As I read newspaper and listen to news about current world problems, it’s easy to point fingers at our elected officials and blame them when I do not agree with decisions made by Congress about how America will respond. But I still come back to asking question, “Where is my responsibility, and what can I do?” I know what I will do on November 5…I will vote.

But beyond voting, how can I make this world a better place? I’ve asked myself that question many times over. My answer is simple: I can examine my own choices and behaviors and check to ensure that they are congruent with my values.

Although I have never had a near-death experience, I have heard numerous stories told by those who have. In each case, all of individuals have spoken of their experience as a life-changing one that has prompted them to make significant changes in their lives. Each survivor is grateful for being given a second chance -- a chance to reconnect with what matters most – to right wrongs they have done, or to shift gears and live with a renewed sense of priorities and purpose.

One such person is New York Times best-selling author, Dannion Brinkley. In reading about how Brinkley’s near-death experience prompted major change in his life, I was struck by power that humans have when we connect with our deepest beliefs, commitments, and values…and make different life choices as a result.

Brinkley once served in Marine Corps and worked within U.S. intelligence operations. A veteran of several war zones and intelligence work, he had just returned home form Nicaragua in 1975 when his life was forever changed.

On September 17, 1975, Dannion Brinkley was at home talking on phone during a thunderstorm. Suddenly a bolt of lightning hit phone line, sending thousands of volts of electricity into his head and down his body. It traveled down his spine and welded nails in heels of his shoes to nails in floor. It knocked him out of his shoes and into air, threw him back down, and bent bed frame. As his body burned from inside out, he was paralyzed. Fear engulfed him. Because of Brinkley’s espionage background he thought that someone had come to even score by doing exactly what he had done to others many times and in many places in world.

His heart stopped. In process, he had a near-death experience. As Brinkley opened his eyes, he was in a blue-gray place. In this place, he was calm and no longer on fire. Brinkley rolled over and saw himself sprawled across bed. He watched his wife come down hall and begin CPR efforts. He watched as paramedics arrived and began working on his body. During Brinkley’s near-death experience he underwent a panoramic life review. He felt every emotion, thought every opinion and saw every event that had ever happened in his life. In addition to reviewing everything about his life, Brinkley also got to “be” every person he had ever met. He got to feel direct interaction between other person and himself – all of pain, anguish, frustration, humiliation and anger that he had inflicted on so many people.

Eventually, Brinkley returned to his body, which had been massively traumatized by lightening strike. (It took two years for him to relearn to walk and to feed himself.) When Brinkley revived in morgue after 28 minutes of death, he had an incredible story to tell. Brinkley was told of events that would shake world before year 2000 – including Chernobyl nuclear disaster, Persian Gulf War, and a coming economic crisis. Of 117 revelations that he recalls, 95 have already come to pass.

Once recovered, Brinkley wanted to find a way that he and others could benefit from his near-death experience. To this end, he has been a hospice volunteer for 17 years, helping people eliminate their fears of death. In May 1997, he founded national hospice volunteer organization called Compassion in Action.

I was moved by these excerpts from Dannion Brinkley’s book, Saved by Light, which describes his near-death experience: