The Spiritual World

It's been three days since my grandmother passed and although I still have difficult moments in dealing with her death, overall I'd say I'm doing fine. She didn't want us to grieve too much for her and we have to keep in mind that she is in a much better place now, no longer having to suffer with the pains of her illness that she had to put up with for so long. What still gets me down is when I think about her laying in that hospital bed suffering and so drugged up. Then her telling my mom two night's before her death that she's going to miss her. Death is just so final. There's no turning back; no way to turn back time. All that remains are the memories. My grandma was just short of her 80th birthday, which she would've turned in June of this year. My mom and sister were going to plan a small party for her and as a matter of fact, they were talking about this a few days prior to her getting deathly ill. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be.

My grandmother's passing was the first real death I've had to deal with in my family ever since I was real little, when both of my grandfather's passed away less than a year apart when I was five years old. It's been a real eye-opening experience for me. And what makes it easier to deal with is the fact that we've had two to three years to prepare for her ultimate passing. We knew it would happen eventually; we just didn't know when. Luckily for us, she was able to be with us for a lot longer than the doctors had initially predicted. Now I am left to wonder what it must've been like for her to die in those circumstances and leave everything behind. Dying is a part of life. We all must experience it at some time or another. Some experience it sooner than others. But I have to wonder what it must be like for her up in heaven now. What was her journey like from the real world to the spiritual world? What is it like to see friends and family members that have passed before her again? All of these truly are fascinating topics to ponder.

Needless to say, my grandmother's death has sparked my interest in knowing exactly what happens when people die. People have all sorts of opinions on what actually happens when we die. Some believe nothing happens when we pass on, while others believe we make the journey into heaven. A lot of our opinions are based on the religion we are part of. The common belief is that that there is a transition that takes place between human life and the spiritual. For those individuals that have experienced near-death occurrences, they claim to have had an out-of-body experience where a person's soul is outside of the actual body over looking the surroundings at the time the person has died and the soul not being able to communicate with anyone else who may be there. Then there's a transition to a light at the end of the tunnel; a darkened space which gradually opens up to a lighted area. People have also claimed to experience the overwhelming feeling of love upon arriving to the spiritual world, where they are greeted by spirits; angels if you will. There, they are communicated to - and for those who aren't ready to die yet, they are sent back to their bodies to live out the rest of their life. For those that may not believe in this kind of thing, you should check out some of the real-life accounts on YouTube. I am not here to sway people into believing something completely different from what they are used to. But the process of transitioning from human to spiritual life is a fascinating, yet heavy topic. Some people just aren't comfortable talking about it. That is completely understandable, too.

I guess you could say what actually happens to us after we die is still mostly a mystery. People have had first hand accounts of nearly dying but then coming back to life. Are we to believe that what they recall is true? There definitely seems to be a pattern amongst all of these near-death experiences. But it still is a secret; a mystery that we'll never be able to understand until we've reached that point. The idea of not knowing can be frightening, yet fascinating as well. We just can't completely shut out that idea - otherwise we'll be in for one big surprise once we get into the spiritual world.