Tag Archives: NDE

Chapter-a-Day

Colors

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“Over the gold altar they are to spread a blue cloth and cover that with the durable leather and put the poles in place.”
Numbers 4:11 (NIV)

For Father’s Day this year, our daughter Taylor arranged for the two of us to have our portraits taken with a special camera that purports to capture the color of the energy that surrounds a person, commonly referred to as an aura. It was a fun and fascinating experience (there’s a link in the episode details to today’s post at tomvanderwell.com where you can see the results). I was pretty much covered in deep blue that faded to white above me and down the center of my chest. Taylor was surrounded with warm orange and scarlet. Together, the warmth of Taylor’s orange wrapped around us while my blue covered her.

A photo triptych showing three portraits: the left image features a man with a deep blue aura, the center image shows the man with a woman, enveloped in warm colors, and the right image depicts the woman with a warm orange and scarlet aura, smiling.

Here’s the summary of the interpretations.

Tom:
Highly intuitive and emotionally intelligent.
Likely introverted or reflective by nature.
Possibly a teacher, guide, or someone others come to for insight
On or seeking a deeper life path—spiritually, creatively, or intellectually.

Taylor:
Charismatic, confident, and emotionally intuitive.
Naturally creative—may excel in arts, communication, or leadership.
Likely very warm and approachable but with a fierce inner drive.
Possesses a radiant personal energy that can light up a room or inspire those around her.

Together:
The tryptic reveals a beautiful portrait of two strong individual spirits who meet in a space of warmth, love, and deep connection. Your daughter’s joy and warmth bring brightness to your contemplative depth, and your centered presence seems to ground her radiant energy. The central photo is not just a mix of colors—it’s a visual metaphor for a balanced, evolving, and mutually enriching relationship.

Fascinating. I think it described each of us and our relationship rather well.

I share this to make one simple observation. Stick with me here.

God is creator of all things, including the universe, its energy, and the entire spectrum of colors it contains. By the way, there are more colors than our eyes can see. Many people who have died and had Near Death Experiences (NDEs) report that in eternity everything was more colorful than they could possibly imagine and there were colors they’d never seen before.

As my followers may get sick of me repeating, God’s base language is metaphor. God layers everything with meaning. Therefore, it does not surprise me that color has meaning.

In today’s chapter, God has Moses and Aaron count the number of men between the ages of 30-50 in each of the Levite clans, then gives them instructions and responsibility for preparing and carrying the traveling tent temple known as the Tabernacle for transport. They are making preparations, after all, for their journey into the wilderness. God commands that the Ark [cue: Raiders of the Lost Ark Theme], the altar, and all the articles used in the sacrificial worship system are covered in cloth, then durable leather for safety during transport.

What struck me as I read today’s chapter is that God designated different colors of cloth for different items of the Tabernacle. Why? Because colors have meaning. For the ancient Hebrews:

Blue is associated with heaven, divinity, and God’s presence.
Red/Scarlet is associated with blood, sacrifice, and atonement.
Purple is associated with royalty, sovereignty, and nobility.

Together, these colors were metaphorical of God and His character. In fact, they still represent the same things today as they did back then. I have a purple shirt and the last time I wore it someone made a passing reference to me being royalty.

In the quiet this morning, as I meditated on these things, I was reminded that to this day I know that women will have their “colors done” to help determine the palette of colors in which they look best. Again, I find it fascinating and it made me wonder if there is possibly a connection between the color of the energy a woman emits and the colors she physically looks best in. It wouldn’t surprise me. Our creative God does things like that, layers them with connection and meaning we don’t even think about.

I head into my day today paying a little more attention to the colors in creation and being grateful to God for caring about such details. The words of Jesus are ringing in my heart:

“See how the flowers of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?”

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
A camera capture of auras around two individuals, showcasing deep blue and warm orange colors representing their energies.

Chapter-a-Day

Across the Divide

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Across the Divide (CaD Lev 8) – Wayfarer

“You must stay at the entrance to the tent of meeting day and night for seven days and do what the Lord requires, so you will not die; for that is what I have been commanded.”
Leviticus 8:35 (NIV)

Throughout the Great Story, there is a clear separation established between the kingdoms of this world and our earthly realities, and the Kingdom of God which exists in a different realm, a heavenly realm, a realm of Spirit. Dotted through the Great Story are experiences in which the divide between these two realms is breached. Angelic visits are a great example. Individuals like Isaiah, Ezekiel, and John being given a glimpse of God’s throne room are another. Typically, when humans experience these breaches of the spiritual divide, the human being is reported to be scared to death.

In his exploration of Near Death Experiences (NDEs) in the book Imagine Heaven, John Burke reports what people who have physically died, experienced the other side, and were sent back describe of their experiences. He found that most described it as more real than anything in this earthly existence. Those who’ve experienced say that this earthly life is a shadow world compared to that world.

As I have considered these accounts and descriptions, I have begun, I believe, to understand holiness in a deeper way. Holiness always seemed to me to be defined as some kind of super-powered moral perfection, but the further I get in my spiritual journey, the more I realize that’s not it. The divine reality of God’s presence on the other side of the divide is overwhelming and indescribable Light, Love, Life color, beauty, wholeness, knowledge, and infinity. That’s holy.

What we experience daily on this earthly journey in a realm of sin and death is not holy. Throughout the Great Story, God is trying to reveal the glory of His Kingdom to me, allow me to choose into that Kingdom by faith, and to live my earthly life in this world of sin and death according to the principles of a Kingdom that is not of this world.

Today’s chapter is a major transformation for Aaron and his sons. Yesterday, they were just normal Hebrew dudes like every other Hebrew dude. After the events of today’s chapter and a week of camping out at the entrance to God’s tent temple, they are priests. They have a uniform, a detailed instruction manual, and they’ve been ceremonially cleansed and purified for the role of being priests for the Hebrew people with all the responsibilities that go along with it. Welcome to a whole new reality.

As I meditated on the chapter in the quiet this morning. I pondered what God is doing with these ancient Hebrews in the toddler stages of human development in history. Just the other day our granddaughter Sylvie was with us. She’s at the stage in which she’s having to learn that there are things of Papa and Yaya’s that are special. They aren’t toys to be mindlessly and carelessly played with or discarded. God is doing the same thing with the Hebrews. He’s giving them an earthly sense of a spiritual Life and death realities of God’s Kingdom. The heavenly and the earthly. The holy and the ordinary. The sacred and the profane. These are things they can hardly fathom in the same way Sylvie can hardly fathom why that fragile family heirloom she just grabbed off the table is holy in Papa and Yaya’s kingdom.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself reflecting back on the kids and grandkids visit for a few hours on Sunday. There were colorful light saber fights, playing make believe, running in circles, wrestling on the bed, video games, intense energy, laughter, love, cuddles, sharing challenges, celebration of goodness, food, drink, and did I mention love? Yes, there was a lot of love. It was holy. At least it was a taste, a hint of that ultimate reality on the other side of the divide. How might I reflect and infuse my day with a little of that holiness for those around me?

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

These chapter-a-day blog posts are also available via podcast on all major podcast platforms including Apple, Google, and Spotify! Simply go to your podcast platform and search for “Wayfarer Tom Vander Well.” If it’s not on your platform, please let me know!
Chapter-a-Day

Seen and Heard

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Seen and Heard (CaD Job 42) – Wayfarer

“My ears had heard of you
    but now my eyes have seen you.
Therefore I despise myself
    and repent in dust and ashes.”
Job 42:5-6 (NIV)

In this book, Imagine Heaven, John Burke summarizes his 30 years of studying people who physically died, were resuscitated, and claimed to have had an after-life experience while they were deceased. They are known as Near Death Experiences (NDE) and it is a fascinating read.

One of the common things that these individuals talk about is the beauty of what they saw on the other side. In particular, some mention that everything is so beautiful with colors a visual detail that they couldn’t quite describe in human terms because they’d never seen it before.

Nobel Prize winning physicist, Frank Wilczek, wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal a few years ago about how quantum mechanics work in our vision and hearing. He uses the metaphor that our hearing is like having a piano in each ear with its 88 keys that, depending on the pressure with a key is struck, can produce a dynamic range of sound for neurons to fire and our brains to interpret. Our eyes, on the other hand, should be thought of a poorly turned, three-string harpsichord because light vibrates faster than the mechanical engineering of our eyes can handle. There are distinct patterns of illumination created by different combinations of photons that our human eyes can’t discern. “In this way,” Wilczek writes, “we are all profoundly colorblind.”

I find it fascinating to ponder the possibility that those who experienced the heavenly after-life were seeing with eyes unbound by human limitations of the poorly tuned, three-string harpsichord. When sent back to their bodies, they returned with visions of things they couldn’t describe, because there are no human words to suffice.

In today’s chapter, we wrap up the Job story. God has spoken and Job has heard God’s message. What’s more, Job claims to have “seen” God, though from a human sensory perspective, only God’s voice in the storm is ever mentioned. Along my spiritual journey, I’ve had very distinct experiences in which my spirit suddenly perceives something I had not “seen” before. As Paul wrote to Jesus’ followers in Ephesus, “I pray that the eyes of your heart may be en-lightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you….” (Eph 1:18 NIV, emphasis added).

There is physical seeing and there is spiritual seeing.

With the eyes of his heart en-lightened, Job understands that his human knowledge has not, can not, and will not perceive God’s power and purposes. Job is humbled by this. Ironically, sitting there on the ash heap of the local burn pile, he says he “despises” himself using a Hebrew word whose root means “trash.” He repents.

Eli the younger is not even mentioned in the epilogue. Having given Job and his three friends an ear-full, the young man must have moved on with his “perfect knowledge” to pass judgment on others and tell them how to solve their problems and fix the world from his omniscient perspective.

The spiritual contest prompted by the evil one is ended. Job did not curse God, though he certainly questioned God emphatically. God restores Job’s fortunes and doubles Job’s blessing. The three amigos, Eli, Bill, and Z, are chastised for proudly proclaiming to have knowledge about both God and Job that they did not have. They are told to repent and have Job offer the priestly act of making sacrifices and praying for them. One commentator I read made the point that Job spoke to God, while his three friends spoke about God.

From beginning to end, there is familiarity and an implied relationship between the Almighty and Job. Not so with his three friends. In the quiet this morning, that’s a big part of my take-away from this ancient story. I don’t simply want to know about God. I want to know Him each day of this earthly journey in a spiritually experiential way. I want to hear and see God with the ears and eyes of my heart, trusting that when this journey is over, I will trade in my poorly tuned, three-string harpsichord and actually see things I can’t even imagine and could never describe in human terms.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

My Mind is Set On…

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My Mind is Set On… (CaD Dan 10) – Wayfarer

Then [the angel] continued, “Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them.“
Daniel 10:12 (NIV)

Along my life journey, I have encountered a diverse number of individuals who have “set their minds” to various things in life. As I sat in the quiet this morning and let my mind wander down memory lane, a number of people popped into my mind.

The dude whose mind was always set on rock n’ roll, the music, the bands, the history, and the classics. From what I see on social media, that has never changed in 40 years.

The dude whose mind has always been set on being a success in business. He dresses for success, he networks for success, and he closely manages his conversations and relationships so as to leverage them for personal gain.

The girl who set her mind on creating the picture-perfect life. From breast augmentation to glamour shots, from the trophy husband to the perfectly gorgeous and well-dressed children, every post and story is managed and leveraged to impress.

I could continue. From what I’ve observed, people set their minds on everything, including setting their minds on nothing at all.

I found it interesting that the angels visiting Daniel in today’s chapter know him. They know who he is. They know his story. They know that at some point Daniel “set his mind” to live humbly before God and set his mind on the things of God.

In his book Imagine Heaven, John Burke tells of his thirty-five-year study of over 1,000 near-death experiences (NDEs). One of the recurring testimonies of those who have clinically died and experienced heaven is that a complete, written record and transcript exist of our entire earthly life. Jesus said, “But I tell you that everyone will have to give account on the day of judgment for every empty word they have spoken.” According to the NDEs that Burke heard and studied, Jesus was not kidding. We will review the entire record of our lives. As one NDE’er expressed:

[The man] stood beside me and directed me to look to my life, where I was replaying my life’s less complimentary moments; I relived those moments and felt not only what I had done but also the hurt I had caused. Some of the things I would have never imagined could have caused pain. I was surprised that some things I may have worried about, like shoplifting a chocolate as a child, were not there whilst casual remarks which caused hurt unknown to me at the time were counted.

It is an introspective time in the quiet this morning as I prepare to launch into a new work week. What have I set my mind upon? What do others see and consider to be the core motives of my life based on my words, my actions, my relationships, my tweets, my posts, and my stories? More importantly, what does heaven see that I have set my mind upon?

As I meditated on these questions, an old liturgical statement welled up from my long-term memory: May the words of my lips and the meditations of my heart be pleasing to you, my God.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Life’s Slideshow

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Life's Slideshow (CaD 1 Ki 21) – Wayfarer

There was never anyone like Ahab, who sold himself to do evil in the eyes of the Lord, urged on by Jezebel his wife.
1 Kings 21:25 (NIV)

Wendy and I purchased a digital photo frame for my mother as a Christmas gift. It allows my dad, my siblings, and our children the ability to upload photos right to the frame from anywhere. My mother, who is now entering the more advanced stages of Alzheimer’s, moved into Memory Care just before Thanksgiving.

So, I and my loved ones have been sending photos to mom’s frame. When my folks moved into a retirement community several years ago, I ended up with the giant tub of old family photos which I’ve been slowly scanning and archiving. I’ve been going through old photos of mom and loading those into her frame hoping they might spark her waning synapses of memory and give her even a fleeting moment of joy.

The other day I visited mom in her room. She was sitting on her sofa, the room was dark with the lights out and the shades drawn. I sat down next to her and together we watched the photos in the frame. There were photos of her childhood, her years as a mother, family vacations and gatherings, and photos of her great-grandchildren. She said very little. We just sat silently holding hands. She began stroking my hand softly as we watched her life scroll by.

Many people who have had near-death experiences (NDEs) speak of being taken through a review of their life on earth like a slideshow. The specific details vary, but the “life review” is a common element of most NDEs. I thought about that, and about my mother’s life, as we watched it pass before our eyes there on the digital frame.

In today’s chapter, King Ahab and his wife, Jezebel, conspire to steal a vineyard of a man named Naboth. Ahab simply wanted it because it was conveniently located near his palace. Naboth explained that it was his family’s land, allotted to them since the division of the land under Joshua, and they would never sell it. Jezebel uses her worldly power as Queen to create a scheme to have Naboth brought up on trumped-up charges and stoned to death along with his male heirs by her political cronies. I couldn’t help but think that Jezebel and Ahab’s actions are not unlike King David using his power to have Uriah the Hittite killed in order to marry Bathsheba.

Not unlike God sending the prophet Nathan to confront David about his sin, God sends Elijah to confront Ahab about his sin. Elijah states, and the author of Kings repeats that Ahab had “sold himself” to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. That was the summary statement of Ahab’s earthly life. The slideshow of Ahab’s life would show over and over again that he surrendered himself to whatever would make him rich and powerful, even if that meant surrendering himself to pagan gods and practices. The framing and killing of Naboth and his sons merely because Ahab coveted his garden perfectly encapsulated Ahab’s life.

In the quiet this morning, I found myself thinking about my mother’s digital life review that we watched the other day. The photographic evidence revealed a woman is loved and beloved by her husband, her children, and her family. It revealed a woman who worked hard, along with her husband, to create a life that was lovingly centered around faith and family, joy and laughter.

What a contrast to what the slideshow of Ahab’s life review must have looked like according to Elijah’s description.

And, that begs the question. What about the slideshow of my life review? What will it reveal? To what have I “sold myself” and surrendered on my life journey?

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

The Reward

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The Reward (CaD Jos 19) – Wayfarer

When they had finished dividing the land into its allotted portions, the Israelites gave Joshua son of Nun an inheritance among them, as the Lord had commanded. 
Joshua 19:49-50 (NIV)

In preparation for the Holy Saturday message I gave among my local gathering of Jesus’ followers, I’ve been doing a lot of studying about death. In particular, I’ve been reading about people who’ve had a Near Death Experience (NDE). These are individuals whose bodies literally died. No heartbeat, no brain activity, and no breath for a period of time until they were revived or miraculously returned to life.

There are a lot of commonalities in these experiences. If you’re interested, I recommend the book Imagine Heaven by John Burke (a shout out to Jen P for recommending it to me!). Among the commonalities in NDEs is a “life review” in which the person is shown a replay of their entire lives. Time is different in eternity. Even the Great Story speaks of eternity in which “a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like just a day.” Many describe their “life review” in those same terms. They saw every moment of their entire earthly life, but it only took what seemed like an instant.

Many who’ve experienced this life review also speak of the fact that the most important thing in this review was how well they loved others. Some mention that they saw the events of their life and could actually feel what others were feeling around them. For example, a childhood bully felt the agony of the person they victimized. A son forever estranged from his father, who had always blamed his father for their poor relationship, felt his parent’s emotions as he watched how he treated them as a youth, and he realized that he was just as much a part of the breakdown in the relationship.

Those who have experienced this NDE life review often speak of returning to their earthly lives with completely different priorities. They immediately begin to invest in relationships. They become more loving, generous, and faithful towards others because they died, they tasted eternity, and they learned that it’s the only thing that really matters just as Jesus taught.

Today’s chapter tells of the final allotments of the Promised Lands to the Hebrew tribes. In one final allotment, Joshua is given the town he requested in reward for his faithfulness. A few chapters back, it was Caleb who was first to receive an allotment. Now, Joshua is the last to receive an allotment. Joshua and Caleb were the only ones who originally spied out the land for Moses and had faith that the tribes could conquer the land and the people living there. The other 10 spies doubted. Over forty years later, Caleb and Joshua bookend the allotments of Promised Land and receive the rewards of their faith.

Joshua and Caleb received an earthly reward for their faith, and that got me thinking about eternity. The Great Story speaks of two distinct judgments to take place in the climactic final chapters of the Story. One is simply whether or not my name is written in the Book of Life. The second is described as an inspection of how well I built my life on earth as evidenced by how well I loved God and loved others. Based on what so many who’ve experienced an NDE describe, there is an eternal reward and the only thing that counts eternally is our love for others. Or as Paul wrote to the believers in Corinth:

But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. 1 Corinthians 13:13 (MSG)

And so, I enter another day and another work week with a huge task list, yet reminded that the real priority, the only thing that truly matters, is how well I love those with whom I interact.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.