Reading for Fun

I am definitely the type of person that once I'm on a break from school, I race to the nearest Barnes & Noble to find a book to read. It's so nice having time to read for fun after a semester of reading textbooks. Unfortunately, I always find four or five books I want to read. The weekend before finals started, I had found a great book in Target. I was drawn to this book, first of all, by the title, Proof of Heaven. It's intriguing. I read the back cover and instantly knew I wanted to read this book.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

(the back cover)

A Scientist's Case for the Afterlife

Thousands of people have had near-death experiences, but scientists have argued that they are impossible. Dr. Eben Alexander was one of those scientists. A highly trained neurosurgeon, Alexander knew that NDEs feel real, but are simply fantasies produced by brains under extreme stress. Then, Dr. Alexander’s own brain was attacked by a rare illness. The part of the brain that controls thought and emotion—and in essence makes us human—shut down completely. For seven days he lay in a coma. Then, as his doctors considered stopping treatment, Alexander’s eyes popped open. He had come back.

Alexander’s recovery is a medical miracle. But the real miracle of his story lies elsewhere. While his body lay in coma, Alexander journeyed beyond this world and encountered an angelic being who guided him into the deepest realms of super-physical existence. There he met, and spoke with, the Divine source of the universe itself. Alexander’s story is not a fantasy. Before he underwent his journey, he could not reconcile his knowledge of neuroscience with any belief in heaven, God, or the soul. Today Alexander is a doctor who believes that true health can be achieved only when we realize that God and the soul are real and that death is not the end of personal existence but only a transition. This story would be remarkable no matter who it happened to. That it happened to Dr. Alexander makes it revolutionary. No scientist or person of faith will be able to ignore it. Reading it will change your life.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After reading the back cover, I was already planning on buying this book, but I put it down. Aaron tried to discourage me because I had three finals to prepare for and he didn't want me to get distracted by a new book. I was thinking about waiting until after my finals to buy the book. But I couldn't walk away. He ended up distracted looking at another book and I maneuvered around him and managed to grab this book and start reading the first page before he noticed. I read the first TWO SENTENCES of this book and said "That's it! I'm buying it. It starts out JUST like my favorite book!! It's a sign." And I walked toward the register with Aaron trailing behind me. It also helped that it was on sale, haha. I got this $16 book for $12. Unfortunately, once the book was mine, I still had to wait a whole week until my finals were over to start reading it.

I came across a paragraph I really liked. Deep in a coma, Dr. Alexander visits heaven and meets God himself. In this paragraph, God has just revealed to him that there are multiple universes and evil is present in all of them. He explains why. I think this makes perfect sense and I find it comforting, too.

I finished the book today. It was a fairly quick read at only 171 pages, including the prologue. I really liked this book. The back cover says its life-changing. While I agree that my perspective on things has changed, my life cannot be drastically changed by this book because I already believe in God and His kingdom of Heaven. This book is geared for the people who do not believe.

I thought the last few chapters seemed to drag on but the very last chapter was great. It tied everything together and it left you with a warm, fuzzy feeling. 

 I would most definitely recommend this book to ANYONE.