{"id":66834,"date":"2018-10-30T21:28:18","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T03:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?p=66834"},"modified":"2018-10-30T21:28:18","modified_gmt":"2018-10-31T03:28:18","slug":"the-most-real-thing-thats-ever-happened-to-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/10\/the-most-real-thing-thats-ever-happened-to-me.html","title":{"rendered":"“The most real thing that’s ever happened to me”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Cloud<\/a>
A cloud, with sunlight (Wikimedia Commons public domain)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the next while, at intervals, I\u2019m going to extract some marked passages from John Burke, Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God\u2019s Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You<\/em> (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2015). \u00a0I hope that you\u2019ll enjoy them as I have.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

If you read history, you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next. . . . \u00a0Aim at Heaven and you will get earth \u201cthrown in\u201d: aim at earth and you will get neither.\u201d<\/strong> \u00a0(C. S. Lewis in Mere Christianity<\/em>, cited at 30)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Experiencing Heaven is the most real thing that\u2019s ever happened to me. \u00a0I did not want to come back. \u00a0If you\u2019ve been there, you don\u2019t want to be here.<\/strong> \u00a0(Don Piper<\/a>, \u201cForeword,\u201d 13)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I stared in astonishment as the brightness increased, coming from nowhere, seeming to shine everywhere at once. . . . \u00a0It was impossibly bright: it was like a million welders\u2019 lamps all blazing at once. \u00a0And right in the middle of my amazement came a prosaic thought, probably born of some biology lecture back at the university: \u00a0\u201cI\u2019m glad I don\u2019t have physical eyes at this moment,\u201d I thought. \u00a0\u201cThis light would destroy the retina in a tenth of a second.\u201d<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

No, I corrected myself, not the light.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

He.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

He would be too bright to look at. \u00a0For now I saw that it was not light but a Man who had entered the room, or rather, a Man made out of light. . . .<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The instant I perceived Him, a command formed itself in my mind. \u00a0\u201cStand up!\u201d \u00a0The words came from inside me, yet they had an authority my mere thoughts had never had. \u00a0I got to my feet, and as I did came the stupendous certainty: You are in the presence of the Son of God.<\/strong> \u00a0(Dr. George Ritchie<\/a>, cited at 22-23)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

I have no idea what the next life will be like. \u00a0Whatever I saw was only \u2014 from the doorway, so to speak. \u00a0But it was enough to convince me totally of two things from that moment on. \u00a0One, that our consciousness does not cease with physical death \u2014 that it becomes in fact keener and more aware than ever. \u00a0And two, that how we spend our time on earth, the kind of relationships that we build, is vastly, infinitely more important than we can know.<\/strong> \u00a0(Dr. George Ritchie<\/a>, cited at 24-25)<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 \u00a0 Over the next while, at intervals, I\u2019m going to extract some marked passages from John Burke, Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God\u2019s Promises, and the Exhilarating Future That Awaits You (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2015). \u00a0I hope that you\u2019ll enjoy them as I have. \u00a0 If you read history, you will find that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n"The most real thing that's ever happened to me"<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"    Over the next while, at intervals, I'm going to extract some marked passages from John Burke, Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/10\/the-most-real-thing-thats-ever-happened-to-me.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""The most real thing that's ever happened to me"\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"    Over the next while, at intervals, I'm going to extract some marked passages from John Burke, Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/10\/the-most-real-thing-thats-ever-happened-to-me.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-10-31T03:28:18+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/06\/800px-Cloud_in_the_sunlight.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/10\/the-most-real-thing-thats-ever-happened-to-me.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/10\/the-most-real-thing-thats-ever-happened-to-me.html\",\"name\":\"\\\"The most real thing that's ever happened to me\\\"\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-10-31T03:28:18+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-10-31T03:28:18+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\"    Over the next while, at intervals, I'm going to extract some marked passages from John Burke, Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/10\/the-most-real-thing-thats-ever-happened-to-me.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/10\/the-most-real-thing-thats-ever-happened-to-me.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/10\/the-most-real-thing-thats-ever-happened-to-me.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“The most real thing that’s ever happened to me”\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"The most real thing that's ever happened to me\"","description":"    Over the next while, at intervals, I'm going to extract some marked passages from John Burke, Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/10\/the-most-real-thing-thats-ever-happened-to-me.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"The most real thing that's ever happened to me\"","og_description":"    Over the next while, at intervals, I'm going to extract some marked passages from John Burke, Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/10\/the-most-real-thing-thats-ever-happened-to-me.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2018-10-31T03:28:18+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2017\/06\/800px-Cloud_in_the_sunlight.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/10\/the-most-real-thing-thats-ever-happened-to-me.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/10\/the-most-real-thing-thats-ever-happened-to-me.html","name":"\"The most real thing that's ever happened to me\"","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-10-31T03:28:18+00:00","dateModified":"2018-10-31T03:28:18+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":"    Over the next while, at intervals, I'm going to extract some marked passages from John Burke, Imagine Heaven: Near-Death Experiences, God's","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/10\/the-most-real-thing-thats-ever-happened-to-me.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/10\/the-most-real-thing-thats-ever-happened-to-me.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2018\/10\/the-most-real-thing-thats-ever-happened-to-me.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“The most real thing that’s ever happened to me”"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66834"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66834\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}