If you’ve ever had a near death experience, it likely left you wondering if what you recall actually happened or did you imagine it.
Review by Jacqueline Lunger
Our author, Lynn K Russell, lives in western Canada. She enjoyed a fulfilling life as the mother of three active children, and a career as a family counselor before turning her attention to research and writing about near death experiences.
Lynn researched over 2500 unique reports of NDEs. She accepts that people really are having the encounters they describe, it’s not imaginary or simply the electrical impulses of their brains. She poses a new question on the subject, taking it to a higher level of understanding when she seeks to show us what value the near death experience has to offer us on planet earth.
(JL) Thank you Lynn for agreeing to be interviewed. I appreciate your time and knowledge. Recently I saw an on line cartoon of a tattoo artist struggling to inject ink into a person’s upper arm. The caption was “you must be a writer.” It takes a thick skin to write and promote a book, fear of the unknown and frustration with new learning can stop you at so many junctures.
Tell us what barriers you faced and what made you press on with The Wonder of You, What the Near Death Experience Tells You About Yourself (aka Wonder)?
(LKR) There were many, many barriers I faced in getting my book out. The self-publishing company I used made quite a number of mistakes that held things up for about two years. Then, when it was finally published, there were some problems getting it into an e-book.
I didn’t know how to work the various social media. I’m still learning my way around, deciding the best way to approach the promotion of Wonder. I initially sent out over 4,000 emails to different places and people I thought would be interested. Now, I have well over 2000 followers on the various social media and am in the process of putting up a blog on GoDaddy. However, there have been some wonderful people, including you, to point my nose in the right direction. I’m getting better at it.
I’ve been told I’m tenacious and willing to do what has to be done to accomplish my goal. Well, not if it were to hurt others, of course. I know I have to get this book out to spiritual seekers to help them know their reality and what it’s all about.
One of the reasons I wrote The Wonder of You was to help people see their beauty. There is so much guilt these days; parental guilt, social guilt, and spiritual guilt. I wanted to show another reality that was more truthful.
(JL) I’ve read your book and received a sense of peace and reassurance from it. I could feel myself unwind as I turned the pages. Uplifting, comforting, reassuring, and well researched are some of the words your readers have posted in the feedback section for Wonder. I was impressed with the gentleness of your telling the individual stories and found some, certainly not all, of the stories appropriate for younger people too. Regretfully, children, too, experience death of the body, or transition into the spiritual planes of life, as we spiritualists call it. I can see some of the stories in your book being shared with children who have questions about other planes of life.
Do you agree that younger readers can benefit from this book?
(LKR) The Wonder of You is primarily being directed toward adult spiritual seekers, and people interested in learning more about near-death experiences. However, it is not meant to exclude children. Some of the concepts can be quite deep, although I’ve tried to explain them in everyday language.
I do have a children’s book written that teaches the Oneness of all. It’s ready to be published and perhaps I’ll release it after I’m finished introducing this one.
(JL) I’m so glad to learn about your upcoming book, I hope you will agree to another book review with me once it’s available.
You have shared with me that your daughter is engaged in intensive cancer therapy at this time. Is it alright with her for you to share her feedback after reading your book?
(LKR) Leah liked the book very much. I don’t know if it eased her mind, but she is a fighter and plans to hold on as long as possible. A year ago she was given four months to live and now it’s over a year and she is still going strong. She also has MS and I was concerned how that would affect the cancer, but so far it’s not a big problem.
(JL) I see we share a common career in human services and that tells me you have some intuition working in your life. Can you elaborate on your most memorable intuitive experiences and how they may have prepared you to write Wonder?
(LKR) Yes, sometimes I could know ahead of time that people were going to be sick or die, or when they were going to stand me up for scheduled appointments. When my kids were in their teens, I always knew when they were up to something and would dig until I found the truth.
(JL) Thanks for helping us get a peek into your personal life. I smiled with complete confirmation as I read your account of Gerolyn, a thirteen year old girl who experienced death during her cancer operation. Page 85 reads, “During this I began rising and all at once I knew everything there was to know.” She is just one the people you write about who comes back and informs us of the immense wisdom they experience in the afterlife.
Do you think it’s possible to tap into that wisdom while remaining here in this physical plane?
(LKR) The answer to your question is just my opinion. No person who had an NDE reported on this question. I think it is possible to know a great deal while we are here, but I’m not sure we could know as much as we do when we are on the other side. It seems that there is an answer to every question there, and that level of knowing could be overwhelming for us while we are trying to function in the physical world.
For example, many people report that they forget a lot of what they knew when they reenter their bodies. Many want to know what they are supposed to do so that they can get it done and return to the spirit level. But, that is not how it works. So, I do think we can gain a great deal more understanding and knowledge than we presently do, but not to the same degree. Quite a few NDE’rs have come back with inventions and systems to fix something we are struggling with here on Earth.
On the other hand, we are gaining leaps and bounds with spiritual knowledge, and the world is on the cusp of major change for the better. And I think that’s partly because of the amazing learning being brought back from those who have experienced death and come back.
(JL) I completely agree with you. I believe it is the slower physical vibration that causes the differences, making it harder to receive and recall all we know. Thanks for opening up about your insights.
Chapter seven of Wonder is on Evil. There, you state that people can decide for themselves how much authority they want to grant that illusion. You go on to tell us that reality is enough to have to deal with. Page 62 reads, “The dark glasses have fallen off and we see a new reality like a polished gem.” This is one of my favorite quotes from Wonder and I am pleased that you included the subject. I, too, have seen too many people hamstrung by evil illusions in my years of spiritual work.
I understand that you enjoy presenting your work at conferences and seminars in Canada and the US, as well as interviews on radio and television.
Let us know where we can learn more about you, or perhaps see you in person?
(LKR) I’ve had a number of radio interviews both on traditional radio and on blog radio. You may be aware of the one I did with DC Love that is to be aired on June 1st? You can listen to it on line. On June 28th I’ll be giving a talk at the Unity Church of Nanaimo, Canada. The IANDS Conference in San Antonio, Texas September 3-6, 2015, has included me this year as a live presenter. Invitations come up frequently and I welcome all opportunities to tell people about Wonder.
(JL) I trust this interview will bring you additional invitations too. Thank you so very much for being with me today and sharing your excellent book, The Wonder of You: What the Near Death Experience Tells You About Yourself. I am already eager to read your next book. Many blessings always!
For those interested in purchasing Lynn’s book, you can find it on Amazon available in paperback and digital format.
You can learn more about Lynn K. Russell on her web site at: http://lynnkathleenrussell.com/
About the Author:
Jacqueline Lunger has been serving those on the bridge of life for more than thirty years, she is an ordained spiritualist minister, certified psychic medium, healer and author of the non-fiction, eBook “There’s DNA to Prove It, message from beyond.” She can be reached for appointments and speaking engagements by email, jackielunger@gmail.com or skype 910 546 9603.
