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So what will that wondrous place be like? Religions teach
various things, all of them paradisiacal, but what’s the
truth? Science has theories, says Judy Bachrach, but
in her new book Glimpsing Heaven, the
once-dead have knowledge.
For much of her life, Judy Bachrach was afraid of death and
the dying. It wasn’t much of a problem when she was younger
but when her mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Bachrach
knew she needed to face her fears. She began researching
death, and what happens after we die.
According to the Hollywood version of what used to be called
near-death experiences (a term that’s fallen somewhat out of
favor), a person’s heart stops, they travel through a tunnel
toward a beautiful, bright light but are told they must
return. It seems clichéd, but it’s not: of patients who’ve
had death experiences, that’s the format most often reported
by those willing to discuss it. Perhaps not surprisingly,
the majority of experiencers prefer to keep mum.
Though medical professionals, too, are often discouraged
from talking about their patients’ death experiences,
Bachrach says that science increasingly ruminates on the
subject. It’s already known that organs die at different
rates, and that some senses linger long after the heart has
stopped. That the brain may live even after blood flow
ceases could explain a lot, and could also raise big ethical
questions.
Scientists admit, however, that there’s plenty they don’t
know; for instance, death travelers (as Bachrach calls them)
often inexplicably encounter after-effects such as
precognition. They report “un-asked-for gifts” that may seem
new-agey, but are real and documented. They also have
higher-than-expected divorce rates.
Death experiences (or lack thereof) aren’t predicated on how
death occurred. Travelers may encounter people they knew on
their journeys, but are equally likely to see strangers.
Belief in God is not always necessary for a blissful death
experience.
And, truth be known, not all experiences are blissful…
We are all dying, right now, a little bit, every day. So
what are we afraid of? That’s just one of the intriguing
questions that author Judy Bachrach poses.
But first, I found Glimpsing Heaven to be a bit stiff
(no pun intended) and not unlike myriad other books on this
subject. I was, quite frankly, somewhat bored until Bachrach
started throwing some interesting stats around and, by the
time her narrative turns a little dark, I was hooked.
Because it shows both the upside and downside to death
experiences, I ended up liking this book quite a lot.
What allows me to recommend it, though, is that it doesn’t
profess to have the definitive answer to “What happens after
we die?” The words “We don’t know” resonate strongly
through Glimpsing Heaven, leaving readers to draw
their own informed conclusions – and that makes this a very
good book. |
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