I thought that I would back up a little bit with this weeks post. I reference my son Kory and his death in my posts, but many of you do not know our story. You will be able to read the actual events of that night in detail in my upcoming book, but I wanted to give you a few details to help you understand my journey and a little glimpse of the book about him and our experience with his death and after.
What will I be doing and learning after I die?
I would like to address the topic today of what we actually do in terms of progression after we leave this mortal sphere.
I remember after my Grandmother Kinney passed away, my mother and I had a discussion about what Grandma Kinney believed. She was a special little lady. Only 4 ft 10 inches and her name was Bessie. I was born on her birthday. She grew up part of her life in the hills of Kentucky and referred to herself as a Kentucky Hill Billie. I loved this little lady but she passed away from throat cancer when I was in my senior year of high school, actually just a few days after our birthdays. She had attended a Primitive Baptist church in Kentucky and believed that after we die she would just float on a cloud playing a harp. She was my father’s mother and when my father died tragically at the age of 24 she really had a hard time with his death.
Characteristics of the Spirit Body:
I feel it is important to address the characteristics of the spirit that are present at the time of death. People wonder what they will be like, or if they will be themselves or an altered state.
I would like to start with a section taken from the Gospel Principles book from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, chapter 41 “The Postmortal Spirit World”
Here is a link to that manual:
What is the Nature of Our Spirits?
The Aspects of the Spirit Body
I have a very special memory of an experience I had with my son very soon after his death, actually just a couple of hours after he died. I have taken the description from my book “Kory” that will be coming out in print in the upcoming months. It helped me understand the spirit body in a very personal way.
…were unaware of the experience that started to unfold for me. As I sat in a chair beside Kris’s bed, I suddenly felt Kory standing behind me. He put his arms around me and gave me a hug. It was as real as the earlier hug that he gave me just hours earlier.
Where have you been? I blurted out. The words were only in my mind, but I knew Kory could hear me, just as I heard him. I understood from years of research that at death some people will watch over their bodies. Kory did not come to us until his body was at the coroner’s.
Kory laughed and said, “Mom, if you could only see the things I have been shown! And you should see what I’m wearing!”
The Spirit World- What does it look like?
Of all the many descriptions that I have read of the Spirit World I have come to understand one thing is prevalent. Light. The Spirit World is a world of Light. My favorite description is best described by an actual application.
In a safe place light a candle. Look into the flame at the brightest part of the flame. It is a soft golden glow. That is the color that permeates the world of spirits. There is a lack of light where evil exsists. We will discuss the area where light is present.
The Spirit World
Where did my loved one go?
Today we are going to discuss the location of the Spirit World or Paradise. The Spirit World consists of two separate places. In some discussions Paradise is used to describe both places in the Spirit world also.
On the LDS.org site if you go to study a specific topic you get the following descriptions.
Spirit World
Paradise: Where our spirits go between death and resurrection. For those who were righteous during their lives, the Spirit World will be a place of peace and joy.
Spirit Prison: is a temporary state in which spirits will be taught the gospel and have the opportunity to repent and accept ordinances of salvation.
My second entry to my blog is a request from my beautiful son on the other side, Kory. It was the next step in my journey to understanding the Spirit World. When I was a teenager I, like a lot of people struggled with my self perception, my social status and a whole array of things that made me consider the darker aspects of death. I felt so unworthy of life, that I thought it would be easier to just give up. I contemplated suicide. I know this was a scary thought but I didn’t think it would matter. I thought the world really didn’t care if I was here or not. To think I could just go to a beautiful place and all my trials would be gone. This is when I believe I was directed to a source of information that would help me through this trial. I found a wonderful little book that changed my perception of life and helped me hold onto life with both hands and all my might.
When I was a little girl my father died in a work accident, (see biography). My mother was given a type written copy of a wonderful experience of a man named Heber Q. Hale. He had a wonderful vision about the world beyond death. From those early years as I questioned where “daddy” was, my mother would read this account to my sisters and me. It was a wonderful comfort. The part of the article that was seared into my heart and understanding was the description of the plants and trees. It touched me in a way that is hard to describe. Almost like a memory from a previous home. A great desire began to grow within myself to learn as much as I could on the journey beyond death.