Existence, Consciousness, and Life

“What is Death?” Yes, this question is not raised by many. Most do not even think of ‘death’ at all or just omit it from one’s dictionary. Only when it actually comes, whether knowingly or unknowingly, will it enter one’s thought. It may be expected due to a variety of signs found in conditions and circumstances experienced, made known, and/or faced. Or it may come before even knowing it. Death is a five-letter word that to most spells out two three-letter words, ‘the end’ in its understood meaning. But is it? Written in Chapter 21 in an inspirational spiritual book entitled, “Echoes of Heaven,” authored by Charles Elephant, holder of two master’s degrees, who was born and raised in Mukurweini, Nyeri, Kenya, it states:

… to be dead means that the soul has completely left the body and has no connection, or the soul is still in the body but unconscious. During the accident, the soul is fully conscious, preoccupied with many things, without expecting to meet death. Therefore, due to the severity of the accident, the body may completely fail to function, and you people declare someone dead while the soul remains fully conscious within the body. (Elephant, 2006, Lines 11-17, p 170)

In the recent article published on Monday, 23 November 2009 by guardian.co.uk website entitled, “Trapped in his own body for 23 years – the coma victim who screamed unheard,” written by Kate Connolly in Berlin, it told about a man named Rom Houben who, at age 23, met a near-fatal car accident in 1983 that led him into a coma. He was then diagnosed to be in a vegetative state up until 23 years after when a neurologist named Steven Laureys discovered otherwise -- his brain was actually functioning normally. After all those years of not being heard or noticed, Rom Houben, now 46 years old, has this to say: “I was only my consciousness and nothing else (Connolly, 2009),” and relates, “I screamed, but there was nothing to hear (Connolly, 2009).” He says that he travelled with his thoughts into the past, or into another existence altogether and that he will never forget that day the doctors found him to be conscious (Connolly, 2009). “It was my second birth (Connolly, 2009).”

Rom Houben’s soul had been conscious during all those 23 years it was taken to believe that he was in a vegetative state making communication between him and the world around him inactive though Rom Houben heard every word people in his room were saying. It continued explaining in Chapter 21 of Charles Elephant’s book that:

Those souls were looking for mercy, and they can talk. After some days, they will give up and become unconscious because they can no longer gain strength.
When some people die, their souls remain unconscious within their bodies; others get out of their body and begin roaming around while the holy ones go to paradise, led by angels. When the holy ones die, their death opens a gate to a bright world where the angels are waiting to take them home [paradise">. (Elephant, 2006, Lines 17-24, p 170)

And in Rom Houben’s case, he was not ready to die. The ‘some days’ mentioned above in Elephant’s book turned into 365 days times 23. Rom Houben did not give up. And his mental strength remained active long enough for a human mind in a functioning human body to discover his mind’s existence in his physical brain living in his non-functioning appearance. “I had dreamed myself away (Connolly, 2009),” said the 46-year-old Belgian former engineering student who spoke four languages.

Rom Houben’s body did not fail him either though he could not or did not know how to use it at all during those 23 years. “Powerlessness. Utter powerlessness. At first I was angry, then I learned to live with it (Connolly, 2009),” he said. But after his brain’s normal function had been discovered, he had learned how to use some parts of his body. He now sits in his wheelchair and communicates using a special touchscreen (Connolly, 2009). All those years of being alone trapped in his own body, his determination kept him alive. Meditation kept his mind going. He was not ready to let his body go.

God gave power to man to create flesh but not life. When a man and a woman come together as husband and wife, they do not actually create life so much as they shelter it. God sends his angels of life to give life to the flesh created, and thereafter the infant’s body begins to function. Life is not the heart. There is an angel of life and an angel of death. Therefore, the soul gives light and lives in the body and also prevents the body from decaying. Once the soul is unconscious or leaves the body, then the body has no life, and therefore, it starts decaying. (Elephant, 2006, Lines 2-10, p 171)

Chapter 21, ‘What is Death?’ of Charles Elephant’s book, “Echoes of Heaven,” clearly explains and supports the story of 46 year-old, Rom Houben. Is ‘death’ really ‘the end?’ Death may appear ‘the end’ of something. Rom Houben proved that being in a vegetative state is not ‘the end.’ It appeared that it was ‘the end’ of his entire bodily functions, but it evidently did not turn out to be the case. It was not ‘the end’ of his movement; it was not ‘the end’ of his ability to communicate; and most of all, it was not ‘the end’ of his life.

There is a need for man to hear from heaven to be able to walk with God (Elephant, 2009, p. ix). And Chapter 21, ‘What is Death?’ of Charles Elephant’s book makes us understand a few unexplainable things that happen to man. “Echoes of Heaven” proves to be more than just a book filled with spiritual words explaining faith. It is a book that also draws clarity to some unexpected occurrences as has been explained in Chapter 21 and shown in Rom Houben’s life.

References:
Connolly, K. (Monday, 23 November 2009 13.13 GMT). Trapped in his own body for 23 years – the coma victim who screamed unheard. Retrieved November 23, 2009, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/23/man-trapped-coma-23-years

Elephant, C. (2006). What is Death? Echoes of Heaven: God’s Love is Better Than Life Itself. (pp. 169-173). Victoria, BC, Canada: Trafford Publishing & Oxford, UK: Trafford Publishing (UK) Limited. (ISBN: 141208975-1) or cnn213@yahoo.com


By Sylvia Marri Stone