What Dying Taught Me About Living

I was dead for 20 minutes…this is what I saw.

—Scott Drummond

Check out my video on YouTube by scanning the QR code below. It has been named,

“Most Watched Near Death Experience of All Time,” with over 21 million views.

The glory of the Lord appeared in the cloud. (Exodus 16:10)

It was like the twinkling of an eye. Suddenly, I was standing in an open field of waist-high grass. It was unique in that the field didn’t behave like a normal field of grass. It didn’t blow with the wind. In fact, there was no wind to blow the grass, not even a breeze. Instead, it was as if each separate blade was its own entity with its own personality or soul that chose to flow toward me. I remember reaching my arms out to my sides, running my hands along the tops of the grass, and feeling something so special. It was like each gold-tipped blade was…full of love. I could feel the love coming from the grass.

While standing in the field, the guide who had taken me there admonished me to never look back. It was okay to look to the left and to the right, but I couldn’t look back. The view in front of me was panoramic. I could see far to the left and far to the right, but the things in front of me were close as if I was standing inside a panoramic photograph.

On my far left were trees—giant pillars with huge trunks that seemed to lead me toward what was in front of me. There were no branches going up the trunk, but I could see lots of leaves at the top, beautiful leaves. They were in brilliant greens, reds, and yellows. Each leaf had a sort of iridescent gold underside. And the trunk wasn’t the sort of dirty brown we see here either. It was a beautiful brown color edged in gold.

Between me and the forest were tall wildflowers. Normally, to see each bloom of a rose bush, you’d need to walk around it, but in this case, each colorful flower—and its leaves—faced toward me. The flowers came up to about my waist, and their faces followed me as I progressed through the field. I have never experienced love come from flowers, plants, or trees. But I felt like all of it was alive! Alive with love. And it gave me so much peace. It was like each individual living thing imparted energy charged with unconditional love, support, and encouragement.

Directly in front of me were clouds against a vibrant blue sky. When I saw bioluminescence for the first time, I felt it was the closest thing to what I saw. Then leading me up to the clouds was a sort of mist or fog, just like stairs leading to the stoop of a house. None of the clouds moved, as there wasn’t any wind. Directly in front of me was a huge, beautiful cloud that was unique to the rest. Rays from behind the cloud shot toward me, just like the grass and flowers. The cloud itself was a pearly iridescent color that I can only describe as…pure and extremely bright.

In this place, there was no fear, no judgment, and no pain. Only love. Pure, unconditional love. My life before this was fraught with selfishness, greed, and a relentless drive for success in business.

What I learned most from my experience is to not look back. Don’t look back at what you’ve done in your life. Take a good look at your life as it is today, right now. And start looking toward the future. We can change if we want to. If you want to make a difference, just be kind to somebody, be kind to a friend, a fellow worker, or a neighbor. Discover the reaction you get by being kind to them. Most people are very defensive, but there’s something about love that calms people down. This life isn’t about how much we make. It isn’t about prestige or power.

It’s about the One. It’s about each life we can affect with love.