NDEs and spiritual communication

I believe that every person has a spirit and that God speaks to us through spiritual means, generally only doing so when we seek guidance and connection to him. As part of his mercy, he doesn't usually give us divine manifestations unless we're sincere in wishing to follow him. It's rather like when I refrain from giving my child a new rule which I know she will break immediately.

For years I've been interested in near death experiences (NDEs). While I still read them with a measure of skepticism, I am inclined to believe they are likely actual separations of spirit from body. There are numerous accounts of NDEs where people mention seeing someone in their near death experience that had recently died and who they did not find out had died until after the near death experience. Moreover, it's clear that those sharing their NDEs (with the exception of spiritualists selling books) do not usually have anything to gain from doing so, many times telling almost no one for years because they fear embarrassment. Skeptics' inability to reproduce typical NDEs by physical or chemical means also indicate that something beyond human control or comprehension is going on.

Beyond the "wow, that's cool" factor of NDEs, though, I read in them a rich variety of descriptions of spiritual communication. It's apparently hard to explain an out-of-body, i.e., spiritual, experience when using terms and ideas developed by physical beings.

I have found that to be true with less dramatic spiritual experiences, too. For instance, I can tell someone how when I have felt a communication from God, it has seemed to me kind of like a great light in my mind or a movement in my soul--somewhere inside me--while others describe their experiences as warmth, peace, burning feelings in their hearts, joy, quiet certainty, great love, enlightenment, etc. Reading NDEs helps me better comprehend why people report a wide variety of spiritual experiences; it's a bit like we're all trying to describe different parts of a rainbow using the vocabulary of a monochromatic world.