Golden light is something that I have seen on certain special occasions. It always connotes the presence of God. Apparently, I am not the only person to see or sense a golden light. Betty Malz said, “The yellow light that appeared was dazzling.” And Jean Scott said, “There was . . . a warm golden light, very bright.” Raymond A. Moody, Jr., M.D., said in Life After Life, “There was a gold-looking light, everywhere. Beautiful. I couldn’t find a source anywhere. It was just all around.” (A Golden Light. Appendix p. 389)
The first time I remember a golden light was after my mother’s funeral. I noticed on the day after her funeral that the sky, the rooms, my world was “normal” again—a color that had more blue in it. Yet for three days everything surrounding her funeral—the people, the chapel where we celebrated her life in words and music, the graveside—had an amber tinge to it. And in that yellow-tinted glow, people were more genuine; they said, “I love you” more easily and hugged each other more readily and were really there for each other.
Thirty years later I saw this yellow glow in a small recording studio. My husband had recorded some Celtic hammered dulcimer music before he died, but a few of the passages needed editing. I had brought in another dulcimer player to repair little segments where his notes hadn’t been perfect, and our alternate player did a good job of fixing.
Now it was time for me to repair some spots on a dulcimer piece that I played. I had tried earlier to fix these spots, only to crash and burn. This was now the last song to be edited, and if I didn’t do a good job, we’d have to leave the song off the album. And I really wanted this song to be included. As I walked into that tiny space, a golden glow suffused the room—a gift that was not of my own choosing, asking or making. Somehow in that amber light, knowledge was given me that I would nail the song in no more than two takes. That helped me to take a breath, be calm, and approach my song with confidence that the job would get done. It did.
Betty Malz, My Glimpse of Eternity (Carmel: Guideposts, 1978), 87.
Lee Nelson quoting Jean Scott, Beyond the Veil (UT: Cedar Fort Inc.).
Raymond A. Moody, Jr., M.D., Life After Life (NY: Guideposts 1975), page 57.