A near-death experience (NDE) is a crash course in how to effortlessly detach from the limited perspective of the self. Imagine instantly transcending every basic need for survival and every desire that your heart and imagination can conjure up? Imagine finding yourself in a realm of endless possibilities. If given the ability to soar freely through the cosmos, why would you choose to remain grounded, peering into the divine through a peephole?

The challenge of a near-death experience happens when the soul returns to the physical body and physical world. Describing this experience is like sharing tales of a revolutionary discovery without the aid of any visuals. While on the other side, I was instructed to remind people to be like a little child. However, returning to innocence takes radical change, especially for those who are on a spiritual, religious, or scholarly path. Perhaps, one of the hardest things to do later in life is to unravel all the lessons that you have accumulated the hard way and become open again, willing to see what comes next and how to love each new experience into existence.

Insisting upon being “right” or adhering strictly to a set of beliefs often leads us away from love and, paradoxically, away from the very essence of the paths, religions, or set of moral standards that we claim to follow and understand. A willingness to learn, grow, and evolve is the hardest first, second, and final step for every single one of us. Love is the goal…not being “better/smarter/faster/tougher/more prepared/more devout” than others. That’s ego. We certainly don’t take “being better than others” into the afterlife. Love is all that we take with us when we leave these bodies.

Reminding people to be like a little child echoes a particular teaching of Jesus. In Matthew 18, the disciples of Jesus asked him, “Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?” Of course, Jesus answered the child. The one who is authentic, innocent, loving, humble, and true. Not the ones who went to church every Sunday and couldn’t love (or even tolerate) anyone but themselves or those like themselves. Not the ones who condemned, gossiped, held grudges, withheld forgiveness, and refused to have fun or joy. Not those people. The child. The one without shame. The vulnerable one. The meek one. The humble one. The loving one. That’s the one.