An introduction to religious and spiritual experience

part time general practice alongside being a ‘vicar’s wife’ and mother. 
We had total care of souls.
In . . . the Rectory kitchen, my husband showed me a piece in the 
local newspaper about a group of people who wanted to develop a 
Hospice at Home . . .. He said, ‘You’d be good at that’.
We both knew that my life was far too busy to add anything else, 
but I was interested in what was going on, and went to a dedicated ser-
vice . . . [and was] asked if I would be able to help in some way. 
My youngest was still only three, so I did not feel able to join in until 
she had started school. . . . 
The story is long, but despite difficulties at home in freeing up time, 
and pulls in commitment between hospice, parish and family, I became 
more and more involved in the evolution of the Hospice, and later 
Palliative Care . . .. I became the first Macmillan Consultant in Pallia-
tive Medicine in [the area] and was responsible for developing 
services for the dying, as well as caring for dying patients and their 
families.

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Dying and Death
161
It seems that both commands made to me in that spiritual 
experience . . . came to pass, but not by my will. 
I cannot laugh at that experience now. [100059]
Although most reported NDEs are positive, there are also negative 
experiences. Yet these too may give an indication of continuation of life 
after death and have a positive effect on life. Revd Martin Israel describes 
his negative NDE and the consequences in 
Happiness That Lasts
. A steady 
decline in his health, including a form of epilepsy and Parkinson’s disease, 
was suddenly exacerbated by what seemed like a complete shutdown of 
his system and he was almost completely unconscious for five weeks.
During this time I felt that I seemed to descend into a vast pit of 
darkness where I could ‘sense’ the souls of a vast concourse of people 
who were unknown to me personally. I seemed to be in hell, and even 
now I believe it might be possible that this was literally true. There was 
despair, darkness and a lack of communication between the souls 
that were there. The gloom was appalling, and there seemed no hope 
anywhere. In fact, I believe there was a total dissociation between my 
rational mind, which was shattered, and my spiritual mind which was 
forlorn and lonely but entirely free.
. . .
Despite this terrifying experience I thank God for the privilege of 
experiencing it, because it has taught me so much and radically altered 
my personality and outlook on life.
I now know we are all immortal, not through our own deserts, but 
by the immeasurably great love of God. I had long believed this on a 
mental level through my mystical nature, yet I could never entirely feel 
it in the depth of my soul. After I recovered normal consciousness, 
coming as it were, back to myself once more, I knew that the supreme 
consciousness, which is one way of speaking of God, pervades all cre-
ation and loves it, whatever its nature and use may be. For us humans 
there is an individual as well as a collective destiny and the end is glori-
ous, but this life is only one step towards that destiny, which no one 
alive can know with authority.
Incarnate life, because the body is frail, is bound to be involved in 
suffering, and its intensity bears no relationship to the character of the 
person. But the way of suffering is an essential part of the progress of 
the person towards self-knowledge and the recognition of God . . . But 

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Religious and Spiritual Experience
162
as it was revealed to Julian of Norwich, all shall be well. The important 
duty in this life is that we should live as perfectly as we can in the pres-
ent moment. 
135
These days as more people report NDEs and more is publicly 
known about such experiences, it is possible to study similarities in 
pattern and effects. Although these experiences do seem to indicate 
some kind of continuation of consciousness after death, there continues 
to be much debate. Scientists such as Dr Susan Blackmore, who has 
herself had an NDE, maintain that these experiences are due to the dying 
brain.
Severe stress, extreme fear and cerebral anoxia all cause cortical 
disinhibition and uncontrolled brain activity . . . Tunnels and lights are 
frequently caused by disinhibition in visual cortex, and similar noises 
occur during sleep paralysis. . . . OBEs and life reviews can be induced 
by temporal lobe stimulation, and the positive emotions and lack of 
pain have been attributed to the action of endorphins and encephalins; 
endogenous opiates that are widely distributed in the limbic system 
and released under stress.
136
Since Raymond Moody’s bestselling