Spiritual Christianity 2Nd Edition: Spiritual Direction to the Holy Spirit

Spiritual

CHRISTIANITY

WILLIAM M. BEECHAM

2ND EDITION

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© 2013 by William M. Beecham. All rights reserved.

No part of this manuscript may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author.

The Scripture quotations contained herein are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright (c) 1989 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the U.S.A., and are used by permission. All rights reserved.

Published by AuthorHouse 08/05/2013

ISBN: 978-1-4918-0197-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-0196-3 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4918-0198-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013913757

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(Religion, doctrinal theology, salvation)

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CONTENTS

Preface

Author’s Preface To 2Nd Edition

Author’s Preface To 1St Edition

Chapter 1 Spiritual Christianity

Chapter 2 Christianity As Jesus Described It

Chapter 3 Mysteries Of Life

Chapter 4 Path To The Holy Spirit

Chapter 5 Spiritual Acts

Chapter 6 Relating to Jesus

Chapter 7 Repent

Chapter 8 Give Away

Chapter 9 Follow

Chapter 10 Marriage

Chapter 11 Raising Children

Chapter 12 Coping With Self-Reliant People

Chapter 13 Memorize!

Chapter 14 Baptism

Chapter 15 Appendix

About The Author

Endnotes

Preface

Dr. Beecham’s book Spiritual Christianity can well be compared to that great spiritual classic, The Spiritual Exercises of St. Ignatius of Loyola. St. Ignatius was the founder of the Society of Jesus (The Jesuits.) Some similarities are particularly striking, and reflecting on them may help to grasp the particular kind of book that Dr. Beecham is offering us.

St. Ignatius wrote from his own profound personal experiences in prayer especially those during his time at Manresa. Dr. Beecham, as he testifies in his introduction, has written also from his own long and deep spiritual experiences.

Many people who take up The Spiritual Exercises are disappointed because it is a rather dry set of instructions originally meant for the director or mentor guiding another person making a spiritual retreat. Dr. Beecham also writes out of his own profound spiritual journey and offers his own set of directions that can help us reach our spiritual goals in life.

Both works are therefore not books in the usual sense of a book that can be read or studied, rather they are directions and reflections on how to live authentically as God originally intended us to live and so to grow towards what Dr. Beecham calls ‘spiritual maturity.’

Both works, therefore, constantly call us to reflect on scripture passages from the Old and New Testaments and invite us to meditate lovingly and slowly on these texts and not just read them and pass on too quickly. St. Ignatius always draws attention to the profound truth that it is not quantity that satisfies the person but quality. Dr. Beecham’s subtext is all about the quality of a person’s life.

A key question is: What is the meaning of Love? He insists that love can’t be defined or even adequately described. Love is a quality; and in so far as we share that quality we are ‘Images of God’ reflecting in our own unique way some aspect of the Blessed Undivided Mystery of Love that we call the Holy Trinity (Godhead).

Dr. Beecham points to how often the Bible references the ‘Image of God’ and following this Biblical theme his ‘book’ is inviting us to follow the difficult path leading to spiritual maturity.

A key insight of St. Ignatius shared by Dr. Beecham is the pivotal role of desire in our lives. Ignatius insists that the person intending to pray should explicitly tell God what she or he wants (desires) in this time of prayer.

The crucial question in life is to answer at every moment for myself: What do I want now? As a clinical psychologist, Dr. Beecham is able to spell out for us how our desires are central to spiritual growth.

Philosophically speaking, Dr. Beecham, in the tradition of Plato, describes ‘reality’, that which we know through our common sense, as an illusion. Even our ‘so called free will’ is an illusion because we have no control over anything except forming our ‘desires’. We are free only in so far as we can generate personal wants or desires. However, we are greatly distracted by false desires for a ‘reality’, which seem so satisfying and so ‘real,’ but these are mostly illusions and so we often choose to follow paths that lead us into great spiritual and psychological confusion.

True desires lead us to ‘actuality’, which basically means to God. The bottom line, to use a rather banal phrase, is that all we can do is to want God in our lives and God does the rest.

The key spiritual lesson that is taught by all great mystics, and which is enshrined as Step 3 in the Alcoholics Anonymous tradition is that of ‘surrender to our higher Power’ as we know it. For us Christians, surrender to God is all we are capable of but surrendering is a long and difficult path.

Dr. Beecham’s book points us in the right direction of choosing Love at every moment.

Fr. Michael T. Kelly, SJ

Lusaka, Zambia

Author’s Preface to 2 nd Edition

The first edition—written nearly 10 years ago—flowed from passions after experiencing Jesus. This second edition reflects a bit more maturity along that path. Heaven truly is available to all who ask for it. Jesus is far more loving and generous than ever I could have imagined.

I experience the Holy Spirit as here-and-now, and with me. Living with Jesus is interactive. The relationship is alive and interesting. Jesus’ presence in my life has brought me so much joy and peace. My days look routine on the outside. Spiritually, Jesus has opened up many new revelations at a pace according to my readiness.

My daily work still focuses on helping others. Jesus has shown me much about the processes that give the ego a spiritual rebirth. Anyone willing to surrender all pretenses of individuality may join Jesus in relationship. All may become heirs to all the promises Jesus made to us. I can testify that this is so.

Jesus’ basic message has two parts. The first is that God lives with us again. The second part involves how we must think and act while living in God’s presence. Jesus offers to be our guide who teaches us about Heavenly manners.

God created human beings in separation from God. God sent Jesus to prepare the way for mankind to rejoin a life in God’s presence, which is eternal life in Heaven. Jesus does all the spiritual work. Through the coordination of willful desiring followed by surrender, Jesus re-shapes our egos into more perfect images of God. We need no expertise about these changes, except for a willingness to be honest about our egos.

However, honesty about our egos is not easy. Growing up human is a poor preparation for eternal life in the courts of Heaven. Spiritual rebirth, while Jesus does the spiritual part, requires a great deal of effort on our human side of the relationship. Rebirth in spirit requires changes in personality and in personal consciousness itself. I went from a state of befuddled and earth-centered self-involvement to a state of spiritual sobriety. I had to let go of my haphazard ideas of happiness in order to accept Jesus’ will. Spiritual changes were difficult because I perceived the problems only in hindsight.

Spiritual sobriety is not so easy. I have learned that distractions have caused me more problems that anything else. Much of the content of this book may help others recognize the distractions. Much of the spiritual journey involves escaping to Jesus and thus avoiding problems.

Self is deep and complicated. Spiritual progress requires improving the structures of self in favor of spiritual solutions. Jesus helps those who ask; we must recognize just which help to ask for. Hint: Humbly ask Jesus to show you how to love.

Staying on the spiritual path is personal, but it does not require isolation. Jesus has shown me that growing closer to God not only does not require withdrawing from daily life, but the opposite was true for me. Engaging in the personal struggles to express love within relationships has proven most helpful. Loving relationships also seem essential to life in Jesus’ kingdom.

While a little bit may help, extended solitude really does not make the spiritual path any easier. A spiritual relationship with Jesus can happen easily in the midst of daily life, while going to work and while coming home every day to a family life. It is not the external events, but the inner meanings that make the difference. I hope others will take this to heart and try hard.

My journey started out in spiritual loneliness. Jesus saved me from spiritual loneliness by giving me a loving relationship with Heaven. The journey toward love is a journey from I to we. Jesus has led me to know, by living from love, that person-to-person relationships are essential to Heavenly companionship.

Marriage provides an excellent opportunity to prepare for Heaven. Couples who love Jesus and each other may experience both love and spiritual truths. I pray that the Lord might fill all loving relationships with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus, the Christ, continues to be my Lord and God. It is my great joy to be his servant. The Lord is generous, patient, and ever present. The Lord, through Revelations 3:20, made us a promise of eternal companionship. I can say that it is true; Jesus has kept that promise.

I pray for all, that Christ’s love may fill us all with the abundant life of the Holy Spirit.

Among my many blessings in life has been a loyal spouse. Linda, my wife of 25 years, has labored long and hard to make my daily life as comfortable and as smooth-flowing as her efforts could make them. Linda has helped me as well as many who have relied on us in their lives. She has put her hand to the details of our daily lives. She shared me with two book projects. She worked very hard and for her many good works I give thanks to God.

I thank Michael for his correspondence and the kind words of his generously worded preface. Brian’s interest and his suggestions about Biblical citations have been much appreciated. I thank Mary her support and encouragement. I thank those all who read the first edition for their love and support.

William M. Beecham

Boca Raton, FL

Easter, 2013

Author’s Preface to 1 st Edition

This is the book I wished I had been able to read 38 years ago. I have trod many if not all the steps along the spiritually Christian path that you can find described in the book. I have walked a few unnecessary paces down other paths as well.

At one point in my path I complained to God that it is just too hard to find out where the path is and how to follow it. I failed to notice at the time that the front door to the path of salvation is hidden in plain sight. Jesus is that doorway and the desire for his presence in my life opened the door.

This book is God’s answer to my complaint, though. Perhaps you can benefit.

Walking the path is HARD! If the spiritual path does not seem difficult, it is because you don’t understand the problem. The reader should know that, though steps can be described in a sentence, living them might take months or years of steady and ardent effort.

Do not give up. Set your heart on the goal of understanding and following the spiritually Christian path.

It is most important that you desire to walk the path. The right desire leads to unexpected insights and gems of wisdom that are little gifts from Jesus.

Trust your love for God and go wherever this love takes you. You fail only when you quit trying. Take heart. Keep going.

When you feel Jesus touch you—and he will come to all who desire him—all the sense of burden vanishes forever.

Yours truly in spiritual companionship,

William M. Beecham

Boca Raton, Florida

January 2004

www.spiritual-christianity.com

CHAPTER 1

Spiritual Christianity

By William M. Beecham

John 16:12-15 I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

Baptism of the Holy Spirit

I experienced a miracle when Jesus entered my life. Jesus healed my soul when I experienced Baptism of the Holy Spirit. I want everyone to know the wonder and joy of it. There are no words to describe it, although I want to try.

I had felt a general desire to love as the Great Commandment instructs. During 2003, I began reflecting on what it means to love. There are definitions of love that are comprehensive from the standpoint of human experience. We are human. We tend to form affectionate and ‘loving’ attachments with others, even with animals, especially when we are close to them day to day.

But, how does human love help me to love God? We do not see God, hear God, nor do we know God—we feel separate from God. Spiritual love for God puzzled me.

I began to take more seriously the commandment to love God. I was perplexed—humbled—when I realized that I had too little guidance about how to love God. Spiritual love to me was more of a noun than a verb.

Grace is an unmerited benefit, offered from God before we know the ways of Heaven. Grace from God gives us a chance to do things right. Grace gives sinners a chance to want the right wants in life. When we pray, it is his grace that we receive.

1 John 4:19 We love because he first loved us.

I thought about the lack of instructions about how to love. I thought about Jesus. I just started talking aloud, as though Jesus were listening. Really, I was grumbling about the dilemma. I quite earnestly described my problem:

Jesus, I want to love you and do not know what to do. If you want me to love you, please show me how, because I do not know how. And, I want to.

Jesus responded just at that moment. Boom! He touched me! I had not quite finished my sentence when he touched me. I felt love for Jesus and grace from Jesus. Wonderful, wonderful!

It was like an explosion within my consciousness, and I lost awareness of the world around me. My heart burst. I overflowed with wonder and delight. I didn’t know what to do next. I tried to love more, but my will failed me—I probably was out-of-body. My tears overcame me. I surrendered. There was no fear. Jesus loved me! I trusted him. It was so intense!

My eyes fill with tears again and again to this day as I recall it. I am amazed—totally blown away. I remember where I was standing.

Jesus came in to me. Jesus came to stay in my heart. Immediately, I felt connected to him. I felt safe. I felt loved. I felt peace. I felt Jesus touch me in my soul, not just for a moment, but a sustained touch.

John 3:3-5 Jesus answered him, Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above. Nicodemus said to him, How can anyone be born after having grown old? Can one enter a second time into the mother’s womb and be born? Jesus answered, Very truly, I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and Spirit.

Love became a verb for me. My life suddenly divided itself into before and after. It was better than a thousand beautiful sunrises. It was better than anything and everything.

I again appealed to Jesus, a day later. I prayed again, as before, that I wanted to love him and did not know how. Jesus touched me again, though the next time I felt calmer. There was a third time, then a fourth time… .

Pretty soon, I got to know Jesus’ presence as the Holy Spirit. Since then, I have lived my life in daily contact with the Holy Spirit. I cannot say I have become accustomed to the Lord’s full presence, but there are degrees of the Lord’s presence that make daily life manageable, from my point of view. The Lord’s presence can be totally overwhelming.

I am his servant and I know that none of this is about me. I like being Jesus’ servant. My work in the mental health field gave me lots of contact with others who were also asking for help. I found that Jesus would help others through me, provided that I practiced humility. Having met Jesus, I prayed,

Jesus, I humbly surrender all I thought I knew about happiness and success. I want to serve your truth.

I went about my business with renewed knowledge that Jesus is my friend. When I take a minute to reflect, I reflect on Jesus and again there he is. When I have a question, I ask Jesus and he tells me.

Now whenever I remember to look, Jesus is there. It takes just a second or two to clear my mind, and Jesus is there. He waits for me, and he smiles when I look. Gratitude still overcomes me and brings me to tears, sometimes lots of tears. Look at the abundance of grace, look at what God has done!

I know his presence by the love I feel, the warmth in my heart, and the sense of peace he gives me. I know his presence by the guidance he gives me. I know his presence by the truths he shows me. I know his presence by how he helps me to love others. I know his presence by the sense of purpose he gives, a sense of spiritual direction—he knows where he is going. Others told me they could hear God speaking through me. Others told me they have seen light coming from my face and around me.

I had felt alone during the previous moment. The Holy Spirit came in and my aloneness ended. Jesus is my friend who gives me what I want. Jesus had answered my questions totally and still answers them. Jesus is love, the Holy Spirit. He is Emmanuel and Messiah. He changed me from the inside; my consciousness no longer is alone.

Luke 24:31-32 Then their eyes were opened, and they recognized him; and he vanished from their sight.³² They said to each other, ‘Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road, while he was opening the scriptures to us?’

Jesus reveals the implications of Christianity in my life. Jesus teaches me what to want, and explains the implications of my wanting. I had felt the burning in my heart. I can ask Jesus, and my questions get answered. He teaches me gladly. Heavenly principles stand revealed. It all makes sense. He teaches me how to behave in the courts of Heaven.

Followers of Jesus may ask Jesus for help:

Jesus, if you are willing to teach me about love for you and for others, I want to know. I am willing to listen. I am willing to love.

I want to tell others, but only when others want to hear. I cannot teach like Jesus teaches. Jesus teaches in spirit using the language he gives to his angels. English is not like words that angels speak. I can only testify to it. I can recite the text of the Bible and claim some understanding. I cannot give the clarity and depth as Jesus does, but I can tell about it.

Here is an insight that helped me a great deal: All of the Kingdom of God operates by way of intentions. I realized that only my lack of heartfelt intentions had kept me from experiencing love for Jesus. When I, from my heart, stated the proper intention, I got the result I prayed for.

Intentions for this book

Eph. 3:14-19 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in Heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

I want to be a contemporary disciple of Jesus. It took a long time for me to realize that which now seems obvious: changing my intention—my wants—made my discipleship happen.

Approaching Baptism of the Holy Spirit should be the primary goal of all followers of Jesus. Baptism of the body merely indicates a willingness to approach Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

I had been baptized with water but was lacking as far as the Holy Spirit was concerned. I, though I had heard of it, did not know to want this baptism of the spirit. My intentions had not been personal, not heartfelt.

I cannot know what my life would have been if earlier I had been properly instructed in the technique of changing my wants. My wants are the work-product of my uses of free will—my responsibilities. Perhaps I had been told, but I had missed it. Here, however, is an effort to save others from similar failings.

Perhaps, I was one of those rocky-road or thorny-field persons who had neither eyes to see nor ears to hear. Jesus has now shepherded me to fertile soil where the Holy Spirit has born fruit in me. What changed in me? What would have helped my ego to come sooner to life in the Spirit? I asked lots of questions of the Lord and some of the answers may help others.

A disciple teaches others and spreads the Lord’s gospel. I want to enjoy loving companionship among apostles, disciples, and followers of Jesus. It enriches all to have more love.

Perhaps, and with Jesus’ guidance always, it may be possible for others to find and to follow. Below is the text I wish I had read at age 19 years. I offer it with my best wishes for Christian discipleship to all who struggle on that path toward Heaven. This prayer may help:

Jesus if you brought my eyes to these pages as a way to guide me, then let me experience your help as you intend.

Jesus will open the world of spiritual things for anyone who asks with heartfelt desires and with humility. I know that appreciating spiritual things is difficult, because now I see many people who do not appreciate things of the Holy Spirit. Jesus went to the most extreme lengths to bring the problem to the world’s attention. Yet even in his time, some got it and some did not.

I cannot do better than Jesus did, but I can phrase the invitations in contemporary language. Always, I seek to serve Jesus and steadily I ask Jesus for guidance. Perhaps a sincere follower also will feel Jesus’ guidance.

John 6:44 No one can come to me unless drawn by the Father who sent me; and I will raise that person up on the last day.

Let us all seek the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.

All existence and glory belong to Jesus.

CHAPTER 2

Christianity as

Jesus described it

Mark 1:15 and saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news.

John 8:13 Then Jesus said to the Jews who had believed in him, If you continue in my word, you are truly my disciples; and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.

1 Cor. 15:1-5 Now I would remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, in which also you stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I proclaimed to you—unless you have come to believe in vain. For I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn had received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

1 Timothy 3:16 All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness

First of all, I want to thank God for the Bible. Our Biblical texts provide a standard for truth and spiritual guidance. Whatever spiritual experiences we may have, looking to Biblical support and confirmation has meant so much to me. We may pray:

Jesus, we thank you for our Bibles, your written Word. You have given us spiritual wealth. Please give us the desires and humility to appreciate your revelations, according to your will for us.

According to our Bible, Jesus invited people to follow him in an auditory call during his lifetime on earth. Jesus now reigns in his spiritual kingdom, and from Heaven he calls us with his still, small voice. Now, the call to discipleship in our modern era is a spiritual call.

Jesus came to teach because the pathway to Heaven is impossible to find without Jesus’ help. Jesus stills teaches. Hearing his spiritual call takes desires and humility.

It helps to know what to desire, where the path lies, and how to follow it. If there were road signs along the way to Heaven, several might read this way:

•   God made creation through acts of separation: God separated light from darkness; sea from dry land; waters from waters; Eve from Adam (the rib), and finally God drove Adam & Eve from the Garden of Eden. God created people to experience separation from God.

•   God granted mankind just enough willpower so that we may ask God to end our separation. We may choose to reconnect with partners while living, and we may choose to reconnect with God for eternity. It takes willpower to choose loving connections with God and with others.

•   Everyone rejoins God at death as we re-awaken into a spiritual world that God totally rules. The quality of this eternal life depends upon the personal uses of willpower during living on earth before death. If a person did not want to love God in living, then there will be no love with God for eternity.

•   Willpower ends at death, so the acts of willpower must occur before the end of life. There are no do-overs, no mulligans in Heaven. The consequences of a person’s uses of willpower during life follow each person to the next life.

•   The Kingdom of God is a spiritual kingdom, and spiritual means of consciousness. People must learn ways to live within this kingdom because it is difficult for humans to engage the tasks of spiritual love. God loved us first and sent his son, Jesus, to help us.

It sounds easy. A person needs to become a follower of Jesus who offers eternal happiness to anyone who is willing to love God and to love others. Jesus and love open the doors to Heaven.

Jesus, we want to live in your kingdom forever. Please guide us toward true spiritual life.

Followers have a duty to perform in order to pass successfully into God’s kingdom at the end of physical life. Somehow, a follower must love God and others.

The Holy Spirit offers to help. Jesus wants to shepherd his contemporary followers into Heaven. Jesus needs cooperation from his followers. Cooperation may include developing desires to go to Heaven and humility to accept spiritual rebirth.

The Holy Spirit is the missing ingredient that is beyond our understanding and beyond our control. Followers can make many efforts to approach Jesus. But, the gifts of the Holy Spirit come from God, and the gifts of the Holy Spirit remain under God’s control. We act upon what we know, according to wisdom from above. We ask, and we wait for the Holy Spirit.

It is Jesus’ contemporary spiritual presence that makes the biggest difference. Jesus’ life, two thousand years ago, made a spectacular and unparalleled statement about Heaven. Jesus lived, died horribly, and rose from the dead. Jesus explained and taught leaving mankind with records of his life and its purposes—our Bibles. Jesus’ Spirit lives among us today, available to all just for the asking. A sincere follower might pray:

Jesus, let me hear you and see you. Let me experience through the Bible the lessons you taught during your years on earth. Let me accept your presence in my life.

Jesus put much effort into explaining the problems to his followers. Jesus explained the solutions using parables and indirect explanations. Jesus acknowledged that not everybody gets it, at least not at first. Always, Jesus continued to teach and made the offers to anyone who seemed interested.

John 3:8 The wind blows where it chooses, and you hear the sound of it, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.

Jesus calls us. What does a successful apostolic response look like? A sincere and heartfelt love for God and for others defines that duty—except that instructions about how to love are missing. A follower must want Heaven. A follower of Jesus must make such a heartfelt quality of prayer that God accepts the petition. It starts with saying, I want to go:

Jesus, I want to go to Heaven. Please show me how.

Further, a follower must understand the problem in order for the prayer to be sincere. Wanting something for the wrong reason does not work. This is where things get difficult.

John 4:24-25 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. The woman said to him, I know that Messiah is coming (who is called Christ). When he comes, he will proclaim all things to us.

Understanding the problem is not so easy, either. Christianity, as Jesus described it, lives in spirit and in truth. The human response must be performed in spirit and in truth. Explanations become vague after that. It is not that Jesus was withholding information. Rather, the problems of finding the spiritual and true parts of human nature remain difficult. Well, not difficult for Jesus, but just with the human self. Jesus repeatedly engaged his hearers to think and to be honest with self. Jesus will bless anyone who asks for a spiritual life.

Spiritual consciousness raising

What is a spiritual act? What is a spiritual event? How does a contemporary disciple achieve a spiritual accomplishment? These are the questions I asked of Jesus. Jesus gave me some answers, and I want to share them.

Which part of the human self lives forever? The part that survives is the part to focus on. The soul lives forever, and the soul includes a record of every act of willpower. This requires some consciousness-raising. A committed follower might ask Jesus:

Jesus, what is my soul? Where is my soul? What do I need to know about my soul?

Consciousness-raising starts with new and important information. If a person learns that the soul lives forever in Heaven, a dedicated disciple may look around for that part of self. Exactly where is that part of self? There is an answer, but it requires more explanation.

Those who practice love are promised Heaven. We all can do a better job of loving. Who, after all, loves Jesus enough? It is consciousness-raising to want to love Jesus more. How much more? Such questions require prayers to Jesus, who may answer directly.

Heaven is worth the hard work to get there. What is the status quo, the starting point for this journey toward Heaven? Perhaps a contemporary follower could review those parts of life that generate the most interest and passion. Perhaps a follower could create or redirect those passions into an urgency to love Jesus. Vivid life experiences sometimes provoke dreams. Perhaps one could so desire to love God and others such that this passion provokes dreams about it. A follower, reflecting on intense personal moments, could then declare in a heartfelt manner that I want to love Jesus more than that.

A near-death experience

Luke 12:15-21 And he said to them, Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions. Then he told them a parable: The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich toward God.

What does one take to the next life? What would it take for life after death to be meaningful? It would be necessary to awaken there, in the next world, with continuity of a personal and distinct sense of self. If a person cannot recognize himself or herself in the next world, continuity then breaks down.

I have a story to tell about continuity of consciousness. I had spinal surgery (L4-L5) in 1992, and the spinal anesthetic impaired my capacity to breathe—I was told that ‘high blocks’ happen often. As I stopped breathing while in surgery, I awakened in distress. I realized that I was unable to breathe; it to me felt like a huge weight was on my back, too heavy to lift. I had a couple of moments before I died. The next thing I knew, I was standing beside my body. I had died! I felt total continuity of self; I still was I.

Jesus, why am I afraid of dying? Please comfort me and let me know how you will treat me after I die.

I looked around and recognized my body on the table. I saw the surgeon. I saw my anesthesiologist, who was starting to move. At the same moment a tunnel opened in the ceiling, and I started going through the tunnel. Though I did not see this part, I know that my anesthesiologist began ventilating me, and I came back to life. While I felt peaceful, I do not recommend such experiences as a way to learn about Heaven.

How can another person benefit from my near-death experience? I have a suggestion. There was a part of my consciousness that I lost at my death and another part that I kept. Each person has those two parts.

I think it was my soul that stood by the surgery table, watching. Would it make sense to look around, inside of self, to discern which part is what? There must be an inside self and an outside self. My outside self died, and my inside self lived. A sincere modern disciple of Jesus might pray:

Jesus, please let me know the truth of my soul. Please reveal to me the part of me that will live forever.

True spiritual growth happens with the soul and is all about the soul. My soul survived my physical death. I was conscious of self as usual but was unable to exert any willpower. I could not approach my anesthesiologist to urge him to save me. I had no willpower. While I saw what was happening, I could not act willfully on what was happening to me. I was a witness only. I left my willpower in my outside, body-self.

Soul and body are separate. I can say that my body and my soul are two very distinctive parts of me. This means that brain cells burn glucose because of the soul.

I find it very easy to be one place in body and another in spirit, and I do this all the time. It is a birthright, a gift of the spirit. While attending a physical church on earth, a disciple’s soul simultaneously can be attending a spiritual church within God’s Kingdom. The trick involves surrender to God and true trust in God, with humility before God.

Jesus, I want to give you all the influence over me that you need to make me into a true Christian.

Personal choices determine the soul’s path. Jesus wants all to know what choices exist and how to make those choices. Each follower has just enough willpower to make the choices.

While I did not exert willpower during the moments of my near-death experience, I carried with me the history of all I had ever wanted. There were things I had wanted to do. But, separated from my body, I just no longer could reflect upon those choices. I could act only on what I already wanted, but no further.

Jesus, please let me understand what I can do in my life to bring me the Heavenly joy that you promised?

Communicating these points today seems easier than communication may have seemed during Jesus’ times. Near-death experience stories have entered popular culture. Today’s disciples probably are familiar with the Biblical story and some of its meanings. What still may be missing from language are words that make acts of loving clear and actionable.

1 Cor. 16:22 Let anyone be accursed who has no love for the Lord. Our Lord, come!

What about the word, love? What is love? How can the soul participate in love? The soul must become acquainted with love of God and love for others. The soul must contain dedicated intentions to practice love. A follower can know that love flows from Heaven to earth. What must a soul do to be prepared to receive love?

Jesus, if you made me this way, why do I have to change? I want to do whatever I need to do to love.

Love has everything to do with relationship. Jesus pointed to love as the way into his kingdom. Love makes the highest quality of a relationship. Relationships with Jesus and relationships among others compose the Kingdom of Heaven.

When a married couple cooperates spiritually in loving one another, great joy often fills their marital lives. That love parallels the great joy that can develop as mankind lovingly cooperates in a relationship with Jesus—bridegroom to bride. Husband and wife each must trust in and surrender to their relationship; mankind must surrender to the relationship with Jesus. When a loving couple surrenders their loving relationship to the Lord, then the Lord may endow that relationship as his temple.

Loving closeness with Jesus always is a good thing. How is this done? Heavenly community members, all of who are close to Jesus, live according to the Great Commandment. Apostles, disciples, and followers of Jesus offer love to Jesus and to love others. Christianity, as Jesus may have intended it, may mean wanting Jesus to add celestial love to all relationships. A true Christian lives these choices day-by-day.

Jesus beckons each disciple along the path to a Heavenly life. Jesus invites his followers toward loving relationships with Jesus and love among brothers and sisters in Christ.

Jesus, help me trust you to guide me to the Heavenly happiness you have promised to those who love.

God created earthly experiences for mankind. Mankind, reflecting God while in flesh, has a mind and a will. God’s mind is big while mankind’s mind is small. God’s will is big. Mankind reflects God’s capacity for will through mankind’s capacity to want and use willpower.

Gen. 1:27 So God created humankind in his image,

in the image of God he created them;

male and female he created them.

Willpower itself is a quality reflected in mankind from God. Willpower means the prerogative to declare, I want what I want because I want it. Willpower means a capacity to want without reference to past or future—without any sense of external cause. Willpower can be used equally for good or evil.

Why questions about willpower make no sense. Rather, the answer to Why? is willpower itself. Offering logical explanations imply that it is not willpower but external forces (situational demands) that provoked the choices, perhaps even against the will.

We can use the verb to want as the generic term for the element in mankind that reflects God’s will. Taken as a verb, ‘to want’ has synonyms including ‘to will,’ ‘to choose,’ ‘to intend,’ ‘to wish,’ ‘to prefer,’ ‘to select,’ ‘to value,’ as well as others.

Mankind, at death,