Dr. Mary Neal was a devoted wife and mother of four children, a talented and successful orthopedic surgeon, and an experienced outdoor enthusiast, when the unthinkable happened on a vacation in 1999. Mary and friends were kayaking on the Fuy River in Chile, when her kayak became trapped under a waterfall. Despite her and her companions efforts to dislodge the boat, Mary lost consciousness and drowned before they could pull her body to shore. This interview and video has a great depiction of the details she wrote about...
http://www.cbn.com/media/player/index.aspx?s=/mp4/RH64v3_WS
During the time she lost consciousness and died, Mary experienced a taste of heaven that few in this world have known. She was led by heavenly beings and saints who had gone before. She saw and felt beauty and peace like she had never known, and approached the entrance to eternity. However, it was not time for her to enter, and she was sent back to the world.
To Heaven and Back is the story of Dr. Neal's spiritual journey, including the extraordinary account of that fateful day in Chile. She also chronicles her physical recovery, and the many miraculous events that accompanied her return to health. Her remarkable story is an inspiration and comfort to those needing reassurance of the presence and love of our incomparable God.
The takeaways from the video pretty much capture the essence of the book, with the exclusion of the details of her healing and connection to her son's death. Here were a few highlights from my vantage point...
1. I appreciated how she detached from her body and the pain as she was escorted into heaven.
2. It seems Mary C. Neal is growing in her knowledge of scripture and of the love of God. The patchwork of her coming to accept Christ's love and live it out is an account like many of us have - scattered (a little faith here, a little faith there), but it is growing within the providence of God's hand.
3. After losing their son Willie..."It then suddenly occurred to me that my sense of failure was self-inflicted and egocentric. I had stopped looking to God for help, believing that I was expected to do it all on my own. Believing that I could do it on my own. In the process, I had let doubts, fear, and guilt silently creep in and take over my thoughts. I was still in the valley of the shadow of death, and the door of my heart was propped wide open. Right then and there, I asked God for help and immediately felt forgiven and free, knowing that God was in control." Mary C. Neal, MD
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