Peter Shockey - Miracles, Angels & Afterlife: Signposts to Heaven

Miracles, Angels & Afterlife

Signposts to Heaven

Peter Shockey
with Stowe D. Shockey

All rights reserved, including without limitation the right to reproduce this ebook or any portion thereof in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

Copyright 2013 by Peter Shockey

ISBN: 978-1-4976-6553-8

This edition published in 2014 by Open Road Integrated Media, Inc.

180 Maiden Lane

New York, NY 10038

www.openroadmedia.com

Dedicated

to my darling daughters

Christina Leigh and Grace Caroline

Acknowledgments

As I gaze out at our family garden, I am overwhelmed by the beauty and perfection of the living gifts that God has arrayed while inspiring us to create a little corner of paradise on earth

And as I think about the creative projects into which my wife and I are drawn, I am equally overwhelmed by the amazing collection of colorful and delightful people whom God has assembled along our lifes path.

I would like to begin by thanking my wife, Stowe, for her faithful reflection of Gods love, patience, and encouragement while we walk the path together. I have thoroughly enjoyed this new dimension to our partnership, as she has applied her songwriting talents to the co-authoring of many uplifting stories contained in this book. She gave heart to the writing, and enabled a balance through which it may speak to both mind and spirit.

Also, I am grateful to the authors whose works and interviews inspired the TV programs, and whose generosity in sharing their resources ultimately led to this retrospective book: Joan Wester Anderson, Raymond A. Moody, Dr. George Ritchie, John Ronner, Jodie Berndt, Duane Miller, Ken Gaub, Dr. Bernie Siegel, and Paul Robert Walker.

I am deeply thankful to Pam Kidd, the Guideposts contributing writer, for introducing me to so many angels through the stories, which she shared. I also appreciate several others at Guideposts for their encouragement and guidance along the way: Dick Schneider, John and Elizabeth Sherrill, Lenore Person, and David Morris.

For their devoted help in reviewing this manuscript, I wish to thank Tim Jones, Geralda Shockey, Dick Dailey, Lorrie Eidem, Christine Katcher, and Manon Shockey.

I am eternally grateful to Joe Durepos, my literary agent, whose enthusiasm for this project helped to shape its original format under the title Reflections Of Heaven , arranging a perfect match with Doubleday, and specifically with our Random House editor, Trace Murphy. I also want to say thank you to Ann Spangler and Burt Ghezzi for helping me to meet Joe.

There are so many individuals whose names I dont have enough pages to include, but please know you are each forever engraved in my heart.

I am ultimately grateful to all of those who shared their stories in these pagesthe reader will meet each of them by namethus giving us all a preview of Heaven on Earth. I appreciate their trust.

Finally, and most importantly, I thank our Heavenly Father for the chance to experience life from this side of Heaven; to Christ Jesus for reconnecting us; and to His eternal Spirit of Truth, for keeping us in touch with the Source of all creation.

Contents

PART ONE
Miracles

PART TWO
Angels

PART THREE
The Afterlife

PART FOUR
Evolution Of Consciousness

Foreword

Sometime during the mid 1990s I had the good fortune to meet Peter Shockey. I was writing then about angels and miracles, and my booksalong with other authorswere receiving unexpected attention from the media. Peter was a documentary film producer who had been drawn to the same themes. As I chronicled stories of Gods blessings on paper, he was portraying them on video. But not the trendy, once-over-lightly treatment much of the television industry was offering at that time, nor stuffy philosophical treatises that only the most devoted angelologist could comprehend or enjoy.

No, Peter had obviously sensed that such topics were heartas well as headrelated. His ultimate accounts of what he would call heavenly visions for earthly eyes were outgrowths of his own still-evolving Christian faith and involved a willingness to add his questions to the mix. Thus, his films involved not only visual beauty, but also attempts to examine what this sudden burst of national spirituality was all about.

Is there life after death? How can we be sure? What is a miracle? How do we know when one happens? How do different faiths regard angels and miracles? Does God seem to be sending more spiritual signals now than He formerly did? If so, why? What is the point of a miracle? What, if anything, should happen because of it? Why are the prayers of some people answered, but (apparently) not others? For me and countless others, his films were richer for being filtered through the vulnerable eyes of a fellow explorer.

Now Peter presents a book, Miracles, Angels & Afterlife , based on scripts from these films, adding absorbing details of how and why such stories were selected and presented. Again, he shares touching moments from his own spiritual mission, as well as some historical perspectives. But with the passage of a few years, some of the questions have changed: What does this continuing now-worldwide outpouring of spiritual searching mean? Is it connected to the millennium? Is earthly annihilation on the horizon or something wonderful? And what is expected of us, in response to such an amazing time in history?

From all eternity, its obvious that God intended to have a relationship of mutual love and trust with the children He created. But evil came, and separated us from the Light. Peters continuing odyssey, through films and book, has resulted in a conclusion: far from Armageddon being outside ourselves, he believes, the real battle lies within. And each person on earth has a decision to make. Will we remain in the darkness, with its false gods, empty laughter, fear, and anxiety? Or will we choose Light, becoming more intimate with our Father until we realize that the spirit world is the only world that is ultimately real, that the miracles so lovingly documented here have been but brief tastes of the wonders awaiting us?

Miracles, Angels & Afterlife is a fascinating glimpse of people who have already made that choice and look forward with confidence to whatever may come. Enjoy it, and prepare to be blessed.

Joan Wester Anderson
Author, NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER: Where Angels Walk

Introduction

As a documentary filmmaker investigating reports of supernatural phenomena, I find myself eagerly seeking and catching glimpses of what appears to be the heart of Heaven shining through the cracks of our material world.

An important personal reason lies behind my search. As a young man, I had a spiritual experience that opened my heart to the reality of things unseenand it left me wanting more. I have been looking ever since for clues to give substance to religious mysteries that are often left as open-ended matters of faith. As bold as it may be to say, I wanted to find proof of Gods existence . I wanted to find evidence that God is in charge, is listening, and cares. As far-fetched as that may sound, though, I am still nonetheless a realist, and whenever I want to learn about things, I talk with real people who have firsthand experience in those matters. So, when I wanted to explore the reports about angelic beings, miraculous interventions, and the afterlife, I sought out living, breathing people who could tell me what they had witnessed in their own lives. What I discovered was much more than I could have ever imagined, and it has changed my whole way of looking at life.