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A Catholic College Stands Up for the Faith
| by Deal W. Hudson in the InsideCatholic e-zine for |
| 2/15/08 |
Here's the story.<--- CLICK this link to read the article.
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Thursday, February 14, 2008
Man Describes Heaven After 'Dying' in Car Crash
This is a rush transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," February 13, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
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BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In the "Personal Story" segment tonight: we begin a special two- part series about what happens after we die. Is there an afterlife? Obviously, a vital question. And most Americans believe there is.
According to an ABC News poll, 90 percent of us say death is not the end. It certainly wasn't for Don Piper, who was pronounced clinically dead after a car crash back in 1989. Mr. Piper was even put in a body bag.
What happened after that is an amazing tale chronicled in his best-selling book, "90 Minutes in Heaven." I spoke with Mr. Piper a few days ago.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
O'REILLY: So, Mr. Piper, you're driving down a narrow lane. You see a tractor-trailer coming dead at you. Pick it up from there.
DON PIPER, DIED FOR 90 MINUTES: Well, I was hit head-on. I had no idea. It was a narrow highway. I had nowhere to go. I'm on a bridge, and he hits me head-on with such impact that the wheels of the driver's side of the truck roll over my car, crush me in it, shove it up against the railing of the bridge, and I'm killed instantly.
O'REILLY: Now you — when you say you were killed, you're sitting here.
PIPER: Yes.
O'REILLY: So what is the definition of you being killed?
PIPER: Well, there was a four-car pileup. So as it happened, four sets of EMTs came out to the bridge location to check on everybody. Everybody else was fine except me. So they all focused on me, and they all did all the tests at their disposal. They all concluded the same thing: I was a fatality.
The body was covered up with a waterproof tarp, because it was raining, and they waited for someone to come and take the body away.
O'REILLY: All right. So you were actually covered head to toe, no breathing hole or anything? You're there.
PIPER: No.
O'REILLY: So you are, according to these medical people, done. Then what happens in your mind? What's going on in your mind?
PIPER: Well, immediately I was standing at some magnificent gates surrounded by people I had known and loved in life. So when I saw them, I knew where I was, because I knew where they were. I knew I was at the Gates of Heaven.
O'REILLY: Now when you saw people that you had known who had passed away before you, were they in human form, body form?
PIPER: In a sense they were. They were all fully recognizable as themselves, so yes, they were tangible. I could see them. And they were all perfect. Many of them I had known in life had died at an elderly age or maybe they'd had a traumatic accident themselves. But when I saw them they were all ageless.
O'REILLY: But you say in your book you didn't see God or Jesus or anybody like that?
PIPER: In the distance as I was approaching the gate — I'm often asked about this, as you might imagine. There really are a lot of magnificent structures inside the gate. And at the pinnacle of a great hill beyond them is a bright light. I have the distinct feeling that that is where God — and I was headed in that direction when suddenly I was returned to earth.
O'REILLY: Now how did that happen? You were returned to earth how? What was the — what do you remember?
PIPER: All I remember is being at the gates and about to enter after a lot of other magnificent things that I saw and heard. As it turns out, 90 minutes after the truck hit me, a man climbed into the car and, because he felt like God, spoke to him, started praying over me, even though he knew I was dead.
Suddenly, I found myself back in the car under the tarp in the dark. He's singing a hymn, and he's making me sing it with him. And I had no idea what had happened to me.
O'REILLY: What about a doctor, a scientist, somebody saying to you, look, you had a head trauma and when you have a head trauma, all things — and you are a believer, you know, from the jump.
PIPER: Right.
O'REILLY: I mean, a very religious man. This was in your mind. Head trauma, hallucinations. It's real to you, but it isn't really real.
PIPER: Well, it's actually the most real thing that's ever happened to me. It now defines my reality here. I know how temporary this is. I mean, we know we all — none of us gets out of this life alive.
O'REILLY: Well, I guess the bottom line is if somebody doesn't believe you and, you know, some people watching right now are not going to, is there anything you can do or say to make them believe?
PIPER: This is a very remarkable, unique situation. I saw things there that I wouldn't have expected to see if I was having a dream. I saw people there that I didn't expect to see. There were a lot of things about my experience that convince me in no uncertain terms that that is reality and this is fleeting. This is passing. I can't wait to go back there. I didn't want to come back here.
O'REILLY: Mr. Piper, thanks very much for talking with us. We appreciate it.
PIPER: Thank you so much.
6 comments:
And that's why I refuse to work in the Catholic schools. They'd probably fire me in an instant. Silly, but that's life. I stand up for what I believe. I'm glad some people do.
PS- I know I rarely agree with you theologically. I don't mean it just to be argumentative...that's just my opinion. Always around to offer another POV. You know deep down I don't dislike you or anything! You're pretty cool, we get along. I just have weird theology and tend to share it.
Em,
It seems to me most of our divergence is generated in one general area. I believe we all, every one of us, are bound to live our life based in our rightly formed conscience. I believe in God given inspiration, and intelligence, and free will. I believe it is possible for us to be truly engaged in the search for truth and, at different points of that journey, end up at different places. I also believe in absolutes, as in 'truth'. It cannot be both black and white - it is one or the other. Our job is to find truth and live by it.
If I knowingly choose the wrong [untruth] - shame on me. If I unknowingly choose the wrong, God knows my heart. When I am really seeking to find and live by the truth, and not merely living, by a code of 'what is convenient for or pleasing to me' I believe a loving Creator God is more than willing to be merciful.
Always continue to be a thinker - to be a searcher - to be a learner - to be a questioner - to be a positive force for change - to be accepting of others' views as their views and not as an attack on or as a confrontation with you - to be merciful and forgiving - to be loving and compassionate and caring, even when others might not be - to be all God intends you to be, using the many gifts and talents he has given you.
PS - I think you're pretty cool, too.
On the subject of Don Piper's book, "90 Minutes in Heaven"; if you get a chance, read it. It's very interesting, and is definitely from a Christian perspective. The part about him being "almost" in heaven is only the first part of the book. Most of the length of it is about his sufferings in recovering and rehab, and the depression he endured after having been brought back to earth. His coming back to earthly life seem not to have been for his benefit, but for his family; and to bear witness to others about what is beyond this life.
"Such bold leadership should be applauded."
If more of our institutions, particularly our schools did this. "If you do not want to follow Catholic teaching, avoid working and going to Catholic institutions." If only that were the mantra instead of, "Go ahead and go to or work at a Catholic institution, you'll barely be able to tell the difference anyway."
Fr. V,
I believe you're right. To that end I recognize Miss Emily for not working in Catholic Schools - she knows the difference.
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