Sandi Rogers' Near-Death Experience

My friend Sandi Rogers had the glow and warmth of a 1,000 watt bulb.  She was lit by an awesome near-death experience. Many have seen the Light like she did.  But Sandi’s story is one of the most vivid I know for showing the Light’s power to vanquish despair.

The first part of her story, however, is so sad I can’t type it without a tear.  On April 30, 1976, after failing to commit suicide the night before with a drug overdose, she put a .38 caliber pistol to her chest – aiming for her heart. 

After years of abuse and heartache, she had sunk into despair’s subbasement.  As a young child, Sandi  experienced her parents’ wrenching divorce and saw her mother struggle alone to feed and clothe her family.  The stepfather who followed was no savior.  He sexually abused Sandi at age 13.

Her suffering only intensified like knots twisting into bigger knots.  As an adult, she had a series of bad relationships, marriages, and pregnancies and miscarriages.  By age 25 when she picked up the gun, Sandi had been raped twice by different men, married and divorced three times and hospitalized for drug overdoses six times.   She hated her existence and lost her faith.  How could the God of Love let this happen to her?

As a nurse, Sandi knew exactly where her heart was.  Determined not mess up this time, she carefully aimed and pulled the trigger.   Before the ambulance got there, she got the surprise of her eternal life.  She found herself in Heaven.  “I came into the presence of a brilliant, wonderfully warm and loving Light,” she said in her book Lessons From the Light: Insights From a Journey to the Other Side.  

Sandi then had a complete life review. She saw and felt everything she had experienced as well as saw and felt what those who came in contact with her experienced.   “As I relived each of these terribly painful events in my life, the Light, which was with me as I watched, felt all of my pain and sorrow and never judged me, but instead understood and loved me.  The love I felt from the Light was overwhelming and I never wanted to leave.” 

But she soon learned her suicide wasn’t going to be her ticket to Heaven.  She was told she had a choice.  She could stay with the Light for a while only if she later returned to the physical world and went through the same experiences that led her to pick up the pistol.  Or she could go back then and return to her life.  If she did, the Light told her she would have the family and love she craved.

Sandi chose to return, but she didn’t come back the same person.  The Love and Light she experienced stayed with her, and many who came to know her afterwards knew her for her radiant soul -- full of a passion for spreading the Love where it is not and sharing the wisdom she learned from her experience. 

The promise God made to her did come true.  Sandi met and married the love of her life – Jack Rogers – and together they had two dearly loved children. 

About thirty years after her experience, Sandi’s life was threatened by a medical condition associated with last suicide attempt.  Knowing what she knew was waiting for her on the other side, you may be surprised she fought hard to stay here. In a small way, I fought with her. Every time I could find a medical report that held promise, I sent her what she called a “Don-gram.” Despite all I sent, the advances didn’t come soon enough and Sandi died on April 28, 2000. 

So many were blessed by her life and the insights she shared. And I have to say she showed us perhaps the greatest lesson in the way she fought to stay here. After her suicide attempts, she understood how precious life here is.  For our souls, our big reward isn’t on the other side.  It is here on earth.  It’s in bringing Light to where it is dark and bringing Love to where there is fear. In other words, it is being a co-creator with God.  ”God’s paradise for us is Love,” she wrote in her book.  “We can create paradise again if we learn to love one another as ourselves.” 

Our reward is also found in the often mysterious roles we play and in the knowledge we gain from our struggles.  “From the point of view of our conscious mind, life’s not fair,” she wrote in her book.  “Hardships are necessary for the growth of our spiritual bodies. . . . Knowledge is more valuable than gold. It is something of value you can take with you to the spiritual world.” 

I’ll be the first one to say it’s difficult to read this when life’s thorns stab hard. But when they do, Sandi’s story gives us hope we will find meaning and the Light can conquer despair.