PROOF OF HEAVEN

"I think you'll find that book in our New Age and Paranormal section," declared the friendly librarian.

"Really," I replied. "I didn't realize you had such a section."

"Yes, it's behind that bank of computers on the far wall."

I could only smile. Maybe the book I was looking for was too edgy for the religion section. It's called Proof of Heaven by Eben Alexander, an American neurosurgeon.

Basically it's an account of the author's recollection of what he experienced while in a coma for seven days, his brain under attack from a rare and usually fatal illness.

I'm not sure what to make of his descriptions of heaven but I do appreciate some of the insights he gained from his unusual journey. Here's a brief excerpt from the conclusion of his book.

"The universe has no beginning or end, and God is entirely present within every particle of it. Much, in fact, most, of what people have had to say about God and the higher spiritual worlds has involved bringing them down to our level, rather than elevating our perceptions up to theirs. We taint, with our own insufficient descriptions, their truly awesome nature.

But though it never began and will never end, the universe does have punctuation marks, the purpose of which is to bring beings into existence and allow them to participate in the glory of God.

"I was blind, but now I see," now took on a new meaning for me as I understood just how blind to the the full nature of the spiritual universe we are on earth - especially people like I had been, who had believed that matter was the core reality and that all else - thought, consciousness, ideas, emotions, spirit - were simply productions of it.

This revelation inspired me greatly because it allowed me to see the staggering heights of communion and understanding that lie ahead for all of us, when each of us leaves the limitations of our physical body and brain behind.

Humor. Irony. Pathos. I had always thought these were qualities we humans developed to cope with this so often painful and unfair world. And they are. But in addition to being consolations, these qualities are recognitions - brief, flashing, but all-important - of the fact that whatever our struggles and sufferings in the present world are, they can't truly touch the larger, eternal beings we in truth are. Laughter and irony are at the heart reminders that we are not prisoners in this world, but voyagers through it.

Voyagers, not prisoners!

Now that's a quote I can add to my collection.