Heaven, Part 1

So tell us the story.

That’s what most people ask me to do. They want to know what it’s like to be “absent from the body and present with the Lord”. Keep in mind I was only there a matter of minutes or maybe just seconds. But there is no concept of time in heaven as you and I know it. That is why God can give each of us so much personal attention. Spending time with me doesn’t take Him away from you. It is like reading a novel, putting it down for a few hours, then picking it up again. The characters are right where you left them. I think C.S. Lewis first understood that concept.

I don’t remember bright lights, choirs of angels or legions of dead relatives coming to meet me. But then, I was never given the gift of observation. I could easily tour the Vatican without seeing a priest or statue. I tend to have tunnel vision and a very bad memory. My dead relatives were probably busy digging up the streets of gold and the choirs of angels realized I preferred rock-n-roll.

Perhaps you have read or heard Don Piper’s similar account, 90 Minutes In Heaven. I didn’t want to read his or anyone else’s account until I had clarified in my mind what happened to me.  He heard singing, saw people he knew, and experienced a more detailed glimpse of heaven than me.

My last earthly memory was the EMT saying he was placing a pill under my tongue. Somewhere in time, either in that ambulance or in the emergency room or both, I suddenly found myself standing in a short line directly facing Jesus. He was speaking to the person in front of me. I was totally amazed he was taking so much time with that person. He was in absolutely no hurry. And He was the embodiment of what I now call love.

His love was contagious, refreshing and so perfect. I felt at home, peaceful and safe. There was no mystery or confusion.  Everything made sense.  And there was no feeling of condemnation.  To the right was a wall with a door or gate. Let’s just call it an entrance. Clearly I knew this was the door to “heaven”. We seemed to be in heaven’s front yard. Later I thought of Samuel Shoemaker’s story, “I stand by the door”.

The person in front of me had no distinctive features I can recall, except I somehow knew he was male, and I later remembered he was probably of the region in or around India.  At the time, it didn't matter.  Where you were from held no importance, a total non issue.   I also realized I was going to leap to the head of the class somehow because I recognized who Jesus was and had accepted Him as Lord and Savior here on earth. But watching and listening to Christ deal with this soul, who had apparently never heard of Him on earth, or at least never seriously considered accepting Christianity, was thrilling.

I am finally writing this six months later, so I will not be expected to quote word for word. In essence, Jesus was witnessing to this person, not preaching, more like explaining or teaching. He was doing what we should have been doing here on earth. He was explaining to this man, his “options”.

“Okay. So you have arrived here from earth. I am glad you are here. As you know now, there really is an afterlife. I am the one on earth, they call Jesus. You may not have heard of me (Jesus is being gracious). Here in heaven, I live with my Father and Our Spirit and this is our home”. “You are welcome here”.

The temptation here is to put words in Christ’s mouth, invent fanciful dialogue and become the heavenly wordsmith. Let’s just agree that the previous statement was made in a universal language that sounded like English to me, but was understood by all. The point was to introduce, with love, the soul to heaven…a place he may not have heard of, believed in, or wanted to be in. Trust me, it all made sense when you were there.

So next, he asked the man if he wanted to get in the Baptist line or the Methodist line…JUST KIDDING!

Seriously, what happened next was totally amazing.