Embraced by the Light by Betty J. Eadie

“Embraced by the Light” is the author’s first person-narrative of her near-death experience. “Near Death” is not an accurate term, since technically she was dead, probably, for a couple of hours.

On Nov. 18, 1973, 31-year-old mother of eight, Betty Jean Eadie, entered a hospital to undergo a partial hysterectomy. Because of ensuing complications, she died in the hospital. This book is her account on what she underwent following her death.

Ms. Eadie was born of Sotch-Irish and Sioux Indian parentage. Her parents’ separation led to her being placed in a religious boarding school, which derided her Native American heritage and fostered images of a wrathful, unforgiving deity. It did not however, kill her spiritual hunger, which sent her to various churches, but left her with a vague sense of unfulfilled yearning.

In her after-death experience, she speaks of the presence of guardian beings who have watched over her, of concepts of space-time different from what we experience on Earth, her meeting with Jesus Christ, and what he revealed to her about the secrets and laws behind creation:

“By understanding these laws we are better able to serve those around us. Whatever we become here in mortality is meaningless unless it is done for the benefit of others. Our gifts and talents are given to us to help us serve. And in serving others we grow spiritually.

Above all, I was shown that love is supreme. I saw that truly without love we are nothing. We are here to help each other, to care for each other, to understand, forgive, and serve one another.”

Ultimately, Ms. Eadie’s life is not so much about death, as about life.