Signals: An Inspiring Story of Life After Life

This is a straightforward account of after-death communications (ADCs) between two gay friends who had made a pact that whoever died first would try to communicate with the other. Rothschild was skeptical, but he agreed. The circumstances of his friend’s death by suicide were unbearable to Joel and the first ADC happened that night, guiding him to find information that allayed his most poignant anguish. Not only did he receive more ADCs from his friend as months and even years passed, but increasingly he would sense someone else’s presence along with his friend’s accompanied by an inner directive to contact a third person with information about the second presence. He resisted at first, but then obeyed, and discovered that the second presence indeed had messages unique to the needs of the person to whom he felt moved to communicate the message. Although Joel had AIDs and expected to die in 1994, today he is in good health. He feels he was healed by the encouragement of friends and by his encounters with the deceased, becoming a believer bolstered by spontaneous urges to respond positively to discouraging circumstances. In an epilogue, he writes: "Now when I pray, I often ask that those of you who have taken my book to heart and…who have experienced your own signals [his terms for ADCs] will spread the word. There is a spiritual awakening taking place on our small blue planet, and it is the greatest gift we have been given. I believe those who have experienced this gift have an obligation to hold out hope for those who have not yet seen it. These…events, in my life and yours, are not accidents or mere coincidences. They are…affecting our entire collective consciousness, and have power to create a better life, and a better world for us all" (pp. 159-160).

This is the message inherent in all types of exceptional human experiences (EHEs), not only ADCs. But ADCs, because they bridge the gap between life and death, are among the most dramatic and meaningful. All EHEs indicate not only that all humans but all life are intimately interconnected, and at base we are One Deathless Being who affirms the uniqueness of all.

Some of the experiences in this book can be torn apart by skeptics, but there are others that are very difficult to explain away. Of special note is the synchronistic appearance of hummingbirds, often in very odd circumstances, not only to Joel but to others associated with him, his friends, or this book. In any case, the EHE approach is not to examine ADCs and other exceptional experiences by making evidence primary and meaning a distant second. Rather, meaning is seen as primary, and the way it changes lives and life on earth. There is bountiful meaning here for any reader with an open mind and heart.

In the foreword, Neale Donald Walsch points to the importance of bridging the gaps that separate people when in fact we are One. He was convinced, after he read this book, that it provided the bridge he was looking for. There may be answers here for other readers as well.