2012-08-02   Book  Review      John W

To Heaven and Back  ( 2012, Waterbrook, USA,  222 pages)
A doctor's extraordinary account of her death, Heaven, angels and life again. A true story

Mary C. Neal MD (orthopedic surgeon)
---------------------------------------------------------------------

www.v2catholic.com  over the past few months has mentioned a number of books concerning "Near Death Experiences"  (... Google search at top of main page):

Evidence of the Afterlife, by Jeffrey Long MD

90 minutes in Heaven, by Don Piper

Heaven is for Real, by Todd Burpo

Mary Neal's book is a down to earth book about heaven.
Her book is full of the complicated battles of life
and how they relate to her special experience. 
Not much pie in the sky material in this book

Like the other books, To Heaven and Back is a great encouragement for any one in a time of grief....and most useful for anyone trying to support people in time of grief

The fact that Mary Neal is a leading surgeon makes the book more believable. Mary is a hard-nosed scientist and examines her experience in scientific terms

Her book has lots of moving sections, but also many touches of humor
- as when she was in great pain and decided to test a theory she had recently read about ...that using swear words is more helpful than using non-swear words for putting up with pain, to increase our pain barrier. She found that the theory was true for her!

Mary is a devout Bible Christian, not a Catholic, but in chapter 32 she tells the beautiful story of her encounter with Fr Ubald, a Rwandan Catholic priest who helped her family get free from a strong presence of fear

As the back cover says: "To Heaven and Back will reacquaint you with the hope, wonder, and promise of heaven, while enriching your own faith and walk with God"

I most highly recommended this lovely book

Mary's website, with lots of information about To Heaven and Back

Amazon link, with 138 favorable comments (and 22 unfavorable)

--------------------

Afterthought:

Books like the above challenge several theories:

1. Some fundamentalist Christians hold that after we die, we go not to heaven but to "the bosom of Abraham" or "Hades"....and stay there till the Last Day when the trumpet will sound and the dead will rise....for judgment....and a one-way trip to Heaven or Hell

2. Some liberal Christians scorn the idea of "disembodied spirits" having a good time in Heaven

3. Some people make fun of the Communion of Saints and say that it's superstitious to ask folk in Heaven to pray for us

The above books describe how people visit Heaven while their bodies are still on earth....and in Heaven they see deceased relatives and friends...in recognisable human form, even though those friends' bodies are still in the grave....and those relatives/friends pray for family/friends still on earth

Anyone like to throw some light on these issues?
Comment box will upload your post to internet Heaven immediately
...no moderation in bosom of Abraham or Hades!