At the time of death?

[steve-in-kville]

Okay, bear with me on this one. I hesitated to post this but I am curious. I apologize in advance, this is not the most joyful subject.

Background story: a former coworker passed away suddenly a few years ago. No children but left behind a wife. They were longtime members of a conservative Mennonite church, family was well known, but that is neither here nor there.

Anyways, my wife met up with his widow at the grocery store and she was not shy sharing details about his last days and his death. She claims she could see his spirit leaving his body at the end. I heard of such things being witnessed but didn't think someone in a conservative setting would be so bold in sharing this.

Now, I was in the fire and EMS service for some years and seen my share of people dying, but never anything like this. Can anyone relate to the above situation?

[justme]

i was seeing things out of the corner of my eye that weren't there when i turned my head, the last day or so before my dad died of lung cancer.

[Sudsy]

I'm curious why you 'didn't think someone in a conservative setting would be so bold in sharing this'. Why would she need to be bold to share her experience in a conservative setting ? I'm missing something here.

[steve-in-kville]

I'm curious why you 'didn't think someone in a conservative setting would be so bold in sharing this'. Why would she need to be bold to share her experience in a conservative setting ? I'm missing something here.

In the nearly 30 years I've associated with plain people, I never heard stuff like this talked about.

[barnhart]

I didn't realize my beliefs and practices around death were unusual until I interacted with other groups. For example my experience is at death, the race has been run, the redeemed are present with the Lord and are not occupied by interactions with the living. The grave yard at the church was almost entirely abandoned except to cut the grass. It was extremely rare to see anyone visiting a grave.

This contrasts with groups who hold vigil at the grave every year on the anniversary of the death or throw parties for remembrance to keep memory alive, or see loved ones faces in the clouds ECT...

[steve-in-kville]

This contrasts with groups who hold vigil at the grave every year on the anniversary of the death or throw parties for remembrance to keep memory alive, or see loved ones faces in the clouds ECT...

I work with a lot of Spanish people and they take funerals to another level.

[Sudsy]

I have read many NDEs (Near Death Experiences) and there certainly is some commonality in these experiences but also much uniqueness. Death is a subject that some don't care to talk about but it's gonna happen. NDEs of professing Christians I find especially fascinating.

So far I haven't personally been present at a person's last breath but had just left the room they were in for various reasons. The closest I came was when my father who was dying, sat up in bed and ask for a drink of water which I gave him. My sister asked us to leave the room so my mom could have a few private moments with him and we heard her praying with dad in her prayer language (unknown tongue). During these few moments dad's spirit left his body.

I am not a frequent attender of the graves of my family and friends but when I do go, it is to sit and remember our past times together. It is often a quiet setting to reflect and look forward to a reunion someday even though the particulars of our eternal relationship with one another will likely be quite different. And I'm sure I won't have to put up with an artificial arm, or loss of hair or various ailments anymore.

There is a grave yard we pass quite often in our car rides through the country and the graves (no standing grave stones, all flat) are all kept current with flowers of sorts. I don't know what the deal is but my guess is that there is an ongoing fee at these sites for the gardener to keep flowers on these graves. It is quite a display of flowers and quite a sizeable grave site. Doesn't look ghostly like some sites do.

Anyway, getting a bit off topic, which is my mo, for the believer death has lost it's sting which is sin. O grave where is thy victory. For we will be raised incorruptible and enter into eternal life forever to be with the Lord. Praise the Lord !!! (some left over Pentecostalism )

[Josh]

Much more common outside plain circles. Cons. Mennonite circles in particular tend to reject these kind of superstitions.

[Pelerin]

Did she mean she saw the spirit itself or she saw when the spirit left the body? A lady at church told me that when her mother died her family was visiting with her on her deathbed when suddenly she waved goodbye and left.

[steve-in-kville]

Spirit itself.

"left through his feet."