In an after-death communication, Amber, a self-proclaimed atheist, receives a message of love and comfort from her mother on the “other side.”

Amber writes:
“My Mother died in 2015. As my last living family member and with the Mother- Daughter connection that we shared, the first year has been the saddest in my 55 years of life. However, I take sweet comfort in her love for me, and in a moment after her death that I hold close to my heart.”

“It was one month after her passing. I had another day of steady tears and inconsolable sadness. The huge thing was simple: she was gone and I was alone without her. I came home exhausted from the day, sat on the couch and continued my sobbing. Then, I heard her! She said, in a voice I remember as that of how she sounded when she was in her 30s, not the weakened tone of her 78 year-old dying of cancer self. (And this is something in and of itself; that she spoke with a healthy young voice. If I was to create a message in my head from her, I would never have thought to change her voice to her younger days.) And what she said was exactly enough – not one extra word needed to be spoken. “Amber, I love you. I am here with you.”

“It should be mentioned here that I am an atheist. I do good for the sake of doing good. No heaven awaits me as a reward for altruism or allegiance. Since I was a child, I always felt that, what happens next, whether ethereal or chemical is unknowable. But I do have faith in this: love is energy and energy does not end. Thank you for creating a space to share this message. Kindly, Amber”

Commentary- I called this post, An Unexpected Visit, not because Amber, being an atheist, wouldn’t have any business expecting a visit from her mother, but because for many of us who are not atheists, we probably wouldn’t expect that she would be expecting it. Let me explain.

I’m grateful for the perspective that Amber brought up about love and energy having no end. Although this is my experience as well, it gave me an opportunity to pause and investigate my own thoughts and beliefs about atheism connected to spiritual things. Surprisingly, this is what I found. 

While atheists have a lack of belief in a spiritual God, there are some atheists who believe in, at least some form of an afterlife. As far as I can tell, Amber is one of them. For her, although there might not be a white haired Supreme Being looking down, tapping his foot while waiting patiently for Amber to be “good” or “worthy” enough to earn and eventually inherit some heavenly mansion, she just naturally is this way at her core. Being this way is intrinsic to her. She does not have to look outside herself to read the inner compass she has within. She believes in being good because she is good.

I was enamored by Amber’s story, as it was enlightening to me. Who knew? I have never met any atheist who believed in anything spiritual, let alone an afterlife. Asking around, I found this to be the consensus of others, too. After I lost my loved one, Christian, running across an occasional atheist here and there, with an opinion for me about no life after death, was very painful. Eventually, I just learned to avoid them, since their viewpoint was hurtful and disheartening. Then, enter Amber into my consciousness… who gave me a new perspective and possibility about atheism and spiritual beliefs. My point is… a label one refers to them self as, “atheist” in this case, does not always communicate the whole story. It wouldn’t hurt us to ask and try to understand another perspective for consideration without having an automatic opinion about it, as I uncovered about myself. After all, people are individuals. Also, just for the record, an atheist is not an enemy to the concept of spiritual things, specifically a Supreme Being, they just don’t have any reason to believe in it. It’s not a part of their equation. I think these are important distinctions in understanding some of the people who walk among us in our everyday lives.

Although Amber believes that what comes after this Earthly life is unknowable, (some would call this agnostic), Amber does say she has faith that the energy we all are, will continue to be, even after this life is finished. So it’s no wonder that, being open, Amber was able to hear her sweet mother calling out to her and saying the only words that Amber will ever need to hear for her continued reassurance. “Amber, I love you. I am here with you.” This pretty much says it all.

Amber makes an excellent point about hearing her mother’s youthful voice. If you were to even imagine it, who would think to imagine their parent’s voice as younger than they were than when they passed. 

As far as an afterlife, like Amber who received this amazing message from her mother, there are many who have no doubt that life after death goes on in some way, as they have experienced this phenomenon for themselves through near-death experiences, after-death communications, out of body experiences, but perhaps, the best proof coming forth is the phenomenon called shared-death experiences. 

In any case, Amber’s life was changed that day for the better, just one month after her mother’s passing when her mother spoke those comforting words… and although she is the last living member in her family line, life will never be too lonely knowing that her mother is somehow still by her side.