Murphey Cecil - People I met at the gates of heaven: who is going to be there because of you

I didnt have a near-death experience (NDE).

On January 18, 1989, I died. Literally.

Thats important for me to establish. Many books have been published since 90 Minutes in Heaven was released in 2004. Most of themas far as I knowtold of their near-death experiences. That doesnt invalidate what happened to them, but their heavenly encounters were different.

Often those whose earthly life is ending careen down a long tunnel with a bright light at its end. That wasnt my experience. I believe that was because my death was instantaneous.

My small Ford Escort was crossing a bridge over Lake Livingston in East Texas on a cold rainy morning on my way back to Houston to speak at our evening church service. I was traveling about forty-five miles per hour when a tractor-trailer truck entered my lane at about sixty miles an hour. The semi struck me head-on. The impact was not only ghastly, but also immediately fatal.

One moment, I saw the eighteen-wheeler coming right toward me; the next moment I was standing in heaven.

In front of me stood open a beautiful gate, which looked like the inside of an oyster, sculpted from mother-of-pearl. It was one of heavens twelve gates of pearl. And they never close!

I felt an indescribable peace as I walked toward the gate. Unlike what often happens when we gain consciousness after surgerya bit groggy and disorientedI didnt have to wonder where I was. I was completely awake. As soon as I arrived, I knew.

But there were surprises. My first was the crowd of people who suddenly surrounded me. I like to call them my personal welcoming committee. Each person was someone who had played a significant role in my life on earth. They either helped me become a Christian or they strengthened me in my growth to keep moving forward in my faith.

Joy filled their faces as they held out their arms to me. I had known each person on earth through good and bad times, and had often seen them smile. This time, each of them grinned in such a way that I thought (at least afterward), Ive never seen any of them so completely happy.

Their greetings were heavenly and beyond human expression. Some embraced me, others shouted greetings, and all praised God for bringing me home.

As they surged toward me, I knew without question that they were there to welcome me. I felt it in every fiber of my being. The best way I can explain it is to use the word intuitive: knowing without being aware of how I gained that knowledge.

I didnt touch my precious greeters, whom I had loved and lost, as we think of touch. Our embrace was between two souls. It was as if my heart held each one in a holy hug. Id been separated from some of them by more than a quarter century. Can you imagine holding a dear loved one you hadnt embraced in twenty-five years? What a joyful reunion!

As I looked at each face, I knew all of them well. Every person called me by name. And one thing became immediately clear: My presence was no accidentat least to them. They knew I was coming. On earth, all of us have had some sort of accident, but there are no accidents in heaven.

After I arrived, I didnt think to ask questions, such as How did they know? And the answers didnt matter. Their presence felt natural. In fact, everything I saw and felt seemed perfectly ordered. I marveled at the perfection of everythingpeople, sights, fragrances, and sounds.

And that peaceful sense of intuitively knowing stayed with me.

No one had to remind me of what they had done for me or how they had influenced me. Our conversations centered on their joy to see me and my excitement at being with them once again. No thought intruded into my mind about my death, my family, or anything Id left behind. God had simply removed anything about my earthly life.

Later, I realized it was the most focused Id ever been in my lifeand it was effortless. Nothing distracted me. I was there, in the moment that seemed to have no end.

How far away was my greeting committee? I dont know. Distance seems to have no place in heaven. I saw them, took in the joy of their presence, and felt ecstasya sudden, intense, and all-consuming emotionat being there.

* * *

Once inside heavenly territory, I didnt know if the greeting took place in four seconds or twenty minutes by earthly measurement. After my return to earth, I was told that the EMTs had declared me dead at 11:45 a.m., on the bridge. A pastor named Dick Onarecker prayed and sang a hymn in the wreckage of my car ninety minutes later at 1:15 p.m. When I speak of ninety minutes, thats conservative. Someone had to report the accident and summon the ambulance. That means my time in heaven may have been closer to two hours.

But it doesnt matter. In heaven, time doesnt exist. Everything just is.

After the joy-filled greetings, my welcoming committee excitedly escorted me toward one of heavens twelve gates. I was ready to take my first step inside. I stared inside the gates of pearl, drinking in the sights before me.

That was the end of my heavenly experience.

* * *

My writing partner, who was skeptical that I had literally died when I first told him my story, became a believer when I pointed out two significant facts. First, with the severity of my later-diagnosed injuries, had I been alive, I would have bled to death. My upper left leg had exploded in the collapsing crash of my car. Four and a half inches of my femur had been ejected from my leg on impact and traveled over the railing of the bridge into the lake below. My left arm had been nearly severed and was hanging behind me in the backseat. I had many other open wounds over my face, right leg, and torso.