Did Her Husband Send Her Crosses Of Light From Heaven?

See what you think of this, something I saw in the Toledo Blade archives.

Death visited Jerry Andrews one sunny Saturday afternoon on an Arkansas State Highway. Killed in a one car accident, Andrew's untimely passing left his wife, Darlene, praying for a sign to assure her Jerry was safe in heaven.

A miracle in the image of several bright and multi-coloured lights shaped like crosses visited the Andrews family that same afternoon.

Since that fateful Saturday crosses have appeared in both a large picture window and a small window in the front door of Andrews' Wynne, Arkansas home. "As soon as I saw it, all my pain lifted," said Mrs Andrews.

Thousands of people from Wynne and surrounding areas have visited the Andrews home on Crabb Lane to view the apparitions. Cars still line the suburban street as the curious patiently wait their turn to sse a miracle appearing in their neighbour's living room.

For a God fearing community in the buckle of the Bible Belt, miracles are worth a wait. After seeing the crosses, people leave quietly and keep opinions of the images' authenticity to themselves. No one, however, has been able to expose the incident as a hoax.

The crosses are visible only from inside the house, an external light source has been ruled out because the crosses are brightest at night. The images appear when the lights are off inside the house as well.

Whether the crosses are a sign from above that Jerry Andrews is safe in heaven, or merely a previously unnoticed phenomenom remains a puzzle. That Darlene Andrews noticed the crosses when she did may only be a coincidence, but, would it really take great powers of observation to see crosses shining in your front window when you turned the lights off? Source: Toledo Blade Dec 26, 1987.

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Walking Through Perfume As Proof Of Life After Death

A story today from someone who wishes to remain anonymous. The question is: does this show that there is life after death - this time from the smell of perfume? Or, maybe, it's simply a figment of the imagination to help with bereavement?

My sister and I were very close. We would finish each others sentences, pick up the phone before it rang if either was calling the other, knew if the other was sick or something big was up, and so on.

In 2003 she was in the hospital with pancreatic cancer. My family and I would take turns staying with her so she wouldn't be alone. Every time it was my time to stay with her, I would find pennies under the glove station on the wall, without fail.

The day she died, my mother was to relieve me and was supposed to come in the evening. She called ill and I told her to stay home, we were fine, and she could come the next night if she felt better.

My sister and I were sitting side by side, holding hands, and talking about life, and death,. She told me she knew she was dying (the doctors had never said this, they never had a certain diagnosis until the autopsy).

She asked if I thought she would go to Heaven. I told her there is one way - through Jesus, which she understood. I told her to talk to Him with sincerity, ask forgiveness, and ask for his blessings. She bowed her head and (I assume) talked to him.

After a few minutes, she turned to me and said "I love you.".

I said "I love you, too". Then she died.

To this day, I feel I was supposed to be there, and that my mother could not have handled it (being sick), and that Jesus left a way for my sister to be sure of her salvation. If anyone else had been there, she would not have asked, so they would not have told her.

When the day of the funeral came, it was sadness all around. She was well-loved and she loved everyone. Mother was in heavy grief.

I drove her home from the funeral. When we got there, I went to open her door to let her out. To get to the house you had to walk up a short gravel walk 2-3' wide and maybe 10' long, then up 2 stairs to the porch.

I walked her up to the house, made sure she was in okay and went to shut the car door. When I got about half way down the walk, I smelled the headiest, most sensational smell I had ever smelled. Like lilacs, magnolias and camellias all at once, in one spot. I could walk into it, and walk out of it. And did so, several times.

I walked around the house to find the source, nothing was blooming. Looked up the street and nothing was blooming. It made me smile. I knew it was my sister. I walked back into it, then went to the door, calling Momma out. She comes out puffy eyed from crying, weak from grief. She asks, "What's wrong?" I tell her, "... nothing is wrong, nothing is wrong, take my hand, just please come with me."

We walk down the stairs, and walk right into the smell and stop. Momma looked at me and her eyes got round as saucers. She smelled it too. Her face lit up and she knew all was well with her daughter.

We went back into the house. For days the small stayed in the walkway between her living room and the entry way. To get to the living room you had to walk through it.

I think that was my sister's way of showing Momma that all was well and to not grieve so hard. (She had already lost one daughter and a sister earlier in the year.)

As a footnote I'd like to add a personal note. If I were to accept that there is a Heaven I wouldn't believe it was only exclusive for a certain religion - i.e. in the case above, through Jesus. It would surely be for everyone. If, as some believe, God made man He would have to treat all of mankind the same.

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Is God Undefinable?

Xenophanes of Colophon

On a previous post I asked Where is God? Here's a response.

Where is God?

God is everywhere. God is in heaven and God is on earth. God is in every place where there is joy. God is in every place where there is beauty. God is in every place where there is love?

Can we see God?

No, not yet. God is so different from us that we can't see Him with our eyes. Some day, in heaven, we will see him face to face. When we look at our father and our mother who love one another and their children, we see something of the way God loves and takes care of his children.

With respect to the writer that doesn't answer the question for me. If anything it raises even more questions.

In the 6th century BC Xenophanes wrote:

"The Ethiopians say that their gods are snubnosed and blackskinned and the Thracians that theirs are blye-eyed and red-haired.

If only oxen and horses had hands and wanted to draw with their hands or to make the works of art that men make, then horses would draw the figures of their gods like horses, and oxen like oxen, and would make their bodies on the model of their own."

Therefore, even 2600 years ago, it was realised that man makes God in his own image. So how can we ever describe God?  God must surely be more than we can possibly imagine and is therefore undefinable. Or perhaps you disagree.

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He Glimpsed Heaven And No Longer Fears Death

An experience today about how Roy Goff believes he glimpsed the life that awaits us all after death.

"I'm not prone to fanciful ideas and I'm not particularly religious. Yet and experience I had on New Year's Day 1995 left me in no doubt that life on Earth is only the beginning of existence.

I'd been in ill health for some time, and, after taking a walk to see in the New Year, I started to experience pains in my chest.

At the time I lived alone, so once I'd returned home I rang the doctor's surgery and talked to the receptionist. I told her I would go to bed but leave the front door open for the doctor to come in.

By the time the doctor arrived I was drifting in and out of consciousness. I remember being driven to hospital. All the while I was feeling sick with fear about what was happening to me.

Slowly that feeling of fear left me, and I saw myself in a field full of long grass under a blazing sun. Stretching ahead was a ill where, looking up, I could see the figure of a young woman.

She was wearing a voluminous black dress, which reached the ground, and a tight fitting white bonnet - just like the clothes my grandmother used to wear.

Peeping out from behind the woman's skirts were two little girls,similarly dressed. They were all beckoning me to join them.

Although I didn't recognise them, I did want to be with them. Immediately, in a flash like a bright star exploding, I was back in my body and full of pain again.

I had, they later told me, suffered two heart attacks and 'died' twice, but fortunately they brought me back to life each time.

Nothing like tat vision had happened to me before, or has happened since. I believe I did catch a glimpse of the life that finally awaits us all. I firmly believe that after our death we continue in another place. And my experience has certainly taken away my fear of death."

~ Roy Goff

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Place Of Dread Where The Dead Fear The Watcher At The Gate

There's a belief, in what was once called the Gilbert Islands, that on death the spirit would have to proceed to the Place of Dread on the island of Makin-Meang. This was seen as a sort of half-way house or stopping point before the dead could continue to paradise.

While at the Place of Dread the spirit had to be careful to avoid Nakaa, the Watcher at the Gate, who would try to strangle the spirit in his net. Not a very pleasant introduction to life after death.

Now you might say this is a load of mumbo jumbo, but Arthur Grimble, who wrote the Pattern of Islands, may disagree.

Grimble, while on Makin-Meang, persuaded a local man to take him to the Place of Dread. He got to there safely, but on his way back got separated from his guide and saw a man approaching.

Grimble wrote:

"Across the arc of a curving beach I saw him appear round a point. I could follow every yard of his course as he came nearer. My eyes never left him .. He walked with a strong limp ... He was a stocky, grizzled man of about fifty, clad rather ceremoniously in a fine mat belted about his middle ... I noticed that his left cheek was scored by a scar from jawbone to temple, and that his limp came from a twisted left foot and ankle, I can see the man still in memory ... He totally ignored the greeting I gave him. He did not even turn his eyes towards me. He went by as if I didn't exist."

Grimble caught up with his guide and asked who the man was that he had just seen. The man went into hysterics and rushed on ahead with Grimble in his trail.

After investigation it was discovered who the mysterious man was. His name was Na Biria and he had died at about the same time that Grimble had seen him. In other words it was a dead man walking.

Na Biria's body was laid out in a nearby hut where rituals were being carried out to prevent the Watcher of the Gate from catching him.

So how could Grimble have seen a dead man. Author Colin Wilson has a theory:

"The dying man believed in it [the Place of Dread and the Watcher at the Gate] which was enough to project his 'phantasm' along the road north. It seems probable that he was still alive when Grimble saw him limping past, and that his thoughts projected his image. Everyone in the Islands believed that spirits had to enter paradise via the Place of Dread, and this was enough to produce the 'phantasm'.

It's an interesting theory and it's possible to enlarge on this.

On approaching death, do we see or visualise what we expect to see - i.e. our idea of Heaven? This would explain why near death experiences (NDE) are often varied. The person concerned experiences what he or she believes they will see when they die.

Perhaps initially we view our own idea of Heaven and see who we expect to see.

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Nearly A Beautiful Ending As She Glimpses Heaven

The following experience is by Hollie Beattie and describes - well I'm not exactly sure, but it could have been a glimpse of heaven. See what you think.

"One evening in Italy, several years ago, I was visiting a friend and her boyfriend. We were chatting and drinking some wine when I got up to go to the bathroom.

I remember switching on the light then hearing a loud noise. Later, I would discover this was the sound of by body falling to the ground and hitting a metal bin under the sink. I'd fainted.

Suddenly I was aware of taking a step to the left and being in another place and, there in front of me, was my late paternal grandfather.

We weren't particularly close and I was surprised to see him - but there was a feeling of love that was quite overwhelming. He took me under his arm and started to show me around

There were fields and houses and people - so far, so ordinary - but the feeling of peace, of coming home, was indescribable. Then I heard a voice saying, 'You're not going to remember this,' and it felt like I was falling back into my body.

When I came to, I was lying on the bathroom floor, looking at my friend and her boyfriend, who were yelling frantically.

They had come into the bathroom and found me passed out and not breathing, and they'd performed mouth-to-mouth on me. They were desperate for me to go to hospital, but I was so unnerved that I refused.

I remember shaking with fear. Although that place had been peaceful while I was there, I didn't want to go back.

Now, with the passing of time, I feel more peaceful about it. While I'm not sure there is life after death, it has helped me to think there is some form of beautiful ending."

It's interesting how Hollie doesn't necessarily see her experience as being proof of an afterlife.

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How To Be Good At Mathematics: Go To Heaven

This trip to heaven had a strange effect!

Willie Disart, 16, left school in the third grade, chews tobacco and says he became a wizard with figures when he dreamed he was in heaven.

Willie says he never can understand why people can't just look at whole bunches of figures and add them up without thinking about them. He can do it.

Tell him the day, month and year you were born and, without a pencil, he'll look you in the eye and tell you how many years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds you've lived, not forgetting the leap years.

In his home at Omega, Ga., Willie says, a man wanted to build a house and asked him how many bricks, he needed, making allowances for windows and doors.

"I told him right off," Willie says, "When he got all through the man had half a brick left over."

Willie insists he never tries to work out mathematical answers, his mind just knows the answer.

Ask him how he came to his talent and Willie always tells this story:

"When I was four years old, my mummy was trying to teach me to add. I couldn't add up to a hundred, Then mummy died. Right after she died, I dreamed I went to heaven to see my mummy. She told me I could do anything with figures.

"She gave me some problems, I worked them all out right there in heaven.

"I wake up and I'm still working out figures. I wake up my pappa and tell him. He gave me some problems, I work them. Never had any trouble since."

He's now looking for a job.

Source: The Milwaukee Journal Dec 20, 1939

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Doubts Over Eben Alexander's Flying On A Butterfly In Heaven Story

Last week I published a post Flying On A Butterfly In Heaven which was based on a book by a Dr Eben Alexander. I included a quote from the Daily Mail in the post.

Since then I read the following letter on the Daily Mail's letter page:

"Eben Alexander's description of Heaven is puerile drivel. His first book of nonsense, Proof Of Heaven, led to an investigation of his medical background, showing he had lost his surgical privileges after an incident at one hospital and had been the subject of malpractice lawsuits including the alleged alteration of records to cover up a medical error.

Why give this 'happy clappy' moron space to expound his badly written bunkum? His Mills & Boon style descriptions of the afterlife made me laugh out loud - but what's not so funny is that the path he now treads smacks of streetwise marketing.

Heaven will always be an emotive and interesting topic, but I doubt there will ever be any proof for the living."

~ Joy Evans, Hythe, Kent.

This concerned me as I always publish in good faith. I therefore made a few enquiries on the Internet about Dr Alexander. Amazingly the Daily Mail wrote the following about this man on 24 Dec 2013 - but still went on to promote his book in October 2014 with articles over several days.

• 'Proof of Heaven' doctor faced a $3million malpractice lawsuit when he fell into a coma
• Dr Eben Alexander was tied for the highest number of medical malpractice suits at the time that he fell into a coma following an E. coli infection
• He wrote a book in 2012 about his experience 'seeing the other side'
• He touted the book as the work of a neurosurgeon, but he hadn't practised surgery- let alone neurosurgery- for four years prior to the publication

For the full December 2013 Daily Mail article see here.

Esquire magazine also did an investigation. They write:

"... a months-long investigation of Dr. Alexander's past and some of the book's claims reveals a series of factual omissions and inconsistencies that call significant parts of Dr. Alexander’s story into question. Before he was a celebrated 'man of science' who visited the afterlife, Dr. Alexander was something else: a neurosurgeon with a troubled history and a man in need of reinvention."

Unfortunately Esquire now require payment to view the full article see here.

If we look at Wikipedia they write:

"Esquire magazine reported (August 2013 issue) that prior to the publication of Proof of Heaven, Alexander had been terminated or suspended from multiple hospital positions, and had been the subject of several malpractice lawsuits, including at least two involving the alteration of medical records to cover up a medical error. The magazine also found what it claimed were discrepancies with regard to Alexander's version of events in the book. Among the discrepancies, according to an account of the Esquire article in Forbes, was that 'Alexander writes that he slipped into the coma as a result of severe bacterial meningitis and had no higher brain activity, while a doctor who cared for him says the coma was medically induced and the patient was conscious, though hallucinating.'

Alexander issued a statement after the Esquire article's publication: 'I wrote a truthful account of my experiences in Proof Of Heaven and have acknowledged in the book both my professional and personal accomplishments and my setbacks. I stand by every word in this book and have made its message the purpose of my life. Esquire's cynical article distorts the facts of my 25-year career as a neurosurgeon and is a textbook example of how unsupported assertions and cherry-picked information can be assembled at the expense of the truth."

One of the factors about Alexander's books is that it is, to quote, "A neurosurgeon's journey into the afterlife." This gave the book a certain status.

It's still possible that Alexander did have that 'journey' but it does now feel a little tainted.

I wanted to clarify this so readers have the facts as I now know them.

Out Of Body Experiences: Do They Prove Life After Death

Out of body experiences: many say these are proof that we live on following death, while others will completely dismiss such an idea. It is interesting though, that if you actually talk to someone who has experienced an OBE, and even question them, they will remain adamant about what they saw and felt. They 'know' that there is life after death.

Enough waffle. Here are two OBE experiences:

"In 1975, while giving birth, I had an heart attack. I remember looking down from above my body at the room and the peace I felt was amazing.

I then found myself in a very bright place. I wasn’t afraid at all, in fact I felt so much love.

I looked up and a man had come out of somewhere. He was so bright to look at and as he came closer the love I felt from him was overwhelming. I felt he knew me and I knew him. It's difficult to explain the feeling.

He came over and sat next to me. He was like my father. He started to speak to me and I to him. He didn't move his lips, but he was speaking to me. I won't go into the whole time but I remember him asking me if I wanted to come with him or go back.

I knew I still had to finish giving birth and I had little girls at home. He told me I would have great suffering.The next thing I knew was that I'm yelling and I'm back in my earth body.

I had died but my son was still inside me. I gave birth. They told me they wanted to keep my son and me in hospital because there might be brain damage to my baby.

There wasn't any damage, to him or me. Till this day, 39 years later, I can tell you that the time I spent with the beautiful man [in Heaven] and the things he spoke to me about have helped me through everything. It changed my life. Without question there is a Heaven. I know because I have been there and it is more than wonderful!"

~ Sabra Victoria

"I have actually experienced Heaven. I am eighty years old now, but when I was 19 a man knocked on my door one night and when I answered he pushed me backwards onto the floor and proceeded to strangle me.

Everybody that I had ever known flickered through my mind with a goodbye. Suddenly I was at these gates. There was overwhelming gold - everything was gold. It was beautiful but ... some neighbours came to my house and pulled this person off me and I had to come back! It was so hard coming back after what I had seen. Definitely there is life after death! source

~ Leigh

But ... scientists will argue that such experiences have a biological basis. They claim that the same parts of the brain are activated in near-death experiences as in dreams and that people who report them are also able to slip into a dream state more easily than others. Such statements, however, will not sway those who have actually experienced Heaven.

Other Posts About Out Of Body Experiences:
Out Of Body Experiences
OBE: An Out Of Body First Experience
OBEs And Out Of Body Loving Experiences

Flying On A Butterfly In Heaven

Photo: Princess Ieda - verse added

A while back I published a post, Did This Doctor Visit Heaven? It was the story of Dr Eben Alexander who claims to have visited Heaven.

In the post I wrote about Alexander's experience of Heaven:

... travelling with him was what he took to be his guardian angel: a young woman with high cheekbones, deep-blue eyes and golden brown hair. She was wearing orange, indigo and powder blue clothing.

"Her thoughts were things like, 'You are loved. You are cherished for ever. There’s nothing you can do wrong'."

Together they moved on to "the core, an inky darkness that was also full to brimming with light." Here there was "a beautiful warm awareness of the divine which was clearly what we would call God".

Dr Alexander has a book out, with a snappy title, The Map of Heaven: How Science, Religion, and Ordinary People Are Proving the Afterlife. In this he mentions the 'young woman with high cheek bones'. But, before I come to the point of this post, I have first to explain that the doctor experienced his trip to Heaven while in a coma and that he was riding with the aforementioned woman on a butterfly wing (yes, a butterfly wing).

I'll get to the point now. In the Daily Mail (dated 18th of October) there is a quote by Eben Alexander as follows:

"Above all, that image of the woman on the butterfly wing haunted me.

And then, four months after coming out of my coma, I received a picture in the mail.

As a result of my earlier investigations to make contact with my biological family, a relative had sent me a photograph of my sister Betsy - the sister I had never known.

The shock of recognition was total. This was the face of the woman on the butterfly wing.

The moment I realised this, something crystallised inside me. That photo was the confirmation that I needed. This was the proof beyond reproach, of the objective reality of my experience. From then on, I was back in the old, earthly world I'd left behind before my coma struck, but as a genuine new person.

I had been reborn"

So, there we go, the doctor realised that he met his sister while in Heaven.

I know many will scoff at such things, but who's to say. The truth is that no one, as yet, can prove there is a Heaven or conversely that there isn't a Heaven. Many believe they have answers but that's all they are: beliefs. For the record though, I believe we do live on after death.

Dr Eben Alexander's Books:
The Map of Heaven on Amazon USA.
The Map of Heaven: on Amazon UK

Other Heaven Posts:
We All Go To Our Own Version Of Heaven When We Die
Author's Experiences Led Her To Believe In Life After Death
Did This Doctor Visit Heaven?

So, Where Is Heaven?

"So where is Heaven?"

I've read quite a few Near Death Experiences (NDEs) and though, often very descriptive, they never say 'whereabouts' it is they actually visited. Travel descriptions and pictures are all well and good but it's also nice to have a map. Especially if you think you might one day pay a visit yourself.

Usually people say that Heaven is up above us: we go up to Heaven and down for Hell, but that must surely now be an outdated view.

I was pondering this conundrum - not that my bags are packed or anything - but it would be nice to know where certain people are now residing.

When my best friend died his wife gave me quite a few of his books, many of them I still haven't got round to reading. I did, however, open up one yesterday called, The Magic Of Angels. This is a publication from the Seekers Trust who my friend was associated with. They are a spiritual and healing group in England.

The book is written by C.A. Simpson but the fly leaf states, "Based on the teachings of Dr. Lascelles received through his medium the late Mr. C.A. Simpson." Think of that what you will.

Anyway, here is what the book says about the location of Heaven:

"Heaven, we are informed by the great teachers and masters, does indeed exist, but it exists in the here and now, not in some other place some other time.This leaves us with the conclusion that it must occupy the same place as this earth.

One of the first precepts of philosophy is that two things cannot occupy the same place at the same time. But they can. If one interpenetrates the other as the odour of roses interpenetrates the air, or as water interpenetrates a sponge, then two things can occupy the same place.

This leaves us with the problem of invisibility. If Heaven is here and now interpenetrating not only us ourselves, but everything else on earth, how is it that we are not aware of it?

Perhaps the problem is one of hyper-physics whereby one atomic system can exist within another. This would indicate that there is nothing supernatural about Heaven and that it is a manifestation of a greatly extended nature, vaster and more intricate than science at this stage is capable of measuring.

After all, frontiers of nature have been pushed back so far that many things which are regarded as normal and acceptable (e.g. radio waves for instance and the whole range of cosmic rays) would have been looked upon as both impossible and supernatural a century ago."

Regarding Heaven and it's residents the book states:

"As for the inhabitants of Heaven we might consider Dr. Lascelles' assertion that Heaven is a mirror of this world. If a mirror, then the inhabitants of Heaven would be recognisable, but so also would the buildings, roads and artifacts. Normality would have to be the keynote."

So, according to a dead doctor - who should therefore have the inside info - Heaven is running alongside the earth side by side, intermingled, so to speak. The dead are with us but denseness or vibrational levels mean we can't see them.

And what do the dead in Heaven wear? Clothes - fortunately! To quote the good doctor:

"The inhabitants of Heaven wear clothes. It is noteworthy that period costume appears to be the mode more than modern gear. This again suggests that what we call Heaven is, in some mysterious way, furnished by our own consciousness ..."

And regarding the variation in NDE visions, this would be dependent on what part of Heaven was seen. Just as our earth varies from country to country and continent to continent, so does Heaven.

Did this answer my question: "Where is Heaven?" Probably not entirely but I've always felt that there are different 'layers' surrounding the earth getting finer and finer. The level we reach after death depends on our personal level of attainment. If we are none too fine, back we come to our earth level for another lesson. This way I can believe both in Heaven and reincarnation.

But there again, it could all be something completely different and one day we'll simply wake up from our dream. The only thing I feel certain about is that we are all immortal.

Here's What A Few Other People Think Of Heaven

Heaven is not a place, and it is not a time. Heaven is being perfect.
~ Richard Bach, in Jonathan Livingston Seagull

Nothing is further than Earth from Heaven: nothing is nearer than Heaven to Earth.
~ Augustus William Hare and Julius Charles Hare, Guesses at Truth

If our Creator has so bountifully provided for our existence here, which is but momentary, and for our temporal wants, which will soon be forgotten, how much more must He have done for our enjoyment in the everlasting world?
~ Hosea Ballou

Heaven, as conventionally conceived, is a place so inane, so dull, so useless, so miserable, that nobody has ever ventured to describe a whole day in heaven, though plenty of people have described a day at the seaside.
~ George Bernard Shaw, A Treatise On Parents And Children

He who seldom thinks of heaven is not likely to get thither; as the only way to hit the mark is to keep the eye fixed upon it.
~ Bishop Horne, Aphorisms and Opinions of Dr. George Horne

The number of levels in Heaven is the number of verses in the Qur'an. Thus, when a reciter of the Qur'an enters into Heaven, it will be said to him: 'Go up one level for every verse that you can recite.' Thus, no one will be in a higher level than the one who has memorized the entire Qur'an.
~ Muhammad

Heaven will be no heaven to me if I do not meet my wife there.
~ Andrew Jackson

Name something you like. I bet it's not in heaven. Sex? Sorry, lust is a sin. Can't have it. Your career? Nope. There's no money in heaven; nobody needs to work. Besides, as far as I can tell from studying the scriptures, all you do in heaven is pretty much just sit around all day and praise the Lord. I don't know about you, but I think that after the first, oh, I don't know, 50,000,000 years of that I'd start to get a little bored.
~ Rick Reynolds

Other Randon Posts:
Near Death Experience Changes Womans Life
Tortured Man Experienced Astral Projection And Travel
Captain David Perry And His Near Death Experience

The Maltese Fisherman Who Visited Heaven

The fisherman who says he has been to Heaven, next to the $93 million boat

The universe sometimes works in mysterious ways. While in Malta I started to read a book called Proof of Heaven by Dr Eben Alexander. I only got through a few pages but remembered some of the Near Death Experiences I have mentioned on this blog and seen elsewhere.

The next morning Karin and I went for a walk around the big harbour in Sliema. In the middle there is an island, Manoel, now joined to the shore by a road. Along one side there are some enormous private boats moored - some costing millions.

We walked to the far end of the island looking at - and envying - the boats, many registered in the British Cayman Islands for the benefits that brings.

Sitting at the far quayside was a man fishing. Karin asked if she could look at what he had caught. I joined her and the fisherman told us they were parrot fish which he would be taking home to his wife. We chatted about the big boats. He was a bit of a philosopher as he went on to say that the owners still had all the problems that the rest of us have.

It was then that he looked at me and said, "I have been to Heaven."

No idea why he said this, as it was way different to what we had been talking about. I, of course, wanted some more information on what he had said. So I asked him how and why he'd been to Heaven.

I never got his name, just his photo above, but he told us of how he had had a severe heart attack. His wife rang for an ambulance and he remembers being very scared and saying over and over, "Please God, help me, please God help me."

He was rushed to hospital and it was then that he 'went to Heaven.' What he described was a little different from many other stories.

He found himself on a beach with very fine sand and all of his fears had diminished. He felt at peace but what he remembers most was the colour blue. As he looked upwards there was a blue, the like of which he had never seen before or seen since.

I asked him if it was anything like the blue sky above us in Malta but, no, it wasn't. He couldn't put the colour into words.

He then saw a group of people standing nearby. He didn't know any of them but they told him he had to go back, this wasn't his time.

The next instant he was back on his hospital bed again and in great pain again moaning, "Please God help me."

He remained in hospital for surgery and his wife told him that the doctors had explained to her that he had died - at the time he had found himself in Heaven.

Maybe this isn't as detailed as other Near Death Experiences but I found it convincing and what amazed me was why he even mentioned it to me - synchronicity?

The boat that cost $93 million

As for the boats the one next to the fisherman in the photo is something special. It belongs to a billionaire and I've found out since on Google that is was bought by the owner for $93 million!

The fisherman told us he had heard that the boat was leaving for Monte Carlo at 3 pm that day. So Karin and I returned and took some photos as the boat left the quayside. Just us there to wave it goodbye! More on this another day.

Photos: © Mike Perry

Other Malta Posts:
The Cannon Went Off And Malta Turned Magical
The Billionaire And The Indian Empress In Malta Coincidences
A Pilgrimage To St Paul's Grotto In Rabat, Malta
Valletta: The City Built By The Knights of the Order of St John

Remembering Our Life Prior To Us Being Born

I have had some response to my recent post Where We Were Before Birth: Our Before Birth Experience. This included reports of people who could remember something of the time prior to them being born.

Before I enlarge a little on the subject here are two further experiences. The first is from 'seagreen' who left the following comment.

"My son told me that when he was 3 or 4 years old he vividly remembered having a dream about being a fish under the water looking up to the surface. He said he saw me as a little girl and a man on the bank. He immediately knew I was going to be his mother.

He was about 12 when he told me this. He was very serious when he related the dream to me. He asked me how would he know I was going to be his mother. I don't remember the context of what triggered his memory of this dream but he did say he never forgot it because it seemed so real."

~ seagreen

The second Before Birth Experience is from someone who wishes to remain anonymous.

"I was glad to read your blog as I have thought about my own experience of an awareness before birth. I have mentioned it briefly to others but they just write it off as imagination or a dream, but to me it was and is real.

What I remember is being with who I now know to be my great grandfather. I have seen photos of him and recognise him from these. We were together in a silver room along with a few other people, none of whom I knew. My great grandfather told me how he would stay with me as I was reborn.

I knew who my parents would be and that they were waiting for me. I felt apprehensive about a new life as I had been very happy where I was, but I cannot describe or remember any details of this. My only memory is of the silver room and the love of my great grandfather.

He told me it was now the time and I felt like I was surrounded by light.

It was when I was about six or seven that I remembered all of this following seeing a photo of my great grandfather. This somehow triggered the memories.

I know it all sounds unbelievable but I know I was somewhere prior to being born.

Thank you for writing about this."

Another comment left on my original post mentioned the Bible and how it indicates that our souls were there before we were born.

In Jer. 1:5, God says, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you." This is a biblical implication that we existed in some form before we were born. There are numerous non-scriptural references to the pre-existence of our souls.

Reading experiences such as these sort of makes sense. If, as many believe, there is a Heaven or an afterlife then it makes logical sense that there must also have been an existence before we started our stint on Earth. If we are indeed immortal then we must have also been around in the past - as we will be in the future. There is no beginning or end.

My own personal belief is that our 'souls' arrive with our first breath and leave with our last. As for our parents I've always been under the impression that we choose who we wish these to be. I can't say why I think this way or where these ideas came from.

Further Reading:
Where We Were Before Birth: Our Before Birth Experience
10 Stories About Reincarnation
The Over Powering Love Of Near Death Experiences

We All Go To Our Own Version Of Heaven When We Die

Cafe Society - Heaven For Some People

A while back I published a post We Create The Afterlife We Desire in which I wrote:

"Could it be that, just as our dreams are individual, so is death, dependent on the actions and thoughts while alive in our physical body? Some may undergo fantastic adventures. Others may suffer from recurring nightmares, trapped in some form of hell created by their own minds. While others may experience a kind of paradise conjured up by their expectations."

I was looking at something by Joseph J Weed, a former Rosicrucian Grand Councillor. His thoughts seem to be similar to mine (or even mine to his!):

"The events of transition [death] are different for each individual and depend upon the state of consciousness and perhaps training. Some go to higher realms and are ecstatically happy while they study and train there. Some live in surroundings they have dreamed of living in, a creation of their desires while alive. This may be a cabin in a forest, a home on a beautiful farm, a cottage by the sea - in other words a heaven of their own making."

But, according to Weed, there are some souls who also remain earthbound. They fight death, even after death, and refuse to believe they are not 'alive'. He gives an example of someone he saw on the astral plane.

"I had known this man in life. He was handsome and charming and traded on these qualities ... he loved night life and cafe society and succeeded in acquiring the reputation as a playboy.

[During] World War II in 1941, he took up his commission in the Navy and became one of the first U.S. casualties when his ship was torpedoed and sunk in early 1942.

I encountered him in the astral realm. He was one of a party in a night club a very real-appearing creation of his own desire, and had no notion he was already dead in the physical sense ... he was drinking, dancing and joking and flirting in cafe society surroundings, fully convinced that the places and people were real and that he was still among the so-called living.

To cut things short Weed visited the man for about three years [in the astral realm] and saw that the man gradually became worried and anxious and looked unhappy. He was permitted to assist him and visited him once more.

"When I spoke to him he seemed to be in a stupor and it was difficult to get his attention. Finally, I succeeded in rousing him ...

I said, 'Steve, I want to help you. Do you know you are dead?'

Dumbly. he nodded slowly and then said, 'I have been thinking so for some time. But I don't seem to be dead. Nothing much has changed. I'm so confused.'

Weed explained to him how he was reliving the existence that had appealed to him most but could alter the situation with an act of will. Opportunities would then develop - and this is what is said to have happened. Steve was able to move on.

This may all sound far fetched but if we look at Near Death Experiences they vary in what the person actually sees. Christians experience something different from, say, Muslims - because of their beliefs.

As with everything there is no reality just our realisation of how things are. We are all responsible for what happens to us, whether on Earth or in 'Heaven' - well, that's my theory at the present time!

 Reference: Wisdom of the Mystic Masters

Other Heaven Stories:
We Create The Afterlife We Desire
Where Is Heaven?
What Version Of Us Will Go To Heaven?

The Shape Of The Universe And Gateways Between Dimensions

I know other people's dreams are mostly boring but I had a dream of sorts that appeared to continue while I was awake - so I'm going to bore you with it.

The dream was about the shape of the universe and the shape of our lives - which go hand in hand.

My head was first filled with the idea that everything is a circle, and then how this can't be true as it would mean we keep on coming back to exactly where we started - which seems pretty pointless.

So life isn't a circle and probably not some elaborate cycle either, because this would also produce more of the same - again this would serve no real purpose.

It was decided that the Universe - our lives included - is a spiral without a beginning or an end. By spiral I mean more of a spring shape, like the image above. A spring that goes on forever - as do we.

Our current life, as we know it, had an initiation more than a beginning and lasts until our transition as we gradually move along the eternal spiral shape. We don't die. As Emerson said: Every end is a beginning.

Gradually we shift along the spring, coil, spiral or whatever you would call this shape unrestricted by time.

Time is man made but other creatures may have a differing opinions. Take Mayflies, for example, providing they are allowed to have their say. The adults are very short-lived, from a few minutes to a few days, depending on the species, but whose to say if their lives appear any shorter to them than our 70, 80 or 90 years.

But let's get back to our own human lives. The spiral shape of the universe would allow us to journey between dimensions, time zones and so on. It could be the basis of paranormal experiences. Maybe this is what happens when people say they have visited Heaven, or claim they have travelled into a different period of time, or have had some precognitive message - a gateway opens. It might just be a matter of tuning in.

Okay, I know this post is only dream based - though the gateway is my own idea - but it's as good as suggesting that the universe is doughnut shaped. And it's a fun subject to ponder.

Other Random Posts:
The Universe Is Just Like A Dot On A Balloon
Words Of Immortality And The Big Bang
The Hologram Theory And Synchronicity

What Version Of Us Will Go To Heaven?

The Mock Turtle said, "No wise fish would go anywhere without a porpoise."

"Wouldn't it really?'" said Alice in a tone of great surprise.

"Of course not," said the Mock Turtle, "Why, if a fish came to me, and told me he was going a journey, I should say, "With what porpoise?"

"Don't you mean 'purpose'?" said Alice.

"I mean what I say," the Mock Turtle replied in an offended tone. And the Gryphon added, "Come, let's hear some of your adventures."

"I could tell you my adventures ... beginning from this morning," said Alice a little timidly, "but it's no use going back to yesterday, because I was a different person then."

Throughout our lives we are so many different people, with differing beliefs and desires. If, as many believe, we will eventually go to Heaven I wonder what version of us will actually go?

Other Heavenly Posts:
Where Is Heaven?
Did This Doctor Visit Heaven?
Coincidence Of A Message From Heaven

We Create The Afterlife We Desire

I was pondering what the afterlife will be like. I've read and written about near death experiences in the past and there often seems to be similarities within these stories - but there are also differences, which many writers brush aside.

For examples those with a Catholic upbringing may encounter a St Peter like figure at the Pearly Gates whereas a Muslim may experience themselves in green gardens with fountains while being attended by dancing girls, as described in Islamic literature.

I expect most of us hope we will all be treated equally when we die and any near death experiences should, therefore, be identical but this appears not necessarily to be the case. Surely there can't be segregation for varying religions and beliefs.

If we consider our dreams, now they are all different, dependent on our personal memories, hopes, fears and desires - born from the 'personality' of our unconscious mind if you like.

If we look at lucid dreams - where we realise we are actually dreaming - we can almost manipulate happenings. I can remember in one particular dream I told myself I didn't have to worry about what was happening because I was only dreaming. So I relaxed and observed, like watching a play at the theatre. And sometimes even our everyday lives can appear like this in certain situations.

Could it be that, just as our dreams are individual, so is death, dependent on the actions and thoughts while alive in our physical body? Some may undergo fantastic adventures. Others may suffer from recurring nightmares, trapped in some form of hell created by their own minds. While others may experience a kind of paradise conjured up by their expectations.

Of course, another possibility is that our 'surviving' personality re-enters another physical body and once more wakes up to the physical world. This may be via an embryo or a newly born baby but could also take over the body of a living person - some would call this possession.

All of this is speculation. It's also conceivable that in our dream-like existence. following death. we are open to spiritual influences from a realm far beyond what our human mind can imagine or comprehend.

Whatever happens to us following death I feel does seem to depend on our own beliefs and attitudes. If we close our mind to possibilities we may become trapped within our present fears and limitations. It could well rest with us to create the afterlife we desire.

Other Heavenly Posts:
Where Is Heaven?
The Sixth Stage Of Dying Is The Afterlife
Did This Doctor Visit Heaven?

Author's Experiences Led Her To Believe In Life After Death

Author Fay Weldon has reached her ninth decade and doesn't fear death. She believes we live on in an afterlife - though she has no idea where this 'somewhere else' might be.

Fay was brought up in believing that the laws of physics are immutable and are the same throughout the Universe - and yet somewhere there is still an afterlife.

She bases her beliefs, that we continue after death, on her personal experiences.

Firstly on near death experiences (NDEs). To quote her words:

"The first came when I was 17 and under anaesthetic for a knee operation. I felt myself hurrying down the tunnel of death towards a light at the end: the feeling of euphoria, or being united in companionship, was so vivid as to be unforgettable and convincing.

"This left me with the feeling that the Universe is benign, and I've been afraid of very little since."

Her second NDE was when she was in her 70s and her heart unexpectedly flat-lined. This is what she experienced:

"Under anaesthetic in hospital, I saw the gates of Heaven, in garish colours rather than pearly white. I was being dragged through while others - I couldn't see their faces - tried to hold me back.

"Staring through the haze, I caught a glimpse of the other side. I had a clear impression of the same old familiar struggle going on there as here, good and evil mixed, one step forward, half a step back.

"Waking up in intensive care I heard myself say: 'Oh I see, just more of the same!' Whatever it was, Heaven or Hell, it didn't seem too bad, and it led me to the notion that death was just the continuation of life by other means."

Kay has also seen ghosts. She says:

"I accept that the unusual happens. For example, that the man in the preacher's hat whom I saw winking in and out of nothingness at the end of St Andrews pier in 1951 was, indeed, the parson from Dundee who drowned according to legend, on his way to preach to the students one Sunday in the year 1551.

"I felt spooked but ... at the time he just looked as a man would have looked 400 years earlier."

The NDEs and the ghostly sighting means she no longer fears death. She also claims that loved ones visit us after they die.

"You're lying asleep or walking down a street when they make themselves known, as if tapping you on the shoulder and saying, 'Hi, it's me. I've come to say goodbye.'

"You look around and there's no one there, yet you heard them clear as a bell. It's a kind of brushing of the spirits that puts grief to rest; a sudden, clear unexpected awareness of their presence for a second or two before they go off somewhere else."

And that is why Fay Weldon believes there is life after death - her experiences and feelings tell her this is the truth. Maybe we all get such glimpses throughout our lives and overlook them as tricks of the mind or imagination - but they may well be something more meaningful.

Fay Weldon's latest book on Amazon: Habits of the House

Other Posts About Life After Death:
Death Is Freedom And All Is Well
The Over Powering Love Of Near Death Experiences
Where Is Heaven?

Dead Grandmother Gives Her Sherbet Lemon Sweets

A different slant today about contact with people who have passed on. I have to say I haven't heard anything similar before, so my thanks to Pauline for sending me her story.

"Dear Mike,
I have read how you were able to smell your father's tobacco smoke after he died and also about how people have seen and been touched by those who have died. I've also read your recent white feather posts. But I have experienced something different that I haven't read about before, though I'm concerned that I may simply be imagining it.

My grandmother died in September. I was very close to her as when my parents divorced when I was small my mum and me went to live with her. She helped bring me up and looked after me with lots of love and understanding. If I ever had a problem she would be there to talk to and offer advice.

When Nan, as I called her, died I was very upset. The night after her funeral I went to sleep as usual but dreamed that she was with me saying she was okay.

I woke up remembering this and thinking that it was only a dream but here is the weird bit. I had a taste of lemon in my mouth. It was a very strong, distinctive flavour.

The thing is that Nan was always eating sherbet lemon sweets. The old fashioned sort that she bought in a small shop near to where we live. She said they reminded her of when she was a child and was always giving me one to suck.

Two or three days after my dream I was on my own in the house and was thinking about her when again I got this strong taste in my mouth of lemon. Funnily enough this made me smile and I said, "Thanks Nan for the sweet."

When my mother came in later (I'm 21 and live at home) she said that I looked a lot brighter than she had seen me since Nan's death. I told her it was because Nan had given me a sherbet lemon. Mum looked at me like I had a screw loose!

I explained about the lemon taste to mum and I was surprised that she didn't disbelieve me. We'd never talked about such things before but she said that she believed there was a Heaven and that we lived on.

Over the past weeks there have been several times when I have tasted the same lemon flavour in my mouth. I know it sounds silly but I really do think it's my Nan letting me know she's around by giving me one of her favourite sweets."

~ Pauline

Other 67 Not Out Posts:
Where Is Heaven?
White Feathers Comfort The Bereaved
Did This Doctor Visit Heaven?

Did This Doctor Visit Heaven?

Out of Body and Near Death Experiences are easily explained away by scientists. Surgeons often hear such tales and take them with a pinch of proverbial salt. The same goes for anyone who claims to have visited Heaven.

Such experiences are said to be caused by a malfunctioning cortex or maybe nerve cells being deprived of oxygen or even the brain causing hallucinations, because of some form of immense stress.

These sort of opinions would likely have been put forward by say, a neurosurgeon like Eben Alexander. But because of a personal experience Eben has now changed his mind and claims he has seen Heaven for himself and now believes in God and an afterlife.

Dr.Alexander contracted a rare form of bacterial meningitis whereby the area of his brain which controls emotion and thoughts - his entire cortex - actually shut down. He was in a coma for a week and doctors believed he wouldn't recover.

It was during this seven day period he claims to have visited Heaven.

Alexander explains: "According to current understanding of the brain and mind, there is absolutely no way that I could have experienced even a dim and limited consciousness during my time in the coma, much less the hyper-vivid and completely coherent odyssey I underwent."

So what was Heaven like?

His first memory is of  "roots" over his head and having no knowledge of his past life. Sights and sounds appeared to merge together and began spinning and clearing away the surrounding murkiness.

The next thing he was aware of was flying over a meadow. He couldn't speak and had no awareness of his body. He felt he was simply a "speck on a butterfly wing" along with millions of other butterflies in a swirling "river of life and colour".

Below him were waterfalls, pools and "indescribable colours", and above him were clouds that were "big, puffy, pink-white ones that showed up sharply against a deep blue-black sky".

Far above the clouds were flocks of "transparent, shimmering beings", making arcs of gold and silver across the sky. "Indescribably gorgeous" hymns and chants wafted down from these beings - "higher forms" of life which, as he gathered his thoughts later, he could only describe as "angels".

Travelling with him was what he took to be his guardian angel: a young woman with high cheekbones, deep-blue eyes and golden brown hair. She was wearing orange, indigo and powder blue clothing.

"Her thoughts were things like, 'You are loved. You are cherished for ever. There’s nothing you can do wrong'".

Together they moved on to "the core, an inky darkness that was also full to brimming with light." Here there was "a beautiful warm awareness of the divine which was clearly what we would call God".

After being in a coma for seven days Dr Alexander awoke. He is now back to being a doctor but spends part of his time investigating how "we are much more than our physical brains".

Obviously many will think Dr Alexander's story to be just that: a fantasy tale. To doubters he says that he has two points to make:

(1) Firstly, to his knowldege, no one else has made such claims while his or her cortex was shut down.

(2) His experience happened while his body was under intense medical observation every minute that he was in his coma.

So, is this proof that Heaven does exist and we have nothing to fear from death?

Dr Eben Alexander has written a book of his experience, which is available on Amazon:
Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon's Journey into the Afterlife

Similar Heavenly Posts:
Where Is Heaven?
The Bird Angel Who Comforts As Someone Dies
Near Death Experience In The Stars