Sunday, February 17, 2008

Doctor's Office Reading

Last Sunday, Sean Hannity in his personal TV show, "Hannity's America" interviewed Pastor Don Piper, the author of "90 Minutes in Heaven". I won't be reviewing it formally since I can't make up my mind whether I believe he actually spent 90 minutes in Heaven after a horrific crash. He claims to have been raised from the dead by a preacher who felt the Lord wanted him to pray over him at the crash scene.
I don't doubt such things are possible, I just can't make up my mind in Piper's case. I don't know him well enough. One thing which made me doubt was the fact that he was certainly not full of God's grace during his long time of suffering. I know we are fortunate as Catholics to have the inspiring examples of the saints, the comfort of Our Lady in the rosary, and the inestimable honor of receiving Jesus' Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity in the Holy Eucharist. We have the example and the intimacy with the crucified Christ to be able to unite our sufferings with Him on the cross. Don Piper, as a Baptist certainly has the Scripture, "If you want to become my disciple, take up your cross and follow ME", but for someone who has experienced the peace and joy of Heaven, he didn't seem to understand the purpose of suffering in " making up what is lacking in the suffering of Christ".
These thoughts were going through my mind in the doctor's office this morning, as I waited some time to be seen. I have some kind of lower respitory infection, and am traveling to visit the schools in Connecticut tomorrow, so I wanted to be sure it wasn't serious.
The doctor was a woman about my age, who was curious about the book I had next to me on the examination table. I was happy to say I like the book but was still making up my mind about it's veracity, and we began to discuss our faith, schools for our children, CS Lewis, inner peace and how to recapture it once it's lost. It was an amazingly deep discussion for the situation, and we nearly forgot the burning in my chest which brought me there. I treasure my faith, and for that reason am considering leaving Long Island, my childhood home, to seek a place which will help my family grown closer to God. It was a blessed opportunity to be able to discuss that with someone who was seeking the same.
I wish her God's grace to bring her heart home to Him.

No comments: