I saw fire burning in God’s eyes — a “righteous anger,” as Christians like to call it. His mouth began to open. A vacuum of air seemed to funnel past me. He was either about to speak or He was about to vaporize me with some kind of holy hellfire, like a dragon incinerating an unworthy knight. Lucky for me, a voice, not fire, bellowed forth … “STOP TELLING PEOPLE I DON’T EXIST,” He roared.” — Joshua Steven Grisetti, from the book God in My Head
What would God’s first words be to you if you actually met God, face to face?
This month at the Patheos Book Club, we’re talking about an intriguing new book, God in My Head: The True Story of an Ex-Christian Who Accidentally Met God. Part spiritual memoir, part Near-Death-Experience (NDE), God in My Head is author Josh Grisetti’s account of his extremely close encounter with the Creator of the Universe while on an accidental drug overdose in the dentist’s chair. Seriously, another NDE book, you say? I know, I had the same initial reaction, but what makes this book particularly compelling and fresh is that unlike many NDE books, it’s told with a healthy dose of humility, humor, and irreverence. It’s kind of an everyman’s near-death-experience tale. And it’s extremely well-written and entertaining, at that.
Grisetti says he never intended to tell his story, but felt compelled to after reading other NDE books, such as Heaven is For Real and Proof of Heaven, which set out to prove God’s existence. He wanted to share his very different experience of his God-encounter, for people out there who might be a bit more like him.
I caught up with Grisetti via Skype recently to ask him what his experience of the Almighty was really like (and why we should believe him!). Our video conversation is below. Check out the Patheos Book Club to read an excerpt from the book and what other Patheos bloggers are saying about God in my Head.