Read My Glimpse of Eternity for Free Online Page A

lived by rules, but I did not know Jesus. Therefore I had missed the most important part of the Christian life.
    Despite the fever and pain, I was aware of the beginning of a teaching process in my spirit. Something in me had been activated by Dad’s prayers; my spirit and God’s Spirit were touching. Then a strange thing happened.
    For years I had loved the recordings of Jack Holcomb, two in particular: “The Old Account Was Settled Long Ago” and “I Have Been Born Again.” While lying so helpless in my hospital bed, I heard the music of these great old hymns and the unforgettable words of the latter:
    My heart glows with rapture,
    My cup runneth o’er,
    Such joy, so transporting,
    I ne’er knew before;
    It flows thro’ my soul from God’s heavenly store,
    For I have been born again.
    I’ll sing it, and tell it wherever I go,
    I want all to hear it,
    I want all to know,
    The joy of salvation
    That makes the heart glow,
    For I have been born again.
    During one period of consciousness, I thanked the nurse for giving me this wonderful background music. She looked at me suspiciously and said there was no music in hospital rooms. How then had I heard it so clearly?
    Then two events took place which made me more aware than ever before that the Comforter was with me. The first involved the visit of my mother-in-law.
    Mother Upchurch had driven from New Castle, Indiana, some 150 miles across the state. The first time she walked into the hospital room with John, negative vibrations began to flow between us. My eyes were closed, but I could almost see her dark snapping eyes studying me, the life support equipment, the vases of flowers. She clucked sympathetically over me for a few minutes, then seeing that I could not respond, turned her attention to John. The questions began.
    Was Brenda receiving good care? Who was looking after the house? Were you eating properly? And getting enough sleep? As the interrogation between mother and son continued I learned that John had been living alone in the house (Brenda was at my parents’) and that the kitchen had been full of dirty dishes. John admitted ruefully that he had hired a young girl at a dollar an hour to wash the dishes. It had taken her six hours to do them.
    I found myself getting upset at my mother-in-law’s concern for John. I was the one near death, not John. It was almost as if the whole situation were my fault and she, Dorothy Upchurch, had to get things back in proper order, which she obviously intended to do, beginning with my kitchen.
    Yet as I felt my resentment rising the way it always had when I encountered John’s mother, a surprising thing happened. Something cool poured over my agitated spirit to quiet me. Like a refreshing ointment soothes bruised skin, this coolness extinguished the hot feelings within me. Then the words were implanted in my mind: She has reason to worry about John; but she also loves you and someday you will see her as I do and love her too.
    Then it was as if a section of Scripture moved onto a screen in front of my eyes. The verses seemed to be a part of a long psalm:
    The earth, O Lord, is full of thy steadfast love;
    Teach me thy statutes!
    Thou hast dealt well with thy servant, O Lord,
    According to thy word.
    Teach me good judgment and knowledge,
    For I believe in thy commandments.
    Before I was afflicted I went astray. . . .
    (Psalm 119:64–67)
    The words of the last verse seemed to enlarge until it stood out from the others. I began to tremble. Before I was afflicted I went astray. The Holy Spirit was showing me something through God’s Word: that I had gone astray, that I had many things to make right and not just with my mother-in-law. Then I heard the gentle words: Those who suffer for Me can minister for Me.
    My second experience of the Presence took place at the end of three tortuous days caused by a blockage in my bowel. Before taking me back to surgery, the doctors decided to relieve my distress with a manual