I just finished the book “90 Minutes in Heaven” by Don Piper, a Baptist minister. Mr. Piper was in a horrendous car accident and was “dead” for 90 minutes. In the book Mr. Piper describes his visit to heaven. It is not a particularly well written book, but it is very interesting and thought provoking.
Mr. Piper describes being met in heaven by people he had loved in his life that had predeceased him. It made me wonder about who would meet me, or who I would want to meet me, if I was lucky enough to go to heaven. Of course, I would want Raymond to be there waiting, whole and happy. My dad, next to Raymond, is someone I ache to see, but with his mind sharp and clear again. I never met my grandfathers, so that would be nice, along with my grandmothers, aunts and uncles, and my cousin, Eric. I wonder if Eric would still be 7 or if he would be a grown man. I often have dreams of him as a grown man and wonder if he would have been like the man in my dreams if he had not died so young.
There are others I would like to see again. After Raymond was diagnosed with cancer he used to joke about how it was just a matter of time that something had to happen to him after being married to me and how many of my old boyfriends had died before him. I don’t know if I would call them old boyfriends, but three of the boys I dated did die very young. Two of them were ill from childhood, and one developed cancer and died. I would like to see one of them again, just because we always had so many laughs.
I always picture Raymond in heaven with my dad and Raymond’s grandfather. I think they are up there telling stories and watching the over the boys. I often hear Raymond complaining about how I’m taking care of things down here, and my dad telling him I never could use a broom properly.
I think Mr. Piper’s book would be good for people in hospice that are frightened.
I hope that Raymond is enjoying heaven as much as Mr. Piper did in those 90 minutes.
1 comment:
I, too, have read Don Piper's "90 Minutes in Heaven." I was also comforted by the fact that in his experience loved ones will meet us when we arrive in heaven.
The other fact that intrigued me was the way everyone seemed to be singing in their native tongue, yet it was not a cacophony; rather, it was akin to a symphony.
His book seemed to center on his ministry after the wreck. How he ministered to others being treated by the same apparatus that helped fix his broken limbs. But the overriding memories of the book were of his 90 minutes in Heaven. I, too, am anxious to see who'll be there to meet me.
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