Heaven -- Christianity; Near-death experiences -- Religious aspects; Private revelations
"'That rises to our sight,
Sweet fields arrayed in living green, and rivers of delight.'"
As we passed onward, in looking down we began to see many suburban
villages, similar to that in which our own happy homes were situated.
Among many of them there was an unfamiliar air, and the architecture of
the buildings in many respects seemed quite different from our own. I
suggested to my sister that we drop downward a little. On doing so, we
soon realized what caused this apparent difference in the architecture
and surroundings. Where our homes were situated we were surrounded by
people we had known and loved on earth, and of our own nationality.
Many of these villages over which we were now passing we found were
formed from what, to us, would be termed of foreign nations, and each
village retained some of the peculiarities of its earth-life, and
these, to us, were naturally unfamiliar. We recognized again the
wisdom and goodness of the Father in thus allowing friends of the same
nationality to be located near each other in heaven, as on earth.
As we still drifted onward, in passing over an exquisitely beautiful
valley, between low hills of the most enchanting verdure, we saw a
group of people seated upon the ground in a semicircle. They seemed to
be hundreds in number, and in their midst a man was standing who,
apparently, was talking to them. Something familiar, and yet
unfamiliar, in the scene attracted us, and I said, "Let us go nearer,
and hear, if possible, what he is saying, and see who these people are."
Upon doing this we found the people to resemble in a great measure our
own Indian tribes; their dress, in a manner, corresponding to that worn
upon earth, though so etherealized as to be surpassingly beautiful.
But the dusky faces and the long black hair still remained. The faces,
with intense interest depicted on each, were turned toward the man who,
we could see, was talking to them, and, looking upon him, we saw at
once that he belonged to the Anglo-Saxon race. In a whisper of
surprise I said to my sister:
"Why, he is a missionary!"
As so often seemed to me to happen in that experience, when a surprise
or a difficulty presented itself, there was always some one near to
answer and enlighten us. And so we found on this occasion that our
instructor was beside us ready to answer any surprise or question that
might be asked. He said at once:
"Yes, you are right. This is a missionary who gave his life to what on
earth were called the heathen. He spent many years in working for them
and enlightening those who sat in darkness, with the result, as you see
before you, of bringing hundreds into the kingdom of the Master. But,
as you will naturally suppose, they have much to learn, and here he
still gathers them about him, and day by day leads them higher and
higher into the blessed life."
"Are there many such," I asked, "doing this work in this beautiful
realm?"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account