Heaven on Earth

If heaven represents feelings of overwhelming love and well-being, then you can experience heaven here on earth. Sometimes near-death experiences (NDE) help us enter into that heavenly place.

I want to share with you my father’s recent near-death experience. He was just two weeks away from celebrating his 92^nd birthday when he was rushed to the emergency room. His hands were turning black, arms were swollen twice their normal size, his face was swollen, and the pain was agonizing.

He had three major blockages restricting blood flow, and the cardiologist recommended immediate surgery. Within 24 hours he was on the operating table, then sent to ICU. Several days after the initial operation, my dad was still on the brink of death. According to the doctors, the only thing standing between him and death was the powerful medications stabilizing his blood pressure. But his veins could no longer accept the powerful drug of life support. A very invasive procedure was the next step, but it could also leave him severely cognitively impaired.

His living will states, “never life support and let me go when it is time!” My sister and I concluded that 2 Timothy 4: 7-8 was the message; “I have fought the good fight, I finished the course, I have kept the faith. In the future, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness.” We told the physician to stop administering the life-supporting drug. We were told that he would die, and we accepted that as his desire and that his faith would be whole.

Then something strange happened. As we were busily signing documents, gathering the family to say their goodbyes something else was going on. Five hours later, back in the ICU, we walked into his room, expecting the last breaths from my dad. Instead, he was sitting up in bed singing “what the world needs now is love, sweet love.”

I cannot put into words the range of emotions I experienced in those few moments.

What I do know is that I have not been able to get those words out my head. Love, sweet love. Yes, that is the heaven on earth we all need. As it says in 1 John 4:16, “God is love!” The more we embrace love, the more of the God of heaven we experience here on earth. How is it possible that something so powerful, so empowering, so opposite of fear and intimidation can seem so far removed from our daily lives?

How is it possible that with all the social media platforms connecting us, that loneliness is rampant among baby boomers and millennials alike? How are millennials the loneliest generation? Rates of teenage suicide are alarmingly high today! Today loneliness is one of the significant mental health issues, along with depression, facing the aging population.

Conventional medicine aims to have a drug for everything we label a dis-ease. Drug companies and physicians push toxic medications that in-turn require even more drugs to counter the side effects and mask the symptoms. On the other hand, love is one of the most powerful healing forces in our world today. It may not drive a lot in revenue or be an instant fix, but it is the foundation of well-being and heaven on earth. 

Love gives joy, not depression. Love always brings feelings of value and worth. Love will guide lifestyle choices that promote wellness, not illness and disease! 

Near-death experiences are not necessary if you understand life and how to create heaven on earth. The closer we move our thoughts and behaviors towards love, and yes, this includes self-love, the less fear, stress, illness, and disease we all will experience. Many cancer patients have overcome cancer and their NDE by accepting love into their lives, valuing themselves, and life. This love guides their choices for supporting their bodies and purpose for living. When you love yourself, you see life differently. When you love yourself as God loves you, you see value and purpose. You see the uniquely created you; created in His image and likeness! You see the light in your life to shine brightly!

I know many people feel they have to do something to be loved by God, but there is nothing more you can do except being you! God loves you and the world that He gave the ultimate gift, according to John 3:16. There is much you can do to embrace love into your life!

Yes, life can be, at times, a fierce struggle. We may feel like victims, always reacting to the circumstances of life when bad things do happen. I had lunch this past week with a dear friend that had a near-death experience that changed his life forever. He and his two teenage daughters visited Peru to climb Mt. Machu Picchu. Unfortunately, they were kidnapped. Today, after their NDE, they love life and are grateful to God for intervening in what could have been the most tragic of events. They could have chosen bitterness and anxiety but instead allowed the near-death experience to move them towards love, loving God, one another, and to love life!

Life brings both good and unfortunate circumstances, and it always offers us a choice to move away from love or towards love. When we move towards Love it brings a little heaven here on earth.    

Love is one of the  essentials of wellness. I write about love and making it a daily habit of expressing and feeling love in my latest book, 10 Habits of Wellness.