Jeff Olsen’s NDE Still Creating Ripples
April 15, 2020 | by Nancy van Alphen
Yesterday during meditation, I asked for direction on reaching people who would benefit from hearing Jeffery Olsen’s story and speaking with him during the next IANDS Visiting Author’s session (I am the host). Like usual, I didn’t think about my request again. Then, this morning on my usual walk I came across a sign posted in a neighbor’s yard with a picture of a boy five or six years old grinning from ear to ear wearing a graduation cap and gown. The sign said, “Congratulations Nicholas!” I rolled my eyes and thought “Oh, brother.”
Not long ago my husband and I had seen a grade school graduation on the news and commented on how silly it was. I lamented how in “our day” we had to keep our nose to the grindstone for 12 years (13 counting kindergarten) until we could be celebrated for our accomplishment with a high-school graduation and party, if we were lucky. Nearly simultaneous to my eye-rolling and recalling of this conversation, I heard THE VOICE say “Some parents never get to see their children graduate.” At the same time, I was shown a vision of Jeff Olsen in an elementary school courtyard sitting on a bench dedicated to his deceased toddler, head in his hands with tears spilling through his fingers. In his book Knowing Jeff tells about having been asked by the school to give a speech to that year’s graduating class. He had not been reminded that it would have been his son’s graduating class, nor had he remembered this himself. This realization only occurred to Jeff as he sat alone on that bench moments before speaking.
Spirit’s message hit me hard, and I felt like such an idiot for chastising anyone or anything that has to do with celebrating any aspect of life. I should know better considering my profound STEs taught me that LOVE in all its glory should be celebrated; and so I try so very hard to make the most loving choices and thoughts possible as I navigate my humanness! But we are ever-learning and practicing the habits of LOVE, and I thank God/Spirit for today’s lesson! And, Jeff … if you read this, know that the lessons of your NDE are still rippling outward and touching others, bringing more love and kindness into the world.
Jeffery Olsen was a featured speaker at the August 12-16, 2020 IANDS Virtual Conference, and as the featured author with his latest book Knowing during the IANDS Visiting Author’s ONLINE Book Club on July 26, 2020. Check out upcoming authors and sessions at https://isgo.iands.org/home/iands-book-club/