Risk

Is it wrong to be impulsive? To act as you wish, to say as you wish? If only it was that easy; to be able to say how you truly feel inside without bearing the consequences. What's worth the risk? How do you determine what is? Is that why drunk calling is so common, to do as you feel while being able to give yourself an excuse for it? Perhaps it depends on the person, but in my short lived experience it seems apparent that being rational provides better results. But what if life isn't about being rational, maybe life is about taking chances; taking risks on what you find important. Is it selfish to say how you feel? How many angles must you consider before being able to speak your mind? Having so many factors involved in just saying what you want, it seems logical to simply keep your mouth shut. Which is where one problem ends and another begins. I believe life is full of forks in the road and it's not always about the choice you make but more of the reason as to why you chose that choice. Perhaps then we can learn just a little bit more about who we are.

My glimpse of eternity

My Glimpse of Eternity

By: Betty Malz

Unborn Son


On October 9, 1985, RaNelle Wallace and her husband tried to fly their single engine airplane through a snowstorm in central Utah. They crashed against the side of a mountain, causing the plane to catch on fire. RaNelle Wallace was Burnt over 75% of her body, in severe pain she struggled for her life. She climbed down the treacherous mountainside to seek for help. After giving all that was left, she finally let go of her life when the paramedic said, "Stop fighting, well do all the work for you!" RaNelle Wallace died, six hours after the plane crashed. She made a journey to the other side, having her life reviewed and meeting her grandmother. Her grandmother showed her paradise, but urged RaNelle to return to her body. In this excerpt from her book The Burning Within, RaNelle is faced with a decision to stay or leave.

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Grandma waved her arm and the ground opened before us. I looked and saw a person lying on a hospital bed surrounded by doctors and nurses. The person's face was bandaged.

"You will never be the same, RaNelle," Grandma said. "Your face will be altered and your body filled with pain. When you go back, you will have years of rehabilitation ..."

"When I go back?" I looked at her. "You expect me to go back?"

Sudden understanding came, and I looked at the person on the bed. The arms were spread wide, and both arms and hands had been sliced in several places to allow the fluids to drain into plastic bags.

"Is that me?" I was horrified.

"Yes, RaNelle, it is you. You will be badly scarred . . ."
I became frantic. "Grandma, I'm not going back."

"Your children need you, RaNelle."

"No, no they don't. They're better off with someone else. I can't give them what they need."

"It's not just your children, RaNelle. You have things to do - things that aren't finished yet."

"No, I'm better off here. I don't want to go through all that." I pointed to my body. "I refuse. I want to stay here."

I sensed my grandmother's awareness that time was growing short. "You must go," she said. "Your mission isn't complete."

"No, I'm not returning to that body! I'm not going back."

In response, my grandmother swept out her arm and commanded: "Look!"

A rift opened in the space before us, and I saw a young man walking toward us. At first he didn't seem to understand why he was there. Then he saw me and looked stunned.

"Why are you here?" he said almost in disbelief.

As I remained silent, his disbelief changed to grief, and he began crying. I felt his grief, his sadness, and I too began crying.

"What's the matter?" I asked. "Why are you crying?"

I put my arms around him, trying to comfort him.

"Why are you here?" he repeated.

Then I understood that my refusal to go back to earth was causing his sadness. I belonged on earth for him, I understood, and I immediately felt guilt for my selfishness.

His name was Nathaniel, and he hadn't been born on earth yet. He said that if I didn't go back, his own mission would be hindered. Then he showed me his mission, and I saw that I was to open doors for him, to help him, to encourage him.

"I will complete as much of my mission as I can," he said, "but I will never fulfill it without you. I need you."

I thought my heart would break. I was a part of his puzzle, and I was hurting him and everyone he would help by refusing to go back to earth. I felt a great love for this young man, and I wanted to help him in every way I could.

"Oh, Nathaniel," I said, "I swear to you that I will help you. I will go back, and I promise that I will do everything I can to do my part. I will open those doors for you. I will protect and encourage you. I will give you everything I have. Nathaniel, you will complete your mission. I love you."

His grief was replaced with gratitude. His face lit up, and I saw the great spirit he was. He was crying now with gratitude and joy.

"Thank you," he said. "Oh, I love you."

My grandmother took my hand and drew me away. Nathaniel watched me leave, still smiling, and I distinctly heard him say, "I love you, Mom."

My spirit was thrilled, but I couldn't respond to him, as things began happening very quickly.

"RaNelle," Grandmother said, "there is one more thing I need to say to you. Tell everybody that the key is love."

"The key is love," she repeated.

"The key is love," she said a third time.

Then she let go of my hand, and the word love reverberated in my mind as I left her and fell into a deep blackness. I was crying as I left the world of light and glory and love.

The last thing I saw was her outstretched hand.

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RaNelle's near-death experience ends here when she returns to her burned body in the hospital. About seven years later, she gave birth to a son whom she gave the name Nathaniel. She states that she often sees expressions on her son's face that are remarkably similar to the Nathaniel she met in heaven.

Light filled with knowledge

Embraced by the light
by: Betty J. Eadie and Curtis Taylor


"That's when I saw my body for the first time, and when I realized I was no longer a part of it. Until this moment, I'd only seen myself straight on, as we usually do, in mirrors and photographs. Now I was jolted by the strange sight of me in profile from four feet away. I looked at my body, the body I knew so well, and was surprised by my detachment. I felt the same sort of gratitude toward my body that I had for my old winter coat when I put it away in the spring. It had served me well, but I no longer needed it. I had absolutely no attachment to it. Whatever constituted the self I knew as me was no longer there. My essence, my consciousness, my memories, my personality were outside, not in, that prison of flesh."

Day

I put on a great show. As the audience cheers I feel a sense of warmth and relief. My job is done. But as the curtains drop so does my smile. I walk out the door and step into my car. With idle expressions like the engine I started, I head to my dreary home. Arriving to a house of silence my hand reaches for the stereo. The music slowly sings through the speakers as my thoughts begin to empower me. I start to write, expressing written explanation of buried emotions. No pity from this pencil, no hugs of reassurance from the sounds of these speakers. I politely express my true self without the distortion of attention seeking and pitiful words of care and concern. Late night draws near as I close these words to a finish. Laying in bed, staring upon the watchful eyes of God, I fall asleep. For tomorrow is a new day, but still my pencil and stereo awaits. Anxious to hear of what the day has given me. Anxious to read what thoughts I express. Anxious to know how I feel in my heart.

Sociology 101

people watching
selfish behavior
the cool factor
want verse need
logic behind feeling
self evaluation
emotional walls
the mask and the world
pain over pleasure
action for reaction
choice and fate
beauty or beauty
mind over matter
equations of love



thoughts in my head
no structure.