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| Meta Title | How I Became Convinced Thereās Life After Death | by Cedric Johnson, PhD | Backyard Church | Nov, 2025 | Medium |
| Meta Description | How I Became Convinced Thereās Life After Death My White Crow Moment āIf you wish to upset the law that all crows are black, you mustnāt seek to show that no crows are; it is enough if you ā¦ |
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| Boilerpipe Text | Photo by Jevgeni Fil on Unsplash āIf you wish to upset the law that all crows are black, you mustnāt seek to show that no crows are; it is enough if you prove one single crow to be white .ā William James (1842ā1910) In my youthful days as a pastor, I subscribed to the idea of resurrection from physical death. But in the back of my mind, I had niggling doubts about the idea of dead people returning from the grave. Thatās despite my reminding my congregation that God could do anything. At funerals, I sermonized the words of Jesus, āIām the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will never die.ā As a graduate psychology student, Iād listened with interest as my mentor, Dr. Lee Travis, held to the theory that our consciousness is separate from the physical brain and survives death. Later in life, I delved into the study of Near-Death Experiences (NDEs), in which individuals who had returned from the brink of death spoke convincingly about life beyond the veil. These accounts, along with ancient stories from Jewish, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian traditions, which closely mirrored modern NDEs, began to shift my perspective. But despite hints from the world beyond our physical senses, I was not entirely persuaded. That was until My White Crow Moment Like William James, I too was in search of that one compelling piece of evidence that would serve as my final proof of the soulās continuation after death. It was a journey of personal discovery and validation. My friendās husband had Parkinsonās and later, Lewy Body Disease. When he began to show signs of Lewy Body Dementia and increased anxiety, at home, my friend washed and massaged his feet every night for about 30 minutes before they went to bed to calm him. She said she massaged his feet for three years, starting in 2021 until he died in 2024. Eventually, when he was hospitalized and then placed in hospice, she always rubbed his feet with lotion to help him relax. My friendās husband would not talk about dying; he was terrified. So after he passed, she said: āI was not with him when he died. I felt sad and unsettled because I did not know if he had made peace with his life ending.ā Shortly after his death, she was volunteering at a food line in our village. Her task was to hand out flyers to each driver advertising a meeting to discuss a device her science group had developed to help patients with Parkinsonās disease steady their hands. When she handed her the flyer about the Parkinsonās meeting, one driver said: āI just had a very dear friend die of Parkinsonāsā. My friend replied, āIām sorryā¦ā¦..My husband had Parkinsonās; he died recentlyā. A moment went by, and the driver sat up straight. She stared through the windshield and said, āHeās talking to me. He says he is next to you every night in bed. ā¦ and heās sorry he was such a burdenā¦ā He says heās happy you are doing thisā (the work with the Parkinsonās Glove) She then turned and looked at my friend and said, āI am sensing some skepticism.ā I replied, āYes, well, maybe a little.ā She turned her head and stared through the windshield again, and looking startled, she said, āOhā¦ he just kissed my cheek to thank me for talking to youā¦ā My friend said that caught her attention because her husband would always kiss someone on the cheek as a greeting or when saying goodbye. Then the driver said, āNow he is showing me his feet. Why is he showing me his FEET?ā The unexpected encounter caught my friend off guard. She found it liberating, as it provided her with a sense of closure and peace. How could a total stranger be party to such a private memory? And where did this woman with Medium abilities appear from? My friend concluded that her deceased husband was there in spirit, had been listening to the conversation all the time, and had pushed through the veil with unassailable evidence. There was no other plausible explanation for her experience. In that moment, she became a believer. Her story inspired us with a new sense of the possibility of life after death. Beyond Explanation Can I explain this newfound experience of connection with those beyond the veil? Not in the least. Itās pure mystery to me. But I still believe every word of my friendās experience. I love the words of scientist/mystic Cheryl Page, who writes. āOnly when we are willing to abandon the rational does life flow in like a tidal wave, bearing us away from this āshoal of timeā into the depths of true mystical experience.ā How do you surrender to the mystery of existence beyond physical death? And how do you become convinced that there are no ādepartedā loved ones? They are all with us right now. The adventure of faith never stops; itās an ongoing journey where we stumble our way towards knowing, not guessing, finding what is and holding fast to it, believing without seeing with our physical eyes, and being tuned into another frequency where we can experience a faith connection with the spirit world-a connection that transcends the limitations of our bodily senses and allows us to perceive the spiritual reality that surrounds us. |
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Thoughts on applying a 2000 year old religion to 21st Century life
# How I Became Convinced Thereās Life After Death
## My White Crow Moment
[](https://medium.com/@firedupleaders?source=post_page---byline--4c0689401888---------------------------------------)
[Cedric Johnson, PhD](https://medium.com/@firedupleaders?source=post_page---byline--4c0689401888---------------------------------------)
4 min read
Ā·
Nov 9, 2025
\--
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> āIf you wish to upset the law that all **crows** are black, you mustnāt seek to show that no **crows** are; it is enough if you prove one single **crow** to be **white**.ā William **James** (1842ā1910)
In my youthful days as a pastor, I subscribed to the idea of resurrection from physical death. But in the back of my mind, I had niggling doubts about the idea of dead people returning from the grave. Thatās despite my reminding my congregation that God could do anything. At funerals, I sermonized the words of Jesus, *āIām the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will never die.ā*
As a graduate psychology student, Iād listened with interest as my mentor, Dr. Lee Travis, held to the theory that our consciousness is separate from the physical brain and survives death.
Later in life, I delved into the study of Near-Death Experiences (NDEs), in which individuals who had returned from the brink of death spoke convincingly about life beyond the veil. These accounts, along with ancient stories from Jewish, Egyptian, and Mesopotamian traditions, which closely mirrored modern NDEs, began to shift my perspective.
But despite hints from the world beyond our physical senses, I was not entirely persuaded. That was until
## My White Crow Moment
Like William James, I too was in search of that one compelling piece of evidence that would serve as my final proof of the soulās continuation after death. It was a journey of personal discovery and validation.
My friendās husband had Parkinsonās and later, Lewy Body Disease. When he began to show signs of Lewy Body Dementia and increased anxiety, at home, my friend washed and massaged his feet every night for about 30 minutes before they went to bed to calm him. She said she massaged his feet for three years, starting in 2021 until he died in 2024. Eventually, when he was hospitalized and then placed in hospice, she always rubbed his feet with lotion to help him relax.
My friendās husband would not talk about dying; he was terrified. So after he passed, she said:
*āI was not with him when he died. I felt sad and unsettled because I did not know if he had made peace with his life ending.ā*
Shortly after his death, she was volunteering at a food line in our village. Her task was to hand out flyers to each driver advertising a meeting to discuss a device her science group had developed to help patients with Parkinsonās disease steady their hands.
When she handed her the flyer about the Parkinsonās meeting, one driver said:
āI just had a very dear friend die of Parkinsonāsā.
My friend replied, āIām sorryā¦ā¦..My husband had Parkinsonās; he died recentlyā.
A moment went by, and the driver sat up straight. She stared through the windshield and said,
āHeās talking to me. He says he is next to you every night in bed. ā¦
and heās sorry he was such a burdenā¦ā
He says heās happy you are doing thisā (the work with the Parkinsonās Glove)
She then turned and looked at my friend and said,
āI am sensing some skepticism.ā
I replied, āYes, well, maybe a little.ā
She turned her head and stared through the windshield again, and looking startled, she said,
āOhā¦ he just kissed my cheek to thank me for talking to youā¦ā
My friend said that caught her attention because her husband would always kiss someone on the cheek as a greeting or when saying goodbye.
Then the driver said,
āNow he is showing me his feet. Why is he showing me his FEET?ā
The unexpected encounter caught my friend off guard. She found it liberating, as it provided her with a sense of closure and peace.
How could a total stranger be party to such a private memory? And where did this woman with Medium abilities appear from?
My friend concluded that her deceased husband was there in spirit, had been listening to the conversation all the time, and had pushed through the veil with unassailable evidence. There was no other plausible explanation for her experience.
In that moment, she became a believer. Her story inspired us with a new sense of the possibility of life after death.
## Beyond Explanation
Can I explain this newfound experience of connection with those beyond the veil?
Not in the least. Itās pure mystery to me. But I still believe every word of my friendās experience.
I love the words of scientist/mystic Cheryl Page, who writes.
*āOnly when we are willing to abandon the rational does life flow in like a tidal wave, bearing us away from this āshoal of timeā into the depths of true mystical experience.ā*
How do you surrender to the mystery of existence beyond physical death?
And how do you become convinced that there are no ādepartedā loved ones? They are all with us right now.
The adventure of faith never stops; itās an ongoing journey where we stumble our way towards knowing, not guessing, finding what is and holding fast to it, believing without seeing with our physical eyes, and being tuned into another frequency where we can experience a faith connection with the spirit world-a connection that transcends the limitations of our bodily senses and allows us to perceive the spiritual reality that surrounds us.
[Spirituality](https://medium.com/tag/spirituality?source=post_page-----4c0689401888---------------------------------------)
[Mysticism](https://medium.com/tag/mysticism?source=post_page-----4c0689401888---------------------------------------)
[Death And Dying](https://medium.com/tag/death-and-dying?source=post_page-----4c0689401888---------------------------------------)
[Ndes](https://medium.com/tag/ndes?source=post_page-----4c0689401888---------------------------------------)
[Beliefs](https://medium.com/tag/beliefs?source=post_page-----4c0689401888---------------------------------------)
\--
\--
16
[](https://medium.com/backyard-theology?source=post_page---post_publication_info--4c0689401888---------------------------------------)
[](https://medium.com/backyard-theology?source=post_page---post_publication_info--4c0689401888---------------------------------------)
[Published in Backyard Church](https://medium.com/backyard-theology?source=post_page---post_publication_info--4c0689401888---------------------------------------)
[41K followers](https://medium.com/backyard-theology/followers?source=post_page---post_publication_info--4c0689401888---------------------------------------)
Ā·[Last published 12 hours ago](https://medium.com/backyard-theology/why-smart-people-stop-growing-and-how-to-start-again-554ee7d4827a?source=post_page---post_publication_info--4c0689401888---------------------------------------)
Thoughts on applying a 2000 year old religion to 21st Century life
[](https://medium.com/@firedupleaders?source=post_page---post_author_info--4c0689401888---------------------------------------)
[](https://medium.com/@firedupleaders?source=post_page---post_author_info--4c0689401888---------------------------------------)
[Written by Cedric Johnson, PhD](https://medium.com/@firedupleaders?source=post_page---post_author_info--4c0689401888---------------------------------------)
[2\.3K followers](https://medium.com/@firedupleaders/followers?source=post_page---post_author_info--4c0689401888---------------------------------------)
Ā·[1\.1K following](https://medium.com/@firedupleaders/following?source=post_page---post_author_info--4c0689401888---------------------------------------)
Psychologist: Inspirational leadership and ordinary spirituality. My memoir "Hearts Wide Open - Leaving Religion, Finding Faith" now available on Amazon.
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