Easter Moments

Commentary

by

Practicing Faith

Special to United Methodist Insight | April 6, 2026

The best part of this job of writing spiritual columns is hearing from readers.

Joanne Deal from Richland Center, Wisconsin told me about a holy Easter moment she witnessed in the back of an ambulance when she was an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT):

“This morning at church a memory returned to me — one I had not visited in years. It came back with surprising clarity, and I felt the need to write it down.

“Years ago, while serving as an EMT, our crew was dispatched to a call: a man in his forties had fallen and was unresponsive. Bystanders said he had been working on a roof, three stories high.

“When we arrived, he was lying face down on the ground. We didn’t yet know what had happened. We moved quickly through our assessment, stabilized him, secured him to the gurney, and loaded him into the ambulance. It was enroute to the hospital that we began to understand more.

“We discovered what appeared to be entrance and exit wounds. The downspout he had been installing had come into contact with an overhead powerline. He had been electrocuted. He remained unresponsive as we continued transport.

“And then, suddenly, he woke up. He was still strapped securely to the gurney, but he came awake speaking and crying, repeating, ‘Oh my God… oh my God…’ over and over. It wasn’t confusion. It was awe. My partner and I looked at one another, startled but attentive.

“He told us he believed he had died. He said his life had been playing before him, as if he were watching it unfold. He described moving toward the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. He struggled to find words for it, but everything about his voice conveyed peace and wonder. He said he didn’t want to leave that place.

“But then he thought of his wife and his children. ‘They need me,’ he told us. ‘I can’t leave them. They need me.’ He described struggling to come back — choosing to come back.

“He was crying as he spoke. My partner and I were in tears, too. In the back of that ambulance — a space so often filled with urgency and fear — there was something different that day. Something holy.

“Later, the doctors told us they believed the electrical shock had likely stopped his heart, and that the impact with the ground may have restarted it. There were clinical explanations for what had happened to his body.

“But what happened in that ambulance touched something beyond clinical language. He was transferred to the burn unit in Madison. I never saw him again. I don’t know how the rest of his life unfolded. I only know that, for a few minutes, I witnessed a man who believed he had stood at the edge of eternity — and chose love,” Deal said.

JoAnn Bernal from Greenfield, Wisconsin, sent this Easter moment about butterflies after reading my column about Steven Bethke’s butterfly visitation:

“After my second husband’s sudden death I was visited by butterflies. He was from Texas, and when we were visiting family there he saw a butterfly on a flower and quietly talked to it until it sat in his hand. 

“He also had a sense of humor and made sure I knew the butterflies were a sign from him. They were everywhere, even when driving they would fly by the car windshield or when I stopped at a stop light they would rest on windshield. He made sure there was no doubt in my mind he was near.”

Lori Hetzel, also from Greenfield, Wisconsin, sent me this personal Easter moment several years ago after I told angel and vision stories at her church:“My mother died on January 20, 2001. I am her only daughter, and we were very close. She had lung cancer. A tumor broke one of her ribs, causing much suffering. She came home from the hospital for the last time on January 12th, which was a Saturday. On Monday she told me she had a dream in which she saw Jesus surrounded by a white light. He talked to her, but she did not talk to him.

“I asked her if she was afraid, and she said no. I think she wasn't ready to die, or that Jesus was preparing her. I thanked him for that vision. At that time she was fully alert. One day later she was unconscious, but I knew she could still hear all of us who were with her. Two days before she died, she was trying to talk. I brushed her hair, bathed her, and put on her makeup. I gave her a kiss and told her I would be right back.

“When I turned to leave, she said, "I love you." Expecting her eyes to be open, I turned to her, only to find her eyes closed. That was a very precious gift from her. Later that day, I heard her calling out to her deceased brother Rodwell. I believe, perhaps, he was calling to her. Saturday we gathered by her bedside; I sang "Amazing Grace," and when I finished, she passed away -- peacefully.“I cried every day for two months after that: in the morning and at noon on my way home for lunch. Every night I would sob myself to sleep. I would say out loud how much I missed her. I ached. I prayed to God every night, ‘Lord, I know she is with you. I know she is at peace. I only pray that I could feel her peace; then I know I could get better. Amen.’On Saturday, March 31st, sometime in the early morning hours, I was in bed in our bedroom, which is upstairs in the attic. There is only one window, which faces west. We use blinds for our window treatment, and they are closed at night. We get very little light up there. The sun rises in the east and would have come up behind the garage. Yet, as something very powerful completely woke me, I saw a radiant yellow light (our walls and ceiling are painted off-white).

“The light was everywhere. I was captivated by its beautiful color, and then I realized my mother's presence was in the room. It was so strong. She was everywhere in the light. I was laying on my back with my arms directly at my sides. I lay there with my eyes moving, looking side to side, up and down. I saw my husband sleeping next to me. I wanted to wake him but couldn't move.

“Maybe I was afraid this extraordinary moment would go away. I was overwhelmed by the light and by her being in my room. Suddenly, I felt an inner peace flow through me. It started at my feet and moved slowly throughout my body. It was such a deep, gratifying peace that words are inadequate to describe it. While this was happening, my eyes were gazing through the beautiful, glowing light.

“When it left my body, I remember lying there with a contented smile on my face, knowing that my mother was truly at peace. In my mind, I thanked God for this wonderful gift. And that is exactly what it was. Then I rolled over on my left side and went back to sleep.

“I have not cried one teardrop since I had this fantastic experience. Yes, I miss my Mamma, but in a different way now. I felt her peace.

“I met with my pastor and told him of my experience. I said, ‘If this is what death feels like, then no one should ever be afraid.’ My pastor said that I had felt the spirit of God move through me, and I must say it was. I was once skeptical when people told about events like this. Now, I rejoice.”

Lori concluded, “I believe God wants us to tell others who are grieving that the spirit of God is alive and has not abandoned us. My faith in the Lord has tripled.”(Lori Hetzel’s story can be found in my book, Vision Stories: True Accounts of Visions, Angels, and Healing Miracles, CSS Publishing Company or Amazon Book).

The Rev. John Sumwalt is a retired United Methodist pastor and the author of “Shining Moments: Visions of the Holy in Ordinary Lives.” John will be preaching at the Greendale Community United Church of Christ Church at 9:30 a.m. Sundays, April 12 & 19, 6015 Clover Ln, Greendale, WI.