I didn’t plan to spend my Friday night working on this article. But the words of this article have been boiling and brewing in my mind for so long to a point where I am almost incapable of doing anything else. I really hope you will keep an open mind while reading this, and you will read it till the very end. I am hoping that as a result, it will change your perspective and even your life.
Krista Burling is a friend of mine. She is an outpatient.
Her injury happened many years ago. She came this Tuesday for her doctor’s
appointment. We were chatting in the lobby area.“I have to tell you something.” She said, “September 25th
of last year, I had a really bad lung infection, I fainted and when my parents
came to my rescue they could feel that my heart was beating slower and weaker.
I think I died at that moment.”
She said that within a second, she was brought to Heaven, it
was a beautiful world with vivid colors and magnificent view. Krista became a
Christian at a very young age. She was once again in her youthful body and at the
corner of her eye, she could still see her earthly body lying there. Then she
saw a waterfall, it was shining like diamonds and the water droplets were in
the shapes of snowflakes. She saw a light coming from behind the waterfall, a
blinding light, yet her eyes were not hurt. She heard the voice of God. I
stopped her and asked, “Do you think it was God the Father or Jesus.” “I believe it was the Father.” The voice said
to her, “Krista, today is not your day.” Krista didn’t want to leave heaven and
go back to her body of pain. She bargained with God for a while, until God
said, “I will come back soon for my church.” Then she found herself in a hospital
room and stayed there for the next 3 weeks before she was discharged. It took a
few more weeks for her to recover fully. She was forever changed. She said that
she doubted God and yelled at Him many many times in her life. But this time
she was given the assurance that God is real and Heaven is real. She tells her
experience to almost everyone she knows, some believed and cried with her,
some brushed her off.
I had reservation when I first heard of her story, Oh, I
believed in it whole heartedly. However, I wasn’t sure if I should share it, or
how to share it in an effective and convincing way. I didn’t go outside of my
comfort zone, I only told a few friends and family members who are already
Christians. I thought, okay, let Krista tell the story in her own words. I am
good, I already told a few people. BUT, today, I was talking to another lady
and this time, I realize that I am the only person who can effectively share this story, I have to get this out.
This lady is an inpatient, she had her injury only a few
weeks ago. She is a new comer from China, she doesn’t speak a lot of
English. My colleague Ivan asked me to translate for him and become her peer
support. I will call her Lee.
Lee told me that she was hit by a car while crossing the
street. She had a head injury, a spinal cord injury, a wrecked shoulder and a
broken pelvis. The doctor didn’t think she would make it and asked her husband
to fly to Canada
to prepare for her funeral. Her husband took the very next flight and didn’t
even pack a luggage. As she was describing the chaos, I asked her, “did you see
a light when you were in the coma?” Her eyes were wide open, “Yes! I remember,
for a very long time, I saw this blinding light above my head, I was in this
place that was just so, so, so bright, to a point where my eyes were hurt.”
“Did you see a colorful world?”
“No, it was just a place that was really bright.”
I asked again, “did you see a man?”
“I saw a figure wrapped in light. I think it was a woman.”
“You sure it wasn't a man?”
“It was a woman.” (My Catholic friend told me that it was Mary)
“Were you at peace?”
“I had no fear, I just felt normal.”
What amazed her was, for days, she had been telling people
about this experience, which she could not explain it
either. Everyone around her kept on telling her that she was in a confused
mental state. I was the first person who told her what she had experienced
before she even brought it up.
“Did you believe in God?”
“My landlord became a Christian all of the sudden, and she
dragged me to church twice. I really didn’t learn much from it.”
“Do you know the story of Jesus?”
“Do you know the story of Jesus?”
“Not really.”
“I think you went to heaven, or a taste of what it was
like.”
She nodded and wanted me to tell her more about God next
week. Before we parted, she asked, “Did you see the light?”
I never really died, my injury was
never life-threatening. I didn’t see the light. But I didn’t need to see it to
believe in it.I always want to write an article about heaven, but I didn’t
have enough materials to make my case. What these two women told me this week
gave me the courage to share my faith more boldly and shamelessly, and most
importantly, it affected me. It radicalized me. The reality of Heaven, the
anticipation of Christ’s return makes everything on earth matters less, it makes everything glorious.
Lastly, I just want to say, if Heaven is real, you really cannot afford not to believe in it. On the other hand, if it's not, then people like me are fools, stupid, naive, happy fools. But we cannot find out for sure until the day we die.
Lastly, here is an interview I really like, it’s done by ABC’s
20/20. Please watch it!
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