I apologize for not replying or contributing for a while. My sister who had lung cancer became very ill and died in April so I have been distracted, traveling and grieving.
From my studies into high strangeness phenomena and phenomena in general, I have developed a process of analyzing information from the best sources possible in an effort to form a basic picture from the correlating data (that's a mouth full so I will explain later). I must admit I have been a scientist since my early teens and tend to automatically follow scientific methodology, as much as possible. My educational and professional background includes multiple degrees and many years as a research assistant at a major university. I am also a retired psychotherapist. Now I know some people do not like or trust "scientists" but I'm a different type of scientist so give me a chance before you burn me at the stake.
When researching phenomena you can either believe everything experiencers say they experienced, believe only some experiencers or none. When all you have to go on is a person's description of their experiences, you must always remember it is only from their perspective and filtered through their educational, religious and cultural backgrounds. Therefore, the best way to analyze only self-reported experiences is to correlate the best data collected from many self-reported experiences similar in nature. But, if there are any kinds of measurable, scientific data to go with an experiencer's self-report then the reliability of these self-reports increases. In other words, if a person dies on an operating table, declared clinically dead by a doctor, while connected to various system monitors and is revived then wakes up describing a near death experience, these cases become the top or best case studies. Doctor and other hospital staff reports would be included in the study. When I say the "best" data, I'm referring to those NDE's in which the individual was declared clinically dead by a doctor or paramedic, while also connected to various monitors and the individual has good credibility. The next "best" data would come from someone declared clinically dead by a doctor or paramedic only, with good credibility but no data from monitors then the next best data, etc.
Now I am NOT saying self-reported NDE's without a doctor or paramedic declaring the individual clinically dead or without correlating monitor information are false. From a researcher's point of view if you want to collect the "best" data, you start with the most reliable, most documented information.
In reference to NDE's, I am approaching the subject as if some of these are real experiences that can be studied and analyzed as we would any other subject rather than merely relegating it all to some mystical, mythical, religious or magic belief about the unknown. There appears to be overwhelming data that something is going on and the fact that so many people from around the world have had such similar NDE's for centuries indicates a subject we need to take seriously and conduct extensive, scientific studies to gather as much information as possible. So when I ask questions about various aspects described by those who have had Near Death Experiences I am approaching the topic from a literal sense.
Back to the topic of this discussion, when I wonder what's up with the "it's not your time yet", I'm asking anyone interested to help explore and extrapolate what that may mean in a literal sense rather than a philosophical or religious interpretation. If people can die "before their time" then what might that tell us about that realm and the various beings encountered? Using the best information and correlations between hundreds to thousands of NDE's, what picture does this paint about life after death and where we go when our bodies die?
It's kinda like compiling the information one might obtain by visiting another planet or dimension and returning to Earth to describe what they saw, heard and felt there. It is a waste of time to philosophize whether or not we can study NDE's due to difficulties in communication, finding the right words or understanding time. It's a given fact - we are humans trying to explore an unknown. However, it does not mean we have to throw in the towel and just quit. We can only do the best we can with what we have and search for the closest words we have to translate and interpret the information.
If we can die before it's our time, does that mean whomever is in charge over there does not control when a person dies but they do have the power to send them back? Without assuming some all powerful holy being or beings are in charge, maybe this means things happen that are random accidents or events that cause the body to die and eject the spirit, soul, whatever but the inhabitants of...over there....can send that spirit, soul, whatever back to the body before it is too late and the body begins to decay and officially die. If we can die before our time then that puts a wrench in the belief (assumption) that everything is predestined or controlled by a greater power because dying before our time could not happen if everything was under control.
Or...maybe it is only
we who believe everything is under control when it is not. If we are some kinds of energy type beings who come into these "Earthsuits" to explore this realm, like we wear spacesuits to explore space or another planet, maybe things go wrong with our Earthsuits and force us to exit and return to our original realm a little early. And maybe we can be sent back and the Earthsuit repaired under certain circumstances. We have no way of knowing if people actually die before their time because...they die. The only testimonies we have are from those who died "before their time" but were sent back. It may be a little disconcerting to think our supreme beings may not be as supreme as we imagine but if you put it in another context of being here to explore or experience this physical realm, it's not so bad.
I'm not saying this is or is not the way it is, I am just extrapolating based on the information we have to go on. We must strive to think outside the box and outside of our belief systems if we are going to explore and understand things we have never explored or experienced before. Studying phenomena is like walking a tight rope following where the information leads and remaining balanced without falling into the fringe on one side or blinded by our belief systems on the other.
BTW - My ID is "The Rose" because I live in Texas, aka - The Yellowrose Of Texas.