You prayed. I am here.

A few days ago, I watched the movie "90 Minutes in Heaven." It is based on a book written by Pastor Don Piper about his near-death experience right after a car accident. I wasn't drawn to the movie because of the word "heaven" in the title, but because of the mention of a car accident. I felt that his pain might be similar to my own experience.

 

Here is the plot of the movie: On January 18, 1989, Baptist pastor Don Piper was returning home after attending a ministerial conference in Texas when his car collided with a prison transport truck. He suffered severe injuries to his chest and both legs and died on the spot. Paramedics arrived at the scene and confirmed that Pastor Piper had died, so they covered the car with a large waterproof tarp and waited for the coroner. Then, another pastor who happened to pass by asked the paramedics for permission to remove part of the tarp, and he began praying and singing a hymn while crying for Piper. Suddenly, he heard Piper's voice singing along with him, and he was astonished. After being dead for 90 minutes, Piper miraculously revived.

 

According to Piper, he immediately went to heaven after dying and witnessed astonishingly beautiful sights. He met deceased family members, including his great-grandmother, and joined a heavenly choir marching towards the gates of heaven, but then he was brought back to this world.

 

After being revived and spending several months in the hospital, Piper longed to return to heaven to escape the painful reality, and he gave up the will to live. He even refused medical help and visits from friends and family. However, with persuasion from his loving wife, caring friends, and a respected senior pastor, he began cooperating with the medical staff and actively participating in rehabilitation.

 

Having experienced a similar accident, losing one leg, and going through a painful recovery process, I could understand his desire to escape reality. Even though I occasionally suffer from phantom pain, I struggle to explain the intense pain I experienced upon waking from my coma.

 

One day, after being discharged from the hospital and confined to a wheelchair at home, Piper shared his experience with a close pastor friend who visited him. "I went to heaven during the 90 minutes I was dead," he said. "Have you told anyone else about this?" asked the pastor. "No, you are the first one I’m telling."  Piper replied. "Why haven't you shared it with anyone?"  the pastor asked."I was afraid others would think I was strange, and I also wanted to keep this mysterious experience to myself."

 

Similarly, I have memories of my two-month coma, but I haven't shared them in detail with others. Although I was in a coma for a long time, I hadn't stopped breathing entirely. I had vivid memories of some dreams, which I attribute to being in a comatose state. I didn't think anyone would believe my experience as a near-death experience, so I thought it might be better to call them dreams.

 

In my coma, I often found myself walking alone somewhere. I never saw deceased family members or friends; I was always alone. I walked multiple times on a mountain similar to the one in front of my childhood home, filled with wildflowers. I climbed mountains covered in tall trees and grass. I didn't meet any holy figures or ancestors, nor did I hear any heavenly music, so I can't claim to have seen heaven. But the beautiful scenes I saw in my coma sometimes vividly come to mind.

 

Returning to the movie, the day Piper, with corrective devices on both legs and in a wheelchair, visited the church he pastored for the first time after the accident was memorable. Near the end of the service, the congregation asked him, sitting in the back, to share his thoughts. With great effort, he stood up and spoke just two sentences before immediately sitting down.

"You prayed.”…… "I am here."

 

Ten years have passed since the accident, but I remain grateful to those who prayed for me and helped me. These words resonate deeply with me and echo the sentiment I carry in my heart.

"Thanks to your prayers, I am alive today."

 

(December 3, 2015)