After the Light: What I Discovered on the Other Side of Life That Can Change Your World

by Kimberly Clark Sharp

"Death is nothing to fear-and life without fear can be lived to the fullest."

This is Kimberly Clark Sharp's message from her extraordinary experience during the time after her heart suddenly stopped beating and she lay on the sidewalk, not breathing, and without a pulse. Swept into a peaceful loving place of brilliant golden light and warm comfort, she saw, for the first time, the meaning of life-and death.

Thereafter, Kimberly, with hamster Toto at her side, left Kansas for Seattle-known as "the Emerald City"-to fulfill a destiny devoted to the service of others as foreseen at the end of her near-death experience. Guided by a new sensitivity to the presence of angels, demons and other invisibilities, Kimberly attained a Masters degree in Social Work at the University of Washington and began a career in medical social work that put her in direct contact with dying people-and people who almost died and came back.

It is the inspirational stories of these near-death experiences, as well as Kimberly's own life challenges in love, family life and the diagnosis of breast cancer, that form the core of this surprisingly funny page-turner of a book.

Genres: Spirituality

133 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 1995

About the author

Kimberly Clark Sharp, MSW, is the founder and president of the Seattle International Association for Near-Death Studies, the oldest and largest group of its kind in the world. A medical social worker with backgrounds in critical care, bone marrow transplant, and academic medicine, Sharp is a cancer survivor and happy wife and mother.

Reviews

[Alexandra Olsen · Rating 2 out of 5]

*DID NOT FINISH*

Holy moly, I’m finding this book f^%*ing terrifying, I can’t keep reading it!! I’m 30% of the way through. But I can’t. Interesting enough so far but it’s spooky and yucky and scary and a bit depressing.

I kind of want to keep reading to see if all that stuff resolves itself, but I don’t actually want to read any more of the stuff that’s spooking me. Maybe I’ll skip forward a couple of chapters and read it in daylight and see if that helps. *meep*

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would actually rate it 3.9.
I had read it 2 or 3 years ago. So this was a reread. It mostly covers a large span of her life as a social worker in a Seattle trauma hospital (which is after her nde). there is little about the nde itself.
She eventually became head of Seattle IANDS.

[Russ · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hope

I loved this book even though parts of it scared the bejeezes out of me. I found the rest to be fascinating, hilarious, heartbreaking, and uplifting. I have never had an NDE, but I had an amazing out of body experience that had some characteristics of many NDE's. It also left me with some spiritual "powers" that Kim described, though not nearly as powerful. I was terrified of death before my "experience" but felt much less fearful afterwards. I wondered if I would truly be unafraid of death when my time came. I feel like I got the answer to that question when I recently found myself in an ER convinced, as was the staff, that I had covid and was very likely dying. I was too short of breath to call my family to tell them goodbye and that was difficult. I also have 5 grandchildren, and 2 on the way, and I desperately wanted to see them grow up. I felt very confident that after I died I would meet the 2 who haven't yet been born, but I was heart sick that I wouldn't be here to help my wonderful children raise my grandchildren. I wondered how they would ever get by without all of my unsolicited advice! By God's grace, I did not have covid, I "just" had pneumonia. I never would have thought that I would ever hear a Dr. tell me that I just had pneumonia, and that I would be ecstatic to hear it, but I was. I appreciate more than ever books like this one because the pandemic has, and continues to cause so much pain. I'm exceedingly grateful to Kim, IANDS and the many other people who have worked so hard to share their experiences, and the experiences of others, in order that we may all know that we have nothing to fear in death, and that our loved ones who have passed on are waiting for us to join them in God's glory.

[Maura · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author, it appears, was instrumental in the first efforts to bring NDE conversations into the open. I'm surprised I've never heard of her before. She rubbed elbows with Kubler-Ross and Moody and others also at the forefront of the movement. She was a hard worker, committed to her life path to assist those experiencing death and dying and to bring peace and understanding. She tells of experiencing some spiritual things I hope never to be associated with, and she seems a bit clueless to what became obvious related to these "dark energies". But we do have to remember that the 1970s and 1980s had a lot of topics that were taboo, so her innocence can largely be explained by the era and her youth. This is a memoir, and so she travels off the NDE topic to share her general life stories, which wasn't as much of an interest to me. But here life is interesting enough for a memoir and she did a good job writing it.

[Candice Lisle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellently Told by a Social Worker

This is the best book I have read about NDE's. I highly recommend it. It answers a lot of questions without claiming to know everything. Very detailed. You will cry and also experience wonder. Her experiences with demons reminded me of the times I was attacked and then saved by Christ. It explains the grey place some people go to in a NDE, in scientific terms. It recounts experiences, good and bad, of numerous near death experiences. It instructs you how to get out of Hell, if your NDE puts you there. It discusses angels and their music. It describes in detail what it is like to have breast cancer and the various treatments. All throughout this book is the important message that we are here to love each other.

[Dennis Murdock · Rating 4 out of 5]

An amazing book!

There is a lot to say about this book. I really liked that Kimberly has a sense of humor but can get down to the seriousness of things also. I laughed and I cried both. I really enjoyed her story. I was present with a "spirit" in 2002 for someone who was going to arrive dead at a hospital ER and was going to have an ADE (After Death Experience). I was really scared and found out that we can communicate telepathically with "spirits". He put me at ease and then had to leave to prepare the ADE for the dead man who was about to arrive.
Thank you for the book, Kimberly!

[Denis Lenihan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Astounding

I chose this rating ,because its almost impossible to believe how this lady was able to pack so much pain,heartbreak,love and deep,deep, belief into one life. I am a cancer survivor, and a Vietnam infantryman war survivor but my life is like normal compared to hers. More interesting is that I know some of the places mentioned in the book, like Manhattan and Kansas State University. I served at Ft Riley. Wish I had met her.

[Sarah Kittelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

So real and true

There are many books about NDE's, but Kimberly Clark Sharp has written about more than that. What happens when life goes on after such an experience? Her own and others insights are enlightening and entertaining, and she writes like you were talking to a special friend. An excellent book!

[Sarah A. Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illuminating


Though I'll confess
I skipped over some of the lengthy descriptions of the.author's life, I found her experiences fascinating . I plan to re-read this book for its reassuring messages and positive suggestions.

[Arjun L. Sen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome

One of the most important books of spiritual discovery I have read. It has really made a difference to my outlook on life.

[Thereasa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartfelt

This book was so emotional. I laughed. I cried. Many times. It felt like I experienced every moment with you. Beautifully written. Thank you.

[Sandra Byers · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring

Too wordy. Wish I could get my money back. It was an uh oh from the first paragraph. To each their own.

[Johan Pretorius · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read!

Well written account of an NDE and the effect it has had on the life of one of the pioneers of NDE investigators.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some pretty wild stories, some of which felt just too crazy to be true. But also some heart warming insights that I hope to remember.

[Cheryl Jensen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although Ms Sharp writes an interesting account, I had a difficult time relating to her. As a consequence, I did not find her story very engaging.

[Judi Sharpe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative

This was an interesting book.
I was hoping to be lifted up by these stories and really wasn't moved at all.

[Jo-anne Gore · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this book!

Intelligently well written and easy to read. Reinstalled my faith. Enlightened and amazed me. You won’t regret reading this book.

[Jenny T · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clark shares her NDE (near death experiences) not only in the light, but also in the dark. She speaks of angels, demons, and other mystical creatures she sees as she lives on after her incident. A couple males even incarnated her body, she says, including her first love, George - as used by God. Wow. Clark is a social worker in the ICU and counsels fellow NDE experiencers. She claims God approved of her "therapeutic" abortion. She says many people are sent back to life on this side because they need to learn to love and forgive. I don't agree with much of this book, but it's an interesting one.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd like the veils between this world and the next to remain firmly closed until absolutely necessary but I will try to live a more charitable/loving life and pray more so when the veils become transparent I will see a lovely bright light on the other side. It was an interesting read.

[Lily · Rating 1 out of 5]

The dialogue is well written, but the subject matter is iffy. Mrs. Sharp seems to mix religions, avenues of healing, and even mentions spirits inhabiting her body. I will recycle this so others do no be mislead by her claims.

[Cws]

133.90

[Laurie Petersen]

Strong message; scary devil stuff; a little conformist.

[Dreamer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Comforting book about life after death..