Near-Death Story Has Good Message Despite Stumbles

To some, death is but a transmutation to a different sphere of consciousness; to others, death is an end in itself.

For those who just can’t get enough of exploring and deciphering the underlying meaning of death, Betty J. Eadie’s “Embraced by the Light” is a warm celestial and ultimately hopeful rendering of her own near-death experience that will tickle your fancy.

While far from being scientific, Eadie instead reels her audience in with sheer tenderness and faith of God and his doings. Her story starts just after she has undergone a partial hysterectomy. As she lies in the recovery room, darkness enveloping her like a hangover, she suddenly feels her body growing cold and lifeless.

She then describes with exhilarating clarity a surge of energy that “almost as if I felt a pop or release in inside me and my spirit was suddenly drawn out through my chest and pulled upward, as if by a giant magnet.” Thus initiating her transition into the blissful otherworld that, according to her, almost immediately accepts her.

Of course, the sheer good vibrations elicited from “Embraced by the Light” makes this cosmic allegory easier to swallow than it deserves to be. But there are some basic story telling obstacles that this well-meaning book fails to overcome.

The most obvious misstep is that her optimistic approach begs for just a smidgen of analysis: How does her experience compare to that of others? How could society in general benefit? Is her plight echoing a larger transaction in the near future - the end of the world?

That leads me to my second reservation: Eadie keeps her touch airy and spiritually astute, but fails to wrap up her fanciful storyline without conveying an uncomfortable feeling of manipulation and exploitation. When Eadie returns to her bed after her brush with death, she is horrified to encounter a ghastly band of demons under the guidance of Satan. They want to purge her for returning to earth instead of remaining in perpetual serenity, for reasons that are kept unclear.

Now, as true as this incident may be, the book begins to lose its immaculate, wholesome center and becomes just another excessive, preArmageddon, theological hokum a la “The Exorcist” or “Flatliners.”

While the intended results were surely meant to stir a positive reaction and give one the fortitude to overcome insurmountable odds, the results are instead hackneyed, trite and curiously mechanical.

Luckily, Eadie regains her footing with a conclusion that lifts the spirits. “Embraced by the Light” may not win every circle over with its saccharin and a tad-bit neat outlook. But for those determined to believe, Eadie’s harmonious parable is not to be missed.