RE: When I Was Ten Years Old, I Fell out of a Tree and Died...
Thanks for sharing your story @fraterralph; impressive that you remember as much as you do, from age just two. I do believe these events change us, somehow... whether it's towards feeling more gratitude for the small daily things, or a deeper faith in the Divine... or something else.
Technically speaking, the above was my second NDE... I was also stillborn (managed to wrap the umbilical cord around my neck and strangled myself to death on the way out) and had no pulse for the first 6-7 minutes of my "life." According to my mother, they almost "declared" me, but then I decided to live.
To this day, I get creeped out by any clothing that feels tight on my neck.
I have never been able to make sense of seeing "a sunset" when I fell out of that tree... it was about 1:30pm in the afternoon, in midsummer. The sun is high above... not at the horizon.
These experiences do definitely change us. With me I always had a hunger for spiritual things that the rest of my family could not understand. I explored religion for a great many years, then came to realize it was the Spirituality that mattered, not necessarily the religion.
Interesting that you "died" during birth, survived that and then went on to almost die again at age 10. Sounds like Somebody up there really like you! I think we are all on a mission, each in their own way. Interesting shares. :-)
I am a spiritual person, but I have mostly rejected religion. Of course, this is only my personal take, but spirituality was about my relationship with the Divine... religion, on the other hand, was about a bunch of humans claiming to represent the Divine on my behalf. Perhaps "well" sometimes, but mostly (it seemed) for their own interest and benefit.
Exactly! It took me 45 years to see that point. I see it as spirituality being one's relationship to the Divine, and religion (sometimes based on the Spirituality and experiences of a key founder) as being a list of rules and regulations governing the faithful. I know in my case I confused religion for spirituality for many years until I finally broke away from religion and rediscovered that original relationship of so long ago.