Paul Zucarelli - Faith Understood: An Ordinary Mans Journey to the Presence of God

Like you, I am an ordinary person. I simply have had an extraordinary experience.Many highly educated folks label what happened to me as a near-death experience.Personally, I see it as a joyful blessing to be shared. I have been given a secondopportunity to live, and I am abundantly grateful for the gift of life, yet I nowlook at life from a very different perspective.

It is difficult to write a book about yourself. In fact, it is both humbling andpainful when you are reduced to writing facts and observations of your life. Nonetheless,many dear friends and the clinical personnel at the Mayo Clinic have urged me todo so. Along the way Ive struggled to write words that would somehow communicatethe meaning behind the thoughts, emotions, and factual events that actually occurred.

One night in October 2017, I opened the Bible to a random page. My eyes focused onthe far right of the page to 1 Corinthians 2:15 and I read the Apostle Pauls words:

When I came to you, brethren, I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony ofGod in lofty words or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except JesusChrist and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in much fear and trembling;and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstrationof the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men butin the power of God.

This Scripture motivated me to create this book. It is really not a story about me.Rather, it is a story about faith, God, and spirituality. All of us will face trials,pain, suffering, and inevitably physical death. Although many have written aboutnear-death experiences, my story focuses on how the convergence of faith, prayer,hope, and Gods grace intervened in my life. The connect the dots in my story arebeyond human comprehension. What I experienced was the power of God and the demonstrationof the Spirit as St. Paul referenced. After I read this scripture reference, I pickedup a pen and began to write this book, encouraged by the Holy Spirit.

For Christians, I pray that this book will strengthen, confirm, and validate yourfaith and hope in the Lord. For readers who do not believe or are uncertain, I praythat your heart and mind will be opened to receiving a message of Gods love, JesusChrists mercy, and the sheer power of the Holy Spirit. The simple truth is thatGod exists and we have a soul. We each must make a personal decision to accept Godsexistence and whether we will have continued life in the spirit beyond the humanbody.

May this book demonstratethrough my testimonyhow real and powerful faith trulyis. I praise and thank God for allowing me a second chance to continue life in myearthly body. I pray that my story may embolden your faith and deepen your relationshipwith God and humanity. Please keep your heart open to what God is calling you todo as you read my testimony. And remember, I am just an ordinary person like you.

May God almighty be given all praise and glory.