Dying can exist in the ‘Positive State’ when viewed as ‘Simply a Change,’ Psychotherapist Wrote…
Headlines in the news may seem to speak of death all too often … daily casualties in various wars around the world, victims of horrific crashes, or even the natural deaths of infamous celebrities like O.J. Simpson in April. An old journalism mantra proclaims that “if it bleeds, it leads,” implying that tragedy gets the biggest headlines.
While death is inevitable — about 150,000 humans die every day — understandably, many might prefer not to read about it. However, the late Dr. Pieter Noomen held a view about death that carried some sense of a positive outcome.
Dr. Noomen worked as a psychotherapist and staff member at a Los Angeles church, completed doctoral studies in theology and pastoral psychology at the Free University of Amsterdam, and became senior minister of three Protestant churches. He died in 2019, but he left behind a plethora of writings that remain available on his website, www.wordsforall.org, as a gift for all to read and ponder. He said the writings contained verbatim transcriptions of his conversations with what he called “The Real Reality” or “I AM,” which others might identify as God.
Here’s an excerpt of what he wrote about death:
“Underneath any approach to death and dying, whether it is clinical, emotional or traditional, lies the unpleasantness of having to go through this unavoidable and overwhelming transition. Two questions arise here. Does something like dying exist in the positive state? And does it make a difference whether we die a ‘natural’ or a sudden, forced death? The answer to question one is both a categorical and resounding ‘No,’ and at the same time a categorical and resounding ‘Yes.’ This is less confusing than it sounds. The problem is in human words for death: dying, life coming to a halt, cessation and others that stress the finality of what we observe. They say that a particular life is over.
“This aspect is worth facing squarely. Not to cater to the morbid thought that everything we see is on its way out … but we should ask where the parts that will be separated by death move to. What happens to our bodies is clear. The external parts change their composition. They join other elements for different uses. While alive, we are conscious of our outer, internal and spiritual layers. But each physical particle of our body also has its own spirit core. We’re unaware that it’s the connection of our eternal spirit with the spirit core of our body parts that makes us feel and function as a whole person.
“This, in general, keeps our life going. It applies to every unit in existence. When we die, experiences of the spirit of our physical and mental parts stay integrated in our eternal spirit core. So, even if external and internal parts of our person detach when we die, spirituality remains a constituent of our eternal volume. Because of it, we will retain awareness of our earthly identity for as long as we want.
“We often try to soften the harshness of ‘over is over,’ or ‘dead is dead.’ Words are used like transition, passing on, leaving for a better world, eternal sleep, etc. Those believing in reincarnation add their own set of descriptions to what they think happens after being dead on Earth. In the positive state, the equivalence of dying is simply a change, when desired, without negative connotations. ‘Having’ to die is a gross perversion of the freedom to change. Moving on towards new things is one of true life’s favourite modes. It always occurs from free will, openly, and never takes away from, but always enriches everything one was involved in until that point. So, in this sense, death, moving on, or changing, is always exciting.”
Dr. Noomen wrote extensively about his personal experiences in the spiritual realm, and his work remains free for all to access at www.wordsforall.org.
