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Miranda Erickson

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To Heaven and Back

by Mary C. Neal

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Miranda Erickson said: " To Heaven and Back by Dr. Mary C. Neal was published recently in 2011. It is an autobiography that revolves around faith- or to be more specific, Christian faith. This book is the first she has written, though its description of her "near-death" expe To Heaven and Back by Dr. Mary C. Neal was published recently in 2011. It is an autobiography that revolves around faith- or to be more specific, Christian faith. This book is the first she has written, though its description of her "near-death" experience is similar to those of other stories of ear-death experiences. It is an inspirational true story of Mary's account with death, Heaven, and life again. While on a kayaking trip in remote Chile, Mary's boat got pinned under some rocks on the bottom of the river which held her under the surface of the water long enough to drown. Though her acquaintances recovered her body and she ended up living, she tells of her experience of the time when she essentially "died". From here, Mary continues to tell us of how this event had changed her life not only physically, but also spiritually and mentally. Now that Mary has such a close relationship with God, she has found a new way to look at things. “I find it interesting that when people describe how terribly awful some events or circumstances are, it is rarely the people directly involved who are doing this describing… My point is this: interpreting something that happens as being inherently “good” or “bad” is entirely a matter of perspective.” (Neal 102) She goes on to say how we should bring out the joy or the positives out of situations and how we do not know the purpose of other people on this earth, so bringing out the negatives will never get us far. Throughout the book, she continues to describe more low points in her life along with high points. With each of these points came a lesson she had learned. I found that this book was interesting to read because of all the ideas it proposed on ways to think about situations. Hearing about Mary’s experiences led me to reflect on my life and really connect with the book. Though the read was relatively easy, there was great meaning behind what the author had to say. I liked this book because I found it was interesting to hear of someone’s take on death after they have already died once. This is not your average novel. I would suggest this book for anyone who enjoys inspirational true stories or ones about God. ...more "

Dec 07, 2012 05:31AM · see review