Coming From the Light: Spiritual Accounts of Life Before Life
by Sarah Hinze
New York: Pocket Books, 1997.
Available from Pre-Birth Parenting: 2554 Lincoln Blvd., Suite 509, Marina del Rey, CA 90291.
Reviewed by Elisabeth Hallett, Hamilton, MontanaWhen does consciousness begin? What are the boundaries of an unborn child's awareness? Technology lets us look into the womb at a prenate's sensitivity and intelligence, but for memories, we must look to those who later recall their own prenatal experiences, and to parents who have had dramatic communications with the unborn.
It is said that when the time is ripe for a new idea, it will occur to several people at once. Unknown to each other, Sarah Hinze and I both gathered stories of pre-birth and pre-conception contacts over many years. Her book, initially published as Life Before Life, has been revised and reissued in a Pocket Books edition with a new title and a significant Afterword written by Sarah's husband, psychologist Brent Hinze, Ph.D. Brent compares near-death and pre-birth experiences and formulates the "typical" pre-birth contact.
Sarah's approach is deeply spiritual and reverent. She presents more than thirty in-spiring personal stories from parents (and adoptive parents) describing connections with their children before conception and during pregnancy (or the pre-adoption period). Sarah's own experiences, perhaps the most remarkable, are told in a very moving first chapter. It opens with the words, "My interest in life before life is very personal. Before each of our nine children was born, I sensed that he or she was preparing to come to earth."
Excerpts of this lovely book can be read online at Sarah's website.