We write songs about it. We hold a loved one close for a slow dance at that wedding reception. It fuels our concern for the welfare of our parents or our children. We make movies about it. We talk about the power of love and how it makes the world go round. But, perhaps we underestimate the true power of love and how it rules our very existence.

If we research the numerous tales of people who claim to have died and returned to life, most of those tales involve that person temporarily slipping into what we call “the afterlife.” Many describe a visit to a realm where brilliant white light summons them and they see colors that they never knew existed. Many report encounters with friends or relatives who had passed earlier. The details of these incidents vary from person to person, but there is one element that seems to be universal.

That universal element is the sensation of total and unconditional love. Many of those who have passed over and returned speak of being overwhelmed by the feeling of peace, and feeling loved beyond measure.

So, what does this have to do with our efforts to apply logic to a quest to embrace faith?

We might begin with debating the validity of these tales of visits to the afterlife. We have already considered the fact that so many of these tales have descriptions that are similar if not identical. In particular, the description of colors unknown in life and brilliant white light that would seem to be blinding if viewed with human eyes. But, the occasional revelation of knowledge that the person having the experience should not have, seals the deal. There have been multiple stories of children who passed over and returned from death with comments or descriptions of grandparents they had never met in life, or speaking of meeting siblings who were stillborn or who had died before the birth of the child who now claimed to have experienced the meeting.

Once again, these encounters speak of love, and the evidence of these encounters clearly demonstrates that there is a dimension or realm of existence beyond the moment when physical death occurs.

It appears that love is the power that continues to be the unbreakable bond between the living and those who have passed over. Likewise, love appears to be the force that helps those who pass experience the feeling of being home where they belong.

Finally, the messages in the Bible clearly identify the power of love.

1John 4:7-8
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.”