Choosing Death

QUESTION

“Thank you so much for the information in your books; it’s made a great difference in my feeling about the time when I’ll shed this physical body.  My best human friend has a very painful, progressive illness, and she plans to commit suicide when the pain gets beyond what the doctors can control and what she can stand.  Every resuscitated-suicide report I’ve ever read says, essentially, “No matter what you’re running from, it’s not as bad as what you’ll run into.” Do you know of any cases of resuscitation after someone has killed her/himself because of unbearable physical pain?  If so, does the hellish post-death experience still take place under such circumstances? Thanks for any leads.”....Dana

ANSWER

In one of my books (I’ve forgotten which one - probably my earlier ones), I wrote about people who made conscious, positive decisions to end their life and then died as planned.  It’s almost as if the death they experienced was the culmination of a spiritual journey for them.

There are other cases I know of where the suicide was a rash decision or one that resulted from anger or grief or to “get even.”  We know from many of these (their testimony upon “returning”), that their suicide attempt invariably left them with more problems than they had to begin with.  This caused more grief in some - but - those who had a near-death experience in coming back, discovered what their real problem was and how to solve it. Regrets, yes, but solutions, yes.

Positive or negative, results, aftereffects, appear to depend more on a person’s state of mind along with their willingness to face the many ramifications of their choice and its effect on others - rather than anything else.  Again, it appears that some suicide decisions can be positive, almost spiritual, almost as if the decision to leave is the best possible alternative. Yet, these are rare. What you find is mostly the opposite: people who return from death are sorry that they did what they did.

In your friend’s case, it is truly between her and her sense of God or whatever seems higher and best to her.  She must wrestle with this herself and make up here own mind. She cannot refer to or depend on what has happened to others or any percentages of yea or nay.  And you, dear one, must go on with your life, knowing that her choice is her own and that in some incredible way beyond knowing. . . all that could be done, was.  Pray for her afterward if you feel directed to and know, really know, she lies in the Grace of God. Nothing more needs to be said. Life continues. Life goes on, for all of us and in whatever form, always.  

Many blessings, PMH