In today’s world of advanced technology, there’s often a battle between science and faith—especially when it comes to the medical field. Some would argue that science can be proven with theories, tests and cold, hard facts.
Of course, faith proves itself when a cancer patient, who has gone through the tests and has all of the scientific signs of death, miraculously survives as though the cancer never existed.
We’ve all heard stories like that, and Dr. Eben Alexander had heard them too. But he was a man of science, and had been for the majority of his life.
“When I was younger, I thought a heaven and a loving God made sense,” he explains. “But through my academic neurosurgery career, I saw less and less that that could be the case.”
That is—until he got sick.
Dr. Alexander woke in the middle of the night with what he believed to be a “muscle spasm.” The pain was so extreme he compared it to that of getting hit by a freight train. But being the man of science that he is, and the doctor who believed he was “fine,” he told his wife not to call 911. Then he was gone.
Upon arriving at the hospital, it was determined that Dr. Alexander’s muscle spasm, was actually a rare form of bacterial meningitis that had infected his brain, leaving him in a coma.
His wife was told that he may not wake up.
Luckily, Jesus is the Great Physician, and He was hard at work in Dr. Alexander—in more ways than one.
During his time in a coma, the neurosurgeon showed no recognizable signs of brain activity, but he was on a journey like no other.
He says the experience began in what felt like a dark, formless place without memory or time.
“But then, I was rescued from that by this spinning melody of light, that came closer and opened up, and was a rip in the fabric of reality that just opened up around me.”
He continues:
“The colors were extremely vivid, with millions of butterflies, and these flowers blooming, blossoms opening as we flew by.”
Dr. Alexander explains that he was guided by an unknown presence—a beautiful girl with a wide smile and gorgeous, clear blue eyes.
“She never said a word to me. She would look at me and the thoughts would come directly into my mind, into my awareness. The thoughts were, ‘You are loved, you are cherished, there is nothing you can do wrong.’”
Dr. Alexander says he remembers being told, “We will teach you many things, but you’ll be going back.”
Meanwhile, “back” at the hospital, doctors were giving up hope, and Dr. Alexander’s wife, Holley, was facing what looked to be a tragic future.