed love." No filler. This is just love. So if the Lord is Jesus, in Swedenborg's parlance, and Jesus is love for the whole human race, Jesus giving that command to Howard Storm is saying: "Live my life." He's giving his life. "Love the person in front of you" as a command, that this is the command he gave to Howard. So that is so cool, to think that Jesus is consistent. He's saying, "What do you want me to do? Do what I do." You know? That's how you forge that connection. And finally, Howard said: "I think it's the most important work that we have to do in the world, and if we all did this we would create a paradise on this earth." And some of the descriptions that Reverend Storm has had of the potential paradise we could be creating is so awesome, and Swedenborg is right there with him, agreeing that doing that work is important . . . is of utmost importance, because it's . . . that's what creates heaven in us, and according to Swedenborg, the point of everything, the way he puts it is, the Lord's divine providence has for its purpose or its end a heaven from the human race. So that paradise on earth that Howard is talking about — that's how life is supposed to be. And that's actually, you know, the story of the Garden of Eden. Right? That people started out in a garden. That is the paradise state we're meant to be in. And it's not necessarily because there's a nice garden. It's because of what's going on in the mind, because we're all taking the time to love the person that we're with, and love the person that's in front of us.
One in essence, yet unique. I got to spend some time with Jeff Olsen at a near-death experience conference in Austin, Texas. And he is just the nicest guy in the world, but also has this amazingly profound story, and he has really been through a lot. And you can just feel this wisdom that that's brought him. So we got to sit down over the computer and chat with him about what he takes from his experience into his daily life, and this is what he had to say.
"Well, the one lesson from my NDE — and Curtis, thank you for having me, it's so good to see you and chat with you — it's the connection we have, literally the oneness that we are that seems so unapparent, especially in the current situation. I mean, we're in the middle of a Covid-19 pandemic. People are quarantined. We're in our own space, we've got to stay six feet apart if we go outside. And yet it's amazing to me how the entire world — and this is the only time I've had a world event like this in my lifetime — we seem to be more connected than ever. You know? We seem to be pulling together and maybe even demonstrating that oneness that I experienced in my NDE, even though we're six feet apart or more, or quarantined in our homes. And when I remember that connection, you know, that we have far more in common than we'll ever have separate, that we truly are one in essence and perhaps in reality, even though we're individuals and unique. That's something I can use every day."
Again, great to get to hear from Jeff, and a cool message. And I really want to focus on this part: "When I remember that connection, that we have far more in common than we'll ever have separate, that we truly are one in essence and perhaps in reality even though we're individuals and unique, that's something that I can use every day." It makes emotional sense, what he said: "one in essence, but we're unique individuals." But it's a little bit of a paradox on its face. Right? So can we find some support, some more support for that in what Swedenborg wrote. And of course, I think yes. First, for the idea of us being one in essence, this is from Secrets of Heaven. "There's only one life." How's that for "one"? "The Lord's. It flows into everyone but is received in varying ways, its reception being determined by the character of a person . . . by the character a person has given his soul through the life he leads." So it's the same substance in everybody, but you have this unique receptor based on the choices you make and the kind of life you are. But listen to this interesting take on individuality not just happening but being essential to unity, to being one. This is from Divine Providence. "A form makes a unity more perfectly as its constituents are distinguishably different, and yet united." So it's not about being homogeneous or being the same. It's about being united. Homogeneous, homogeneous, whatever. "It is hard for our discernment to accept this unless it is raised up, because it seems as though the only way a form can make a single whole is if its constituents have some regular similarity. I have often talked with angels about this. They have told me that this is a mystery clearly grasped by the wise among them, but dimly grasped by the less wise." Well, we don't want to seem less wise, so let's make sure we get this, right? "Still, the truth is that a form is more perfect as its constituents are distinguishably different but still united in some particular way. In support of this, angels have cited the communities in the heavens. Taken all together, these communities make up the form of heaven. They've also cited that the angels in each community, saying that the more clearly individual angels are on their own — are therefore free — and love the other members of their community on the basis of their own affection, in apparent freedom, the more perfect is the form of the community." So if you just had group think, and there's one person handing out "here's what you think today, here's what you do," there wouldn't be as much community and unity in the end. "Angels have also offered abundant evidence of the way completely different things are united so that they form a single whole. They have called attention particularly to things within a person, where all the countless parts are similarly differentiated and yet are united." So if that seems a little bit abstract to you, how about the thing that you're wearing right now. Think about the human body. It's one thing. You have one body. But look at it. It's made of all these different parts, and they have to be different from each other, because they're each performing different functions and all together those different parts united really make a one thing. Like, you really have a body, and that is really a unit — actually more a unit than things that are made of the same parts. Think about the difference between that and, like, salt or sand or a boulder. Salt is all a bunch of the same grains of salt. Sand is all a bunch of the same grains of sand. You know, boulders, all these little boulder molecules — those things, sure, they're something, but they're not as much a single unit as a body is. Because you just take some sand, put it over there, put it over there. There's a uniting in the body that you don't see there. A human being is so much more, because . . . because it's one and yet different. So it is with us, at the direction of God.
You're not alone. Another NDEer with a powerful and meaningful story: Trisha Barker, who was kind enough to invite me on her show a while back, and really has a great message to share. We were excited to get to sit down and hear from her. So how does she take it? It's just cool to see how different people do it. How does she take what she learned in her experience and apply it to her day to day? And this is what she had to say.
"Hello beautiful, light-filled souls. I am so grateful to the Swedenborg Foundation for asking me to reflect on this question about what is one of the lessons or tools from my near-death experience that I use in my life today. Well, the first thing that I want to communicate to others is that you are not alone on this journey. You are supported by angelic forces, by guides, by the unconditional love of God. And I know that many people feel shut off from this flow of beauty and information and support, but it does not mean that you are not supported. You are supported. And whenever you have a flash of insight or just a feeling of being loved and protected, many times you are keying in to the fact that an ancestor or an angelic presence or a guide is there to help you on your journey. And you know, I teach this to people in small groups and one-on-one consultations because I don't want anyone to ever feel like they're walking through a desert of aloneness on this planet, that they are suffering alone. I want people to know that there's so much light, there's so much love and there is so much beauty out there. And in my own near-death experience, the first thing that really shocked me was that the angelic forces that were there were there as a healing presence, and they were there to both heal me psychologically and emotionally, and calm me down in that dying process. But they were there also for an intervention physically, and to help with that surgery that I needed at the time. But I know now that many people are aware of angels during surgery, and many reiki workers work with these angelic presences for people who are going into surgery. But I think it's important that we remember, even if you are isolated, even if you feel sad and cut off, know that there is so much light and so much love in this universe waiting to help you bloom and grow and be the best person that you can possibly be in the world around you, and to really spread love and kindness. Because love is all that we take with us, and that's obviously another message from the near-death experience. But make sure that first you take care of yourself, you feel that support and that love, even if it's just starting your day with a simple prayer or meditation, feeling that energy coming into your life, and then carry that light into the world. But thank you, and may you be blessed."
That's so great. That really gets to the heart of what I love about these near-death experience spiritual messages, and I just want to support it with some good old Swedenborg corroboration. So I want to look at what Tricia said, and this is one of the coolest things you can say, is: "you are not alone on this journey, you are supported," because think about the journey of life, "you are supported by angelic forces, by guides, by the unconditional love of God." So you've got a team who's pulling for you, and I want to just focus on some particular ways that Swedenborg says we are not alone. First of all, we're not alone even in our thoughts and in our feelings. In Secrets of Heaven, Swedenborg writes: "Angels, though, arouse only good impulses and true ideas, and whatever is evil or false they excuse." This is in inside us while we're alive. Individuals endowed with charity are under the control of angels, who keep us in touch with heaven." So we can get a partnership that's there all the time. We're also not alone when it seems like we're alone in times . . . what Swedenborg calls times of trial, when life is closing in on you and it just seems like there's nobody out there. Actually, Swedenborg writes, "During our spiritual tests, we are apparently left completely alone, although in fact we're not alone. At those times God is most intimately present at our deepest level giving us support. Because of that inner presence, when any of us have success in a spiritual test, we form a partnership with God at the deepest level." So I'm not saying it's not hard, but we're not alone, and something good is coming out of it, or else it would never be allowed to happen in the first place.
Trisha said, "The angelic forces that were there," she's talking about angels coming to her, "were there as a healing presence, and they were there to both heal me psychologically . . ." Do you ever think about angels, like, caring about your psychology? ". . . and emotionally and calm me down in that dying process, but they were also there for an intervention physically." So just think about those very real, tangible modes of care, about her as a person and by extension about all of us. This is totally in line with the character of love and wisdom in angels that Swedenborg describes. Check this out. This is from Secrets of Heaven 1977. "It is angelic spirits standing at the threshold of paradise . . ." Oh, this is talking about angels who introduce good dreams to us. Right? So it's angelic spirits standing at the threshold of paradise who introduce these dreams. And how do they feel about it? Is it like a clock in or clock out? Right? "They are also charged with the duty of watching over certain people while they sleep to prevent evil spirits from molesting them at that time. This duty," this is the angels, "they perform with supreme pleasure." So they love it, helping you, protecting you. They love it. "So much so that they compete for the privilege." You'd think, angels, would they be competitive? But they're . . . I'm sure it's a friendly rivalry. But they're saying, man, do I want to help you out. I would . . . hey, come on, let me help, let me help. "They love to stir up in us the pleasures and delights they find when they look at our leanings and talents." So whoever you are, they want to help you with the things you love. "From being people who in their physical lives had loved and enjoyed using every means of making every effort to render the lives of others happy, they eventually become angelic spirits." So that's what an angel is like. Plus, if you want to hear some more Swedenborg stuff about emotional healings in the afterlife, check out our show "Five Reunions in the Afterlife" for a very, what I would say, touching description of a family working out their differences.
Tricia went on to say: "Love is all that we take with us." A very good reminder to have, and echoed from Swedenborg, is from the very beginning of Divine Love and Wisdom: "Love is our life." So what we love — what that means is, what love . . . what we love, makes us who we are. We actually did a whole News From Heaven episode on that. You can check it out if you want. We did a show called "Your Love, Not Your Intelligence, Makes You Who You Are." So, good to know what you . . . what you can really get through customs with. You know?
Trisha said: "Know that there is so much light and so much love in this universe, waiting to help you bloom and grow and be the best person that you can possibly be in the world around you." That there is more light than there is not light. And Swedenborg goes so far as to say that God is like the sun, a spiritual sun. And actually very literally in the afterlife you can, if you're in the right state, perceive God as this sun that fills the universe with spiritual light and spiritual heat. Which . . . spiritual light and heat are love and wisdom. So this is why you're always hearing about love and light going together, because that's really how it is spiritually, and we've got to just keep that in mind, that there's help all around us.
So I want to say thanks to all three of our friends for being willing to be on this show, and I want to really encourage all of you: go check them out online, not just because they came on our show, but, the material that all of them have has been a huge boon to me, and it can really boost your spiritual life and happiness and everything related. So Howard Storm: you can find all things Howard Storm at howardstorm.com. Jeff Olsen, he's a best-selling author of a number of publications, including "I Knew Their Hearts," "Beyond Mile Marker 80," and "Knowing." Check those out and take a read. Trisha Barker hosts the Annual Online Near-Death Experience Summit. Also, her book from Simon & Schuster, "Angels in the OR," is out now, and you can find her on YouTube as well. And to me it's just awesome to think about all this amazing wisdom fitting together, and I love the idea of Swedenborg lending a hand, being part of this framework that fits things into this comprehensive picture. So hopefully you enjoyed his contributions as well. Go out there and live your life based on what people have learned in heaven. Thanks for watching!
Now you can journey with us all week. Every Monday's Swedenborg and Life episode, including this one, has a week's worth of content lined up to support you in your exploration of these life-changing ideas. All video content premieres at noon Pacific Time, 3 p.m. Eastern Time, and 7 p.m. Greenwich Mean Time. On Tuesdays, find us on social media, or go to offththelefteye.com, to get custom downloadable art, paired with the week's topic, to ground you through the week. On Wednesdays, join us to dig a little deeper into the week's topic with News From Heaven. On Thursdays, we want to hear from you! We'll be sharing a new reflection question weekly on our community tab and social media channels. Then join us for Swedenborg Live on Fridays for our panel Q&A show. And listen every Sunday to the Inside Off The Left Eye podcast to always know what we're up to, and what you can look forward to. If you want to help sustain Off The Left Eye's operations, consider becoming a monthly donor today. And right now, we have a matching gift challenge from a very generous donor couple, where dollar for dollar up to ten thousand dollars will be matched when you make a new or increased monthly donation. You can provide a direct gift, or restrict it to our new Off The Left Eye endowment fund. Giving to the endowment fund is a great way to guarantee that your gifts live on to help Off The Left Eye forever. Go to otle.causevox.com to become a part of our essential community of donors. From all of us here at Off The Left Eye, we thank you.