Odell H NDE

Experience Description 6339

My dad was on vacation with us during the summer of 1952. After doing things around the house for a few days, he decided to go fishing in the Brazos River, which were only a few miles from us. I asked to go along so I could go swimming. With mom and dad’s approval in hand, I then asked if my four neighbor friends could go with me. Again, with their approval, we all put our swim trunks on and piled into the car.

Upon arriving at the river, we all ran into the water and started having the time of our lives. Dad took his fishing gear and went about thirty or forty yards away and started fishing. About half an hour later, he decided to move to another location, since the fish weren’t biting at all where he had been fishing. He came over to where we were and announced 'I’m going upstream to Red Bluff; you guys come and go with me.' We said 'OK, we’ll wade up there.'

As we were wading upstream, the other guys got about 15 yards ahead of me. I was following in their path in the water whose depth was up to my chest. At this time, I did not know how to swim. As I was wading along, I suddenly went under water, way over my head. I had stepped into a hole in the river bottom that was too deep for me. It happened so fast and suddenly that I did not get a breath of air before going under.

I began struggling to reach the surface and was swallowing water at the same time. When I finally broke the surface, I began spitting out water, but before I could get a breath of air, I sank underneath again. I continued struggling to get above the surface. I was swallowing more water because I had no air in my lungs. I continued this cycle of struggling to get to the surface, spitting out water, and going back under without getting a breath of air.

Finally, my muscles became too tired to struggle anymore and I gave up trying. Immediately my movements seemed to go into extreme slow motion and I could see my hands and arms moving agonizingly slow. At this point, I did not feel any more pain or tiredness from the struggle. I seemed to be an impartial observer watching the event play out.

I then started rising up until I was about 10 or 12 feet above the water and watched my body in the water continue to struggle in slow motion. I had no mental attachment to the body nor was I concerned that it was drowning. I was completely aloof about it.

As I turned my attention away from my body in the water, a bright penetrating light appeared before me. It was the brightest light I had ever seen, yet it did not hurt my eyes. I looked down at my new body and saw that I was clothed in white garments just like people wore in the days of the Roman Empire, except that the garment hung low enough that my feet were not visible unless I extended my foot and leg forward enough to reach beyond the hem of the garment. The light seemed to penetrate my garments and me such that my body and clothes became the purest white ever. The light was about the size of a basketball and the outer surface seemed to be crystal clear, all the more reason why the light within was so bright. The light seemed to be churning, just like smoke churns as it rises, yet the churning was contained within the confines of the sphere as the rays of light radiated outward.

As I was studying the sphere of light, I suddenly saw a very black speck in the center of it. For some reason I knew this tiny speck was very important, and so I concentrated on it very intensely. As I concentrated on it, it suddenly zoomed out toward me, and there standing before me was Jesus in all His glory, bigger than life itself. He wore the same clothes as I did, and He radiated a powerful golden light in every direction from His body. Light travels at 360,000 feet per second, yet with my spiritual eyes, I could easily see the rays of golden light emanating outward from Him toward infinity. The color of this golden light coming from Him was so beautiful that the English language is incapable of describing its purity.

I immediately held up my hands and arms in front of my face to shield myself from His brightness and told Him to get away from me. I almost fell over myself trying to get away from Him. He was so pure and clean that I was not worthy of being in His presence, nor anywhere close to Him. I was too adulterated and contaminated with the impurities of this world. I was contaminated with the impure deeds of the things that I had done: lying, stealing, fighting, all of the negative things that a little 11-year-old boy does. I was contaminated with all the mental impurities that I had done: hatred, distrust, sarcasm, resentment, fear, narcissism, and anger. Even though I wanted to stay there in His presence, I couldn’t, because God’s law forbids everything evil from heaven.

Jesus stretched His hand toward me and immediately all my guilt fell away and I received the most overpowering feeling of love from Him. Although His lips did not move, He said 'Fear not. Peace.' He seemed to communicate to me through Extra Sensory Perception rather than a physical spoken word by mouth. He seemed to sense my question of why we could talk to each other without physically speaking. He told me that we communicate this way to eliminate errors in speech and understanding that is common with all spoken languages. In effect, while I was thinking something, it was magically transposed to Him immediately and he knew what I thought. I only had to think of something to say, and it immediately became word.

At this point, as we were conversing by ESP, a giant screen appeared next to us. It was so gigantic that I can naturally compare it to the large screens that used to be in the old drive-in theaters of the 40s, 50s, 60s, and early 70s. On this screen, in random order, different scenes of incidents that had happened in my life while here on Earth were being played out. Jesus would select one scene and it would expand to the point that it encompassed almost the whole screen. I could still see other scenes playing in the background around the edges of the main scene that we were reviewing. The scene we were reviewing was a most accurate depiction of an incident that I was involved in at that point in my life, and He questioned me as to why I did the things that I had done.

At first, most of the scenes that we discussed were ones in which I had done something wrong or bad. However, He also pointed out scenes where I had done something outstanding. In the bad scenes, He chastised me severely and used it as a teaching moment to ingrain into me that I must always be truthful, loving, or good in all of my actions and words. While reviewing a scene in which I had done something bad or wrong, I could see that I had acted inappropriately and wanted to slant my answer to make the action seem less evil to Him. As soon as I started giving a slanted reason for my action, He would authoritatively stop me and correct me. When He corrected me, I had to acknowledge His truth and correct my slanted reason. Did you know Jesus has a great sense of humor? In some of the scenes where something funny happened or was said, He laughed with me, and with gusto.

After reviewing many scenes of my past, I was very worried and scared that I was not going to be able to go any further into heaven with Him. Almost all of my past actions had been negative rather than positive or helpful. I had truly been a spoilt child, only concerned about the things that were important to a young child, e.g. toys, candy, food, etc. I was only concerned about me and no one else. Now I was desperately worried that I was going to be condemned forever.

Next, the large screen went away, Jesus took my hand, and we began moving through a long tunnel at a very high rate of speed. What is strange about this is that we were not in a vehicle moving at a high rate of speed. We were actually just standing still and holding each other’s hand, but our bodies seemed to be levitating forward. We were just standing there motionless, yet we were zooming through the tunnel at an extreme rate of speed. While zooming through the tunnel, the sides of it did not zoom by like here on Earth. As you drive at a high speed down a road, all of the trees, signs, and any other objects that are close to the road will zoom by you and fade away in the rear as you continue down the road. In this tunnel the walls, ceiling and floor did not zoom by and fade away to the rear. Instead, they seemed to stay right there as if they were still or motionless. I know that’s hard to fathom, but that’s how I have to explain it.

After what seemed an extremely long time moving through the tunnel, I began to wonder how much longer we were going to stay there and continue moving. I looked ahead and saw a small light that seemed to be moving closer to us. I thought to myself, 'At last, we’re finally getting somewhere.'

Suddenly, back in the water in the river, something hit my right foot. Instantly, I was back inside my body fighting for a breath of air and struggling against the water. Next, I felt someone come up between my legs and raised me up to the surface of the water so I could begin breathing again. As I began regaining my ability to breathe again, I noticed that the person I was sitting on was swimming underwater toward shore and beginning to struggle also. I thought to myself that he needed to come up for air, and I knew that I might cause him to drown if I didn’t get off and let him come up. I swung one leg over and slid off his back and he came up gasping for air.

We waded to shore and I started vomiting up all the river water that I had swallowed. I vomited up water again and again. After vomiting several times, there was no longer any water in my stomach to vomit up. I continued dry heaving in an effort to expunge more water. Now my stomach started cramping from the over-exertion of heaving. Slowly my heaving subsided and I began to recover. For the rest of the day I was wary about venturing very far into the river again. I was in a state of shock for a day or two after this and did not remember anything that I saw while in the water. I was in pain from all of the exertion of fighting the water and heaving up the water I had swallowed. Every muscle in my body was sore for almost a week.

Background Information:

Gender: Male

Date NDE Occurred: Approx. 1951

NDE Elements:

At the time of your experience, was there an associated life-threatening event? Yes Drowning Life threatening event, but not clinical death Nearly drowned.

How do you consider the content of your experience? Entirely pleasant

The experience included: Out of body experience

Did you feel separated from your body? Yes My body was drowning and continuing to struggle even after I floated out of it. I clearly left my body and existed outside it

How did your highest level of consciousness and alertness during the experience compare to your normal everyday consciousness and alertness? More consciousness and alertness than normal After leaving my body I became spiritually conscious and alert to my surroundings. I now had no pain from swallowing too much water, nor from the over-exertion of trying to get to the surface to get some air. I became aware that my eyesight was better than it had ever been and I could see details and colors that I had never seen before. I have always been hard of hearing, but now my hearing was superior to anything it had ever been. During the experience, the voices I heard were very loud and clear, and sounded almost like music rather than speech.

At what time during the experience were you at your highest level of consciousness and alertness? At the time I stepped into the hole in the water, I became physically very alert and conscious of my dangerous situation. As I began rising from my body, I was spiritually alert and conscious of the events that were transpiring.

Were your thoughts speeded up? Faster than usual

Did time seem to speed up or slow down? Everything seemed to be happening at once; or time stopped or lost all meaning Time seemed normal except when we were in the tunnel, then we traveled at tremendous speed.

Were your senses more vivid than usual? More vivid than usual

Please compare your vision during the experience to your everyday vision that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. Better and clearer. As I stated before, light travels at 360,000 feet per second, yet with my spiritual eyes, I could easily see the rays of golden light emanating outward from Him toward infinity.

Please compare your hearing during the experience to your everyday hearing that you had immediately prior to the time of the experience. My hearing was better than it had ever been while I was in my body here on Earth. I have always been hard of hearing, but hearing in the spirit was much more melodious, clear and loud, mainly I think because we conversed by ESP.

Did you seem to be aware of things going on elsewhere? No

The experience included: Tunnel

Did you pass into or through a tunnel? Yes Jesus took my hand and we began moving through a long tunnel at a very high rate of speed. See narrative above.

Did you see any beings in your experience? I actually saw them

Did you encounter or become aware of any deceased (or alive) beings? No Standing before me was Jesus in all His glory, bigger than life itself.

The experience included: Unearthly light

Did you see, or feel surrounded by, a brilliant light? An unusually bright light

Did you see an unearthly light? Yes A bright penetrating light appeared before me. It was the brightest light I had ever seen, yet it did not hurt my eyes.

Did you seem to enter some other, unearthly world? Some unfamiliar and strange place I was in a place that was suspended in time and place. Somewhere between Earth and Heaven.

The experience included: Strong emotional tone

What emotions did you feel during the experience? Before the separation I felt fear of drowning, not getting a breath of air and tiredness from the struggle. After the separation, I felt peace of mind, extreme love from Jesus, and happiness to be with Him.

Did you have a feeling of peace or pleasantness? Incredible peace or pleasantness

Did you have a feeling of joy? incredible joy

Did you feel a sense of harmony or unity with the universe? No

The experience included: Special knowledge or purpose

Did you suddenly seem to understand everything? Everything about the universe

The experience included: Life review

Did scenes from your past come back to you? My past flashed before me, out of my control

Did scenes from the future come to you? No

Did you come to a border or point of no return? No

God, Spiritual and Religion:

What importance did you place on your religious/spiritual life prior to your experience? Not important to me

What was your religion prior to your experience? Other or several faiths I was too young to have any religious affiliation. My parents were Protestants and took me to church weekly, but I was not "Saved."

Have your religious practices changed since your experience? Yes At the time I was too young to have a religious belief. Now I know that God is real and I truly believe in Him.

What importance do you place on your religious/spiritual life after your experience? Greatly important to me

What is your religion now? Christian- Protestant

Did your experience include features consistent with your earthly beliefs? Content that was entirely consistent with the beliefs you had at the time of your experience I was too young to have any religious beliefs at the time, but my parents took me to church all the time, so I had a vague knowledge of someone named Jesus, but was not clear on His concept.

Did you have a change in your values and beliefs because of your experience? Yes I now know that God and Jesus are real and the most important thing in life is LOVE for God, for our parents and family and for our neighbors. Now, when someone asks me if I believe in Jesus, I tell them, 'YES!' I tell them I believe in Him because I know He is real. I know He is real because I have SEEN Him. I have touched Him. I have talked to Him. I have held His hand. I have felt His love. I have heard His voice. Yes, I know He is real!

The experience included: Presence of unearthly beings

Did you seem to encounter a mystical being or presence, or hear an unidentifiable voice? I encountered a definite being, or a voice clearly of mystical or unearthly origin.

Did you see deceased or religious spirits? I actually saw them

Did you encounter or become aware of any beings who previously lived on earth who are described by name in religions (for example: Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, etc.)? Yes Standing before me was Jesus in all His glory, bigger than life itself. He wore the same clothes as I did, and He radiated a powerful golden light in every direction from His body. Light travels at 360,000 feet per second, yet with my spiritual eyes.

During your experience, did you gain information about premortal existence? No

During your experience, did you gain information about universal connection or oneness? No

Did you believe in the existence of God prior to your experience? God probably exists

During your experience, did you gain information about the existence of God? Yes There standing before me was Jesus in all His glory, bigger than life itself. I have SEEN Him. I have touched Him. I have talked to Him. I have held His hand. I have felt His love. I have heard His voice.

Do you believe in the existence of God after your experience? God definitely exists

Concerning our Earthly lives other than Religion:

During your experience, did you gain special knowledge or information about your purpose? No

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant prior to your experience? Unknown

During your experience, did you gain information about the meaning of life? No

Did you believe in an afterlife prior to your experience? I was uncertain if an afterlife exists

Do you believe in an afterlife after your experience? An afterlife definitely exists Yes Jesus took my hand and we began moving through a long tunnel at a very high rate of speed. He didn't say "OK, let's go to Heaven." It was more like an accepted fact that we were going "Home." After what seemed an extremely long time moving through the

Did you fear death prior to your experience? I greatly feared death

Do you fear death after your experience? I do not fear death

Were you fearful living your life prior to your experience? Slightly fearful in living my earthly life

Were you fearful living your life after your experience? Not fearful in living my earthly life

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant prior to your experience? Unknown

Did you believe that our earthly lives are meaningful and significant after your experience? Are meaningful and significant

Did you gain information about how to live our lives? No

During your experience, did you gain information about life's difficulties, challenges and hardships? No

Were you compassionate prior to your experience? Slightly compassionate toward others

During your experience, did you gain information about love? No

Were you compassionate after your experience? Greatly compassionate toward others

What life changes occurred in your life after your experience? Unknown Now I have more patience than before. Now I'm not afraid to die. I'm afraid of the pain, but I know the pain will only be temporary, until I leave the body again.

Have your relationships changed specifically because of your experience? No No

After the NDE:

Was the experience difficult to express in words? Yes The English language is not capable of describing the beauty of colors that I saw. How can you describe a million beautiful colors when our language only knows a hundred shades of five basic colors? How can you describe the sound of a melodious voice that has never been heard on Earth?

How accurately do you remember the experience in comparison to other life events that occurred around the time of the experience? I do not know how my remembrance of the experience compares to my remembrance of other life events at time

Do you have any psychic, non-ordinary or other special gifts after your experience that you did not have before the experience? No

Are there one or several parts of your experience that are especially meaningful or significant to you? No

Have you ever shared this experience with others? Yes My first recollection that my whole life flashed before me was about five years after the event. My recollection of the rest was over a period of years that began about 29 years later.

Did you have any knowledge of near death experience (NDE) prior to your experience? No

What did you believe about the reality of your experience shortly (days to weeks) after it happened? Experience was definitely real The drowning incident was definitely real and terrifying although I did not remember the rest of it until 20 years later.

What do you believe about the reality of your experience now? Experience was definitely real Many years later, about 1978 or 1980, I read an article about a book written by Elizabeth Kubler-Ross titled 'Life After Life.' The article told of a few incidents mentioned in the book where persons had been involved in a life threatening accident or had a heart attack, and experienced some of the same scenes of meeting Jesus and traveling in a tunnel. This one article seemed to open the floodgate of memories in my mind of everything that happened that day when I nearly drowned. Everything came to me as clear as the day it happened. I have attributed this to Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD).

At any time in your life, has anything ever reproduced any part of the experience? Yes I have had a couple of auto accidents in which I went into the 'slow motion' experience. In later years while a freshman in high school, I remembered my whole life flashing before my eyes. Many people have reported seeing their whole life flash before their eyes when they were involved in an accident and they came close to death. I don’t know when I first became aware of the fact that at some point in my life my whole life had flashed before my eyes, but when I did, I associated it with the near drowning experience, but did not remember any of the other things like seeing Jesus, or talking to him.

Is there anything else that you would like to add about your experience? Yes. When Jesus took my hand and we began moving through a long tunnel at a very high rate of speed, He didn't say 'OK, let's go to Heaven.' It was more like an accepted fact that we were going 'Home.'