Death comes unexpectedly for some. Expected for others. And for some — they get a peek before they go. Did Steve Jobs see through the veil when he uttered his last words — OH WOW, OH WOW, OH WOW?There are those who explain these phenomena — seeing your ancestors or your life in review — as a firing of neurons, the brain shutting down.
My sister-in-law died unexpectedly. But many years before that day she had a near-death experience. While in childbirth, a c-section, she passed through the veil, across a river of water to meet family that had passed on. Later she discounted this event as something like carbon monoxide poisoning. She was firmly rooted in the here and now and very much agnostic or atheist.
When she died for good, she slipped off a cliff on the coast of Maine into the icy Atlantic Ocean. It was a New Year’s Day, some years ago. She had been watching, with concern, her two teenagers surfing. At the funeral, one of her friends shared a dream she had that fateful night — in the dream, she received a phone call from my sister-in-law apologizing for staying in that next life, saying, “it was just so green, I had to stay.”
Hugh Nibley shared a near-death experience that convinced him of the reality of life after death. He said he felt as light as a feather and ready to learn about math. (Faith of an Observer)
Thomas Edison was recorded to have opened his eyes from a coma and exclaim “it’s very beautiful over there.” And then pass on.
My father-in-law, very much an atheist and scientist, went kicking all the way. When that veil opened for him, he fought it, “no, no, no.”
According to Steve Jobs’ sister, his final words, “were monosyllables, repeated three times. Before embarking, he’d looked at his sister Patty, then for a long time at his children, then at his life’s partner, Laurene, and then over their shoulders past them.
Steve’s final words were: OH WOW. OH WOW. OH WOW.” (Mona Simpson, New York Times)
