C.S. Lewis (NDE Recovery Journal, part 7)

I start reading C.S. Lewis and it sets me out on an unexpected journey.

Four Months & Four Days After NDE

Hubby buys me a book set by C.S. Lewis for Christmas. I did ask for it. And that by itself is an interesting phenomenon. I have never been into philosophy. It bores me. I barely made it through my college philosophy class. I think I might have slept a bit during it. Even with Narnia, I only read the first book and didn’t read the other ones (although the movies were cool).

But things change. Lewis’s insights have been leaking slowly into my life since my return from heaven as I read others who quote him. I suppose I should at least read “Miracles” and “The Great Divorce”.

This sets me out on a journey I did not expect. And I haven’t even read those two yet.

I figure it is also time to review “Pilgrim’s Progress.” Well, as of today, I haven’t even looked at that one because this path leads to another book. (Yes, I easily get lost in Powell’s.) Surprise! Another book I’d never heard of: John Bunyan’s “Visions of Heaven and Hell.”

Well.

Early in my research, a literary agent recommended Rebekah Springer’s book. She lived in the 1800’s and wrote an entire book on her heaven visions. It’s incredible. “She was there!” I couldn’t stop feeling elated. But of course, back then, it could only be described as a vision. Otherwise - likely time in a psychiatric facility, right? Similarly, it seems John Bunyan had been to heaven too. And sure enough, my internet research indicates that he did have an NDE.

What about J.R.R. Tolkien (John Ronald Reuel Tolkien)? He was very good friends with C.S. Lewis and apparently, college roommates. And why did they both just love initials? :-) We still quote and read from “Lord of the Rings” and of course, many offsets occurred from that series. Movies, other books, and other worlds. Now there is “Rings of Power” on Prime. How LONG can we go on? LOL. Truly, this is the sign of a true classic – it never ends. Even our younger generations know the name and understand the concepts presented in the stories, including the presence of heaven and hell.

Sure enough, Tolkien also had a near-death experience.

Of course, I keep looking for a female. I check on Hannah Hurnard, the author of “Hinds Feet on High Places” and Mother Teresa. No near-death bites there (that we know of). Corrie Ten Boon? Same, although of course she went through hell on earth, and we know that Jesus met her there.

Do you know of any women writers who went to heaven and came back?

C.S. Lewis (Clive Staples Lewis) also had a near-death experience, but it was a couple of months before he went to stay in heaven for good. So this may not have influenced his writings. The year before, he’d heard a talk regarding “Pilgrim’s Progress”, published later, and mentions it to his friend Arthur Greeves in a letter. (1) He states that he was “actually booming away in his arm chair”! I don’t know if that was enthusiasm, validation, joy, or despair, but I can certainly understand how it feels when I hear about others who’ve been to heaven and come back too. I must have cried during the first ten (or more) accounts that I read. Perhaps he felt his views on philosophy, miracles, and the afterlife were honored while he listened.

We don’t know much about his near-death experience or why it happened. Only that he struggled with heart issues, it happened in July 1962, he was in a coma for 24 hours and they believed he was dying, he struggled with recovery, was now an invalid, and he wrote these words to friend Arthur Greeves on September 11, 1963:

“I can’t help feeling it was rather a pity I did revive in July. I mean, having been glided so painlessly up to the Gate, it seems hard to have it shut in one’s face and know that the whole process must someday be gone through again, and perhaps far less pleasantly! Poor Lazarus! But God knows best.” (1)

(Love the humor and of course, understand the feeling.)

That seems to be Lewis’s last letter to Greeves. He died for good on November 22, 1963, the same day that President Kennedy was assassinated, less than an hour before him. I wonder if they met at the Gates? It’s worth a mention that CS Lewis wasn’t always a believer in Christ. But we see this recorded:

“In the Trinity Term of 1929 I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed….”

One evening in September, Lewis had a long talk on Christianity with J.R.R. Tolkien (a devout Roman Catholic) and Hugo Dyson. (The summary of that discussion is recounted for Arthur Greeves in “They Stand Together”.) That evening’s discussion was important in bringing about the following day’s event that Lewis recorded in “Surprised by Joy”:

“When we [Warnie and Jack] set out [by motorcycle to the Whipsnade Zoo] I did not believe that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and when we reached the zoo I did.”

His last written work (that we know of) was an essay about happiness and our rights. We don’t know if it was written in the period after his visit to the Gates or not.

My lesson in studying the scriptures and reading words from others who have been there is that we as humans are MADE to long for heaven and eternity. There is something deep within us that pines for our eternal home – because that is how God made us. So we particularly seem to resonate with those who’ve been and come back and now write with more wisdom and boldness.

Dear God, this is a serious responsibility. Please help me continue to not take it lightly. To guard my words, to always indicate what is my experience versus other’s experiences. To never let go of the words I do not yet have permission to share. To above all, honor You with the job You gave me – coming back to tell others, and hopefully provide hope and healing.

Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth 2 Timothy 2:15, NIV.

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(1) The Letters of C.S. Lewis to Arthur Greeves (1914-1963), MacMillan Publishing Co, Inc, page 562/565