I'll begin by mentioning that I didn't need a book to tell me that Heaven is real. I know it's real. But I requested this book from the library months ago because of a couple reasons. It was on the New York Times Bestseller list for like, ever, AND more than one person recommended it to me. So it arrived and I read it, rather quickly in fact. It is a fast read.
For those of you that haven't heard of this book, here's the gist. A pastor and his family, who live in Nebraska, had a run of misfortune. Just when they thought things had turned a corner, their young son got very ill and needed an emergency appendectomy. All of his internal organs were toxic and he needed additional surgery after the appendectomy to further clean out the toxins. The young boy was practically on his death bed, but then miraculously recovered. This part I believed.
Not long after his release from the hospital, the young boy indicated to his parents through a series of comments that he had been to Heaven, had seen God, conversed with Jesus, and met dead relatives. The boy was four, but it took the family YEARS to find out about his "trip" to Heaven during the appendectomy. I absolutely believe the boy had this spiritual experience because I have had the blessing of knowing someone who had a similar meeting with Jesus as a young child. I believe that Jesus comes to people in their times of need, especially children who are quick to believe, unlike most adults. Children's hearts are pure and innocent and they radiate love, which makes them more receptive to spiritual "visits" and guidance.
What bothered me about this book was the preachy tone, the frequent use of scripture references to validate the young boy's spiritual story, and the author's (father's) assumption that the boy had no prior knowledge of things the boy referenced about Heaven. The father is a pastor and I just cannot believe that the family's home did not center around God, Jesus, and other scriptural references. And I didn't understand why the family waited so long to get information from the boy about this rare and important "visit". The book seems like a ploy to get money (which they have no doubt accomplished) and try to save all the non-believers.
I wanted to like this book more than I did. I wanted it to speak to me and reveal things that would help me on my own life journey. But it really didn't. I am joyful that this young boy had such an awesome spiritual experience that he was able to share with his family and the world. I just wish there had been more details about that, and less of the evangelical preachiness.
But read it. It may speak differently to you.
THE REALLY COOL THING about this book is the reference to a young prodigy named Akiane. She is a Lithuanian-American born to atheist parents, and she began having spiritual visions as a four year old. This piqued my interested because she wasn't raised in a spiritual or religious home, yet she had visions of heaven and angels and, believe it or not, Jesus. She was featured on CNN and Oprah, specifically because of what she did with her visions. She is a prodigy painter and has created masterful paintings of her visions. One of these depicts Jesus as she claims to have seen him, which if you read the book mentioned above, you will learn that the parents of young Colton tried numerous times to find pictures of Jesus and have Colton confirm that's what Jesus looks like. The only picture Colton said "yes" to was the one that this young girl Akiane painted. Click on the link belowto get to the picture, and please take some time to browse her other paintings. Keep in mind she was a child (8 years old) when she painted Jesus, which to me looks like professional quality.
Scroll down to Age 8 and it's the second painting in, titled "Prince of Peace"
Let me know what you think after you look at these photos!
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