Sensing Another World

Sensing Another World

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me. John 10:28

One of my favorite geriatric patients was a sweet lady who was petite but had the manners and voice of royalty. She was very precise in everything she said and did. When Annemarie arrived for her appointment, she took a seat in the exam room and smoothed her skirt so there wasn’t a wrinkle across her lap. She seemed more regal than country.

“I’m ninety-two years old, Dr. Anderson. My body is wearing out. I can’t hear very well—just a little ringing, a bit like tiny church bells. And I can’t see much these days. Everything is hazy with a rainbow around it.”

“How are you getting around?” I asked.

“The gravity of this world seems heavier to me these days, as if it is pulling me down. I find it hard to walk without a cane or a crutch in the purest sense of the word. But with all this, I know that God is with me, and I will not perish.”

“I’m tracking with you, Annemarie. I clearly understand what you’re saying.”

As she became increasingly blind and deaf to the things of this world, she attuned her spirit to see, hear, and begin living in eternity.

“I’m here today to tell you that when my heart stops, I do not—repeat, I do not—want anyone to try to restart it. If I wake up from being dead, I will be quite upset.”

“Don’t worry, Annemarie. I think that when we finally get a glimpse of heaven, that is all we want. If God is calling us forward, nothing on this side of eternity can pull us back. But we will make sure that you have a do-not-resuscitate order in your chart. And we will honor your wishes.”

TODAY’S RX

The very young and the very old seem to have more clarity of heaven than those of us in the middle.

God, help me to draw closer to you every day of my life. Keep me in tune with your Word so that I may live according to your will. Grow my love for you as I experience more of your blessings.