prepare and submit a paper on so what about god. One very hot day, I was swimming laps to develop my skills.

Your assignment is to prepare and submit a paper on so what about god. One very hot day, I was swimming laps to develop my skills. All I remember was that as I was doing this, I gulped some water by accident, the chlorine taste that followed, then gasping for air for just a few moments. My recollection of the events that took place after that is somewhat foggy yet imprinted firmly in my mind, even today.

My next conscious memory was waking up at the hospital and hearing the story of how I had drowned but had been brought back to life by emergency technicians who were called to the scene following what my uncle believed was my death. Had it not been for the skills of this person and the CPR technique he used, I would not be writing this right now nor doing anything else, at any time. It’s what happened during my unconscious state that is burned most vividly in my mind and the proof that I have for the existence of God. This is a story I haven’t told very often or to very many people as it goes beyond the surreal and believable. I admit that had I not experienced it myself, I would be at the very least skeptical.

After the brief period of choking on chlorinated water, I began to panic but then I was very calm. The transition was instantaneous. I felt my body float upward but ironically, I was looking at my body which was floating on the water below me. I understood that I had died just then but I was unafraid and unconcerned. I knew I was dead but clearly wasn’t at the same time. I could see everything around me, the pool, my uncle’s house, the neighborhood, and my poor lifeless body below. I felt sorrow for that poor kid who had just drowned but strangely enough, felt no sorrow for myself. Unlike other life-after-death experiences I have read about since then, I saw no tunnel, no bright, white light. I felt a presence, almost human but not human at all. I heard a voice but actually heard nothing. I felt the tender caress of loving hands but no one was touching me. The presence related to me that I was not going to die, that I had a long life ahead of me and had much to do and much to experience before it was time to be here, wherever here was.