When it comes to near-death experiences, God — and His/Her/Its many representatives — often display a terrific sense of humor. This is one of the most important characteristics of the Divine — and also one of the most overlooked and/or downplayed.
On NHNE’s NDE Stories website, several NDErs mention God’s sense of humor, and also comment on related topics, such as the need to lighten up and not take life so seriously. Amy Call and Andy Petro are good examples. Even Howard Storm, who is famous for beginning his NDE in hell, describes some funny encounters with Jesus. The Near-Death Experience Research Foundation website also contains many accounts of humorous encounters with the Divine.
Here are a few examples…
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God Had A Sense Of Humor
“I became aware that the God I was experiencing was not just a life force, or some impersonal consciousness but God had a personality, an integrity like the father I had never known. God had a sense of humor! He and I both laughed at the thought of me questioning His existence. It seemed to me the absolutely funniest thought in the world, and we laughed at the thought of it. I realized that I was the shadow, and He was the reality. The very idea that I would question His existence was a source of laughter for God and me. I was sobbing, overcome by the sheer amount of love that swept through me and over me, and laughing at the same time.”
— NDEr John K
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God Has A Fantastic Sense of Humor
“The light and I talked for quite a long time. Oh yes! On the other side communication is done via telepathy (thought transfer). I must tell you that God has a fantastic sense of humor, I never laughed so much in all my life! We laughed about the way so serious I had reacted to an event. Life on earth is a big drama! It should not be taken too much in earnest!”
— NDEr Leonard
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There Was A Lot Of Real Amusement
“This glorious, wonderful entity recognized me, understood perfectly every minute aspect about me, and poured love into me. The love was real, as much a force as a feeling, and immeasurable. Knowing every little thing about me and my life and viewing it along with me, there was a lot of real amusement. This being has a personality. It is fun to be with, delightful, and it has a sense of humor. I never wanted to leave this divine Presence, but somehow, without explanation, but with perfect understanding, I knew that I had to go back, and I understood that this was good and right.”
— NDEr Brain T
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Jesus Laughed
“Jesus laughed and then gave me the answer, not in words but in a ‘knowing’ that encompassed not just the element of the question, but a complete understanding of all relational aspects of the question. He has a wonderful sense of humor and I distinctly got the feeling that He enjoys us humans as a father enjoys watching the minor scrapes children get themselves into.”
— NDEr Terry E
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An Easy Ability To Laugh
“The room was quiet and the only ‘sound’ I could hear was the ‘sound’ of the telepathically delivered voice. The voice was more than a voice as it expressed the whole personality of the being. A being of pure joy, love with a wonderful sense of humor and an easy ability to laugh.”
— NDEr Carry G
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God Is A Great Joker
“I do not know why, but my life from that time to now has consistently had strange interventions. Any way I put this will sound absurd. My life has been blessed with lots of silly little miracles. God is a great joker in my case. He always reminds me that He’s with me. The Almighty has a sense of humor. I always try to rationalize what happens but really, I’ve given up. God acts in the everyday world. That is the miracle of God. The miracle is all around us, and we do not see it…..”
— NDEr George Eager
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You Mustn’t Take Things So Seriously
“It seemed impossible that I could be loved and accepted just as I was in that moment. Released from the burden of self-punishment, embraced in the wholeness of this forgiving presence, I was enveloped in joy. I seemed to become transparent, the light of divine love flowing through me. Then I heard the sound of soft, benevolent laughter, which felt like the wise and gentle smile of the Buddha. Again I was surprised and perplexed; I had not expected to hear laughter from a divine force. It rained over me like soft petals. Then it said: ‘My child, you mustn’t take things so seriously. You are just part of an evolutionary chain, in which all life evolves at different stages of development. You are only human. You need not judge yourself so harshly. Be gentle with yourself.’ I had gotten only the slightest glimpse of the limitless realms beyond the finite boundaries of the world we inhabit. I was eager to learn more.”
— NDEr Lee Thornton
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Yeah, I’ve Heard That A Million Times
Angela Williams: I was in this bliss and it was like I was plugged into the motherboard. I had this expansive experience of everything, just all your senses are super-sized. It was like this infinite divine consciousness that you really don’t have any questions. It’s like you have this knowing, and that’s the only way I can explain it. But then all of a sudden I heard these words, “You cannot stay.”
Lee Witting: Were those the first words you heard on the other side?
Angela Williams: Yes.
Lee Witting: Did you know it was God speaking?
Angela Williams: Oh yes. And… I panicked and I started begging God not to send me back. Then at one point I stopped and I thought to myself, “Oh my God, I am arguing with God!” I had that self-realization and then God chuckled and it was almost as if God was like, “Yeah, I’ve heard that a million times.”
Lee Witting: I’m so glad to hear that God has a sense of humor about these things.
— NDEr Angela Williams being interviewed by Lee Witting on NDE Radio
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Quite A Friendly Fellow
“Jesus has come to me twice since my accident whenever I needed him most. He is loving and kind, and has a sense of humor. He talks in a matter-of-fact tone and is actually quite a friendly fellow.”
— NDEr Victor B
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Jesus Has A Great Sense Of Humor
“At first, most of the scenes that we discussed were ones in which I had done something wrong or bad. However, He also pointed out scenes where I had done something outstanding. In the bad scenes, He chastised me severely and used it as a teaching moment to ingrain into me that I must always be truthful, loving, or good in all of my actions and words. While reviewing a scene in which I had done something bad or wrong, I could see that I had acted inappropriately and wanted to slant my answer to make the action seem less evil to Him. As soon as I started giving a slanted reason for my action, He would authoritatively stop me and correct me. When He corrected me, I had to acknowledge His truth and correct my slanted reason. Did you know Jesus has a great sense of humor? In some of the scenes where something funny happened or was said, He laughed with me, and with gusto.”
— NDEr Odell H.
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The Light Has An Incredible Sense Of Humor And An Infectious Laugh
“The Light had a voice that I had never heard, but it was not strange to me. The Light had a smile that was indescribably beautiful, and I recognized that too. The Light had an incredible sense of humor and an infectious laugh, and we talked and laughed together. The Light had the answers to all of the questions in the universe and I didn’t have any questions, because I knew everything that the Light knew, and that was everything!”
— NDEr Andrew P
Watch Andy Petro talk about his near-death experience on the NDE Stories website
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A Chuckle Of Appreciation
“There were beings, not that I could see, but that I was aware of. They were complete compassionate, loving, incredibly caring beings. They said this is the entrance to… the level of life… These are our concepts. These are some of our concepts. If you feel that you can contribute to them, or even understand them, you are welcome to come in… They actually gave me all the experiences of all my lifetimes to make the decision whether to come in. I looked at these concepts and frankly, I didn’t understand them. I thought I just didn’t know enough. And I communicated to these amazing beings ‘I think I ought to go back.’ And then I was aware for the first time of the huge humor that’s in the universe; of the sort of chuckle of appreciation. And the voices in unison said, ‘We think you should.’ “
— NDEr Harnish Miller
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Angels With A New York Accent
U.S. Senator Mark Kirk: What happened — I went downtown and was at Northwestern Memorial in the ICU, underwent three brain surgeries where the issue was brain swelling which would create such a pressure on the lower brain stem and could be fatal. My doctors said without the procedure I would have been dead within three days. I do remember waking up in the ICU not exactly knowing where I was. Probably it was a pharmacological event. I think there was a lot of that in my system.
Reporter: I read in the Daily Herald today about angels. Did you feel as if there were angels there?
U.S. Senator Mark Kirk: I did. I felt like there were three angels in the room. And interestingly, they had New York accents, probably because the last movie I’d seen was on Channel 11, was the original Oceans 11, the brat pack movie… They were there in the ICU. They probably have a regular gig there because of the issues.
Reporter: Right. Right. And yet you said, “No, not yet…”
U.S. Senator Mark Kirk: Yeah, and they said, “Mark, you want to come with us. You know you can come with us if you want.” Complete New York accent. The way they introduced themselves, they said, “Mark, uh, we’re angels; we’re angels down here.” And established that simpatico thing. “You want to come with us?” I said, “No, I’ll hold off.”
For more information, go here.
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The Seriousness With Which I Viewed Myself Was Amusing
“In one strand I was aware that Light knew me better than I knew myself. Despite any of my foibles, eccentricities, poor decisions and plain old humanness, it loved me to the core. It found the seriousness with which I viewed myself amusing. It seemed to be certain that in the end, all of my problems, hurts, inflicted hurts, and my life in general would be redemptive in the sense that it would ultimately end in love.”
— NDEr Jo B
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A Sweet Protective Chuckle
“Then God asked me… He said ‘let me ask you one question’. ‘Have you ever loved another person the way you have been loved here’. The love I had received in that time was so overpowering… I had never felt anything like it so I answered God honestly. I said, ‘No…it is impossible…I am just a human, you are God’. He gave me the illusion of a sweet protective chuckle. He then said, ‘Mary, you can do better’.”
— NDEr Mary Jo Rapini
And this is another description of the same NDE:
“And It [God] kind of chuckled. It wasn’t human, but It was able to relate to me in a very human way that made me feel loved. And It wasn’t laughing at me, but It was a chuckle, like it had a playful edge. And it said, ‘You can do better.'”
— NDEr Mary Jo Rapini
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There Was This Little Chuckle
“I was about to cross this stream when all of a sudden I was engulfed with a beautiful, warm and bright light, which somehow felt like a cloud. I felt arms around me and the light talked with me. It told me that I would not be able to stay; that I had much work left to do and I had to go back to finish it. I am a very stubborn person so I began to argue with the light telling it that I was not going back. I even stomped my foot (however, I don’t think I had a foot or anything like that; it was more like I was floating). I have always said after this experience that God has a beautiful sense to humor, because when I stomped my foot and said I did not want to go back and I was NOT going back, there was this little chuckle and the light smiled at me and said, ‘Oh, yes you will’ and of course I did come back.”
— NDEr Florence W
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The Cable Repair Guys
“I remember after my experience I had the simplest situation where two cable guys showed up at my house… What I discovered was the Divine having a sense of humor. Things are funny. The two cable guys show up at the house and they were wearing their uniforms for work and they were there to hook up the cable for the TV. My husband had made an appointment and he had to go to work right after my NDE… [He] was very busy taking care of the family, and so I was at home in this state with kids just trying to figure out how to function. And the cable guys show up and when I opened the door I saw them how the Divine sees them and I couldn’t stop laughing. I was trying not to be rude but to me they looked like — if you imagine little kids going into the closet and trying clothes on and trying to look really serious and showing up at the door and be like ‘We’re the cable guys’. I can’t describe it. I was like ‘Oh, OK.’ I brought them in and they were just really serious about their job like ‘We’re here to hook up the TV’. To me it was just so funny because I was so disconnected from things like watching TV, and watching football, or sitcoms… I just didn’t realize that this appointment was coming and while they were hooking it up, they were asking me really simple questions like ‘OK, so what channel do you want? Do you want ESPN? Do you want the cartoon channel?’ Everything they were asking me was busting me up.
“I got to where I felt like I was being rude because they have an important job. There’s nothing that isn’t important. Everything that people do is part of their own vital experience and it’s all beautiful really. It’s just that it felt totally different to me. I had to actually — I told them I’m really sorry; I think I’m sick or something. And one of the guys said, ‘Did you take some NyQuil?’ And I was wiping the tears and blowing my nose and I finally said, ‘You know what, you guys can hook up anything you want because I need to leave the room.’ And so I had to leave because I knew at some point it was going to look like I was being rude…
“I saw people from then on the way we see toddlers when they’re playing. I see that despite how we age here — we get older and we take ourselves seriously and we think, you know, I have this important thing I’m doing — but the Divine is like: ‘Lighten up. It’s OK, you can lighten up.’ And I tend to be so serious from what I came from. I worry so much. I thought things were so serious and I wanted to please God and I prayed so much and now through the Divine I was seeing that it’s totally OK to just have fun and laugh. I was laughing so much, I was wheezing…”
— NDEr Amy Call
Excerpted from the talk below (58:08 – 1:01:36)
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Laughter Provides Enormous Strength In Times Of Pain
“There is no suffering, pain or difficulty, that we can’t overcome with a positive thought. I learned that if I laugh at my problems, I laugh with myself, with others, it gives me enormous strength in times of pain.”
— NDEr Ana Cecilia G
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He Was So Mirthful, So Playful, So Utterly Alive With Joy
“When the Being of Light said His first words to me, I felt He knew me perfectly. He already could see my past, present and future. He knew it all in one moment, and so in saying this, He had no illusions about me; He saw my warts and all. Yet, I felt this most profound unconditional love beyond comprehension. It was a relief to be so totally known and loved at the same time. It is hard to put into words. Somehow, I ‘knew’ that this Being was loving me at that moment, as if it were all the moments of my existence, past, present and future. He loved me as if I was the most loved human from the beginning of human history to the end of human history. I felt loved as if I were the only human being that ever existed. Yet, I knew that this Being loved everyone exactly the same way, and that was no contradiction. At the same time, I knew this Being of Light awakened some part of me somewhere deep inside, a reserved place made for Him and Him alone, a part that had some direct knowledge of Him that seemed as if it had been dormant and now awakened. I could truthfully say, I knew Him even as what and who He was beyond my finite knowing. And so He was like meeting my very best friend, the best friend I had longed to meet all my life. No words can describe this.
“I knew Him, yet I cannot explain how. I just knew Him. It was as if He had been present in every moment I ever felt loved and then far beyond these moments to all moments. He was so alive, so joyful, so free, so mirthful, so playful, and so utterly alive with joy. He radiated joy as if He was the source of all life, joy, truth, goodness, beauty, truth, like a living fountain that continually flowed up, but a living fountain that was its own source of water. This Being had absolutely no condemnation or judgment of anyone or me. It just was not there. I felt totally liberated from all the shame I had internalized from my past while in His presence. I felt totally free to be alive and joyful, too. It was like I had come to life for the first time.
“Time did not exist anymore, time without time. I know that doesn’t make sense, but that was what it was like, timelessness. I ‘knew’ that I had all the time I wanted with Him. There was no rush, no sense of urgency. He was not distracted or preoccupied. For this time, I seemed to have His complete attention. The Being seemed totally delighted to be with me. I did not feel self-conscious or awkward. His very essence seemed to be made of love, as if loving was all He could do, but He did so with total freedom, total delight. It was contagious. And, I tell you that no one on Earth has ever loved like this Being.
“Troubled by my own doubts about my masculinity since I was a teen, I decided this was my chance to ask this Being a question that plagued me for a long time. So, I asked my question by sending my thoughts to Him, which was so natural, so easy, and so effortless, like I had telepathically spoke all my life. I asked Him, ‘Is it alright to be gay?’ Now, I know it sounds like a strange question, that question out of all the questions I could ask an eternal loving Being, but it was sincere and at age 22 that was my question. Today I would ask entirely different ones and not stop at one question. But, the Being of Light, laughed and smiled, I cannot tell you how I knew this, but I just knew it. And, with great love in His voice he said, ‘That is not the most important question.’ I wish everyone could hear the gentleness, the tenderness I heard in His voice. This is not a God of wrath and judgment. That response really surprised me, as my heart was beating in my throat, when I asked it, and I expected to be given a stern lecture of condemnation. But, the Being let me know that He had full confidence in me to figure out what the most important question is. At the same, time I knew He wouldn’t give me the most important question, that He wanted me to discover it for myself.”
— An anonymous person sharing their near-death-like experience on The International Association for Near-Death Studies website
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“If you wish to glimpse inside a human soul and get to know a man, don’t bother analyzing his ways of being silent, of talking, of weeping, of seeing how much he is moved by noble ideas; you will get better results if you just watch him laugh. If he laughs well, he’s a good man.”
— Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky
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Jokes
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They Left Out An ‘R’!
A priest died and went to heaven. There, he is greeted by a reception committee.
After having a whirlwind tour of heaven, he is told he can enjoy any of heaven’s available recreations.
The priest decided he wanted to read all of the ancient original texts of the Holy Scriptures to understand their true literary meaning. So he first learned all the languages necessary to accomplish this: Hebrew, Aramaic, Greek and Latin.
After becoming a linguistic master, he went to the heavenly Temple of Knowledge and began to scrutinize the original Biblical texts.
All of a sudden, the priest could be heard crying out loud in the Temple. Angels quickly came to help him, only to find the priest huddled in a corner, crying and muttering to himself, “An ‘R’! They left out an ‘R’.”
One of the angels comforted the priest and asked him what the problem was. After collecting his wits, the priest sobs again, “It’s the letter ‘R’ … the word was supposed to be CELEBRATE!”
— Source
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You Must Spell The Word ‘LOVE’
A man died and went to the gates of heaven where he met Saint Peter. Peter said to him, “I have looked at your Book of Life and you are welcome into heaven under one condition.”
The man replied, “Yes, Saint Peter. And what is that condition?”
Peter said to the man, “You must spell the word: love.”
So the man spelled the word, “L – O – V – E” then Peter admitted him into heaven.
As the man walks in, Peter tells the man to watch the gate until he returns. Peter had something to discuss with the Lord. Peter reminds the man that he must ask whoever comes to the gate, to spell the word.
After a short period of time, the man’s wife shows up at the gate.
“What are YOU doing here?” he demands of her.
“Well,” she said, “on the way home from your funeral, there was an accident and I died.”
The man told her, “Alright, but before you enter heaven you must be able to spell a word.”
“What word is that?” she asked.
“Czechoslovakia,” he said.
— Source
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The Policy In Heaven
After a preacher died and went to heaven, he noticed a New York cab driver had been awarded a higher place than he.
“I don’t understand,” he complained to God. “I devoted my entire life to my congregation.”
God explained to him, “Our policy here in heaven is to reward results. Now, was your congregation well attuned to you whenever you gave a sermon?”
“Well,” the minister had to admit, “some in the congregation fell asleep from time to time.”
“Exactly,” said God, “and when people rode in this man’s taxi, they not only stayed wake, they even prayed.”
— Source
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A Face Lift, Liposuction, The Works
Sharon, a middle-aged woman has a heart attack and is taken to the hospital. While on the operating table she has a near-death experience. During that experience she sees the Angel of Death and asks if this is it. The Angel of Death says no, and explains that she has another 30 years to live.
Upon her recovery Sharon decides to just stay in the hospital and have a face lift, liposuction, the works. She figures since she’s got another 30 years she might as well make the most of it.
She walks out of the hospital after the last operation and is immediately killed by an ambulance speeding by.
She arrives in heaven and sees the Angel of Death and complains, “I thought you said I had another 30 years!”
The Angel of Death replies, “I didn’t recognize you.”
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Cartoons & Signs
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