On the last working day before Christmas, I went to the parking lot with a friend to look at his new car. He was slightly ahead of me as we made our way across the pavement.

Suddenly, I realized I was going to faint and I tried to get as low to the ground as possible.

The next thing I saw was an infinite array of translucent blocks connected to each other on all four corners by round conduits. The blocks glowed from within, with a bluish-white light. The conduits had a golden shine to them, but did not actually glow. I had no physical body but had become one of the glowing blocks.

I somehow knew that this was a place of spirituality, as opposed to a place of physicality. Nothing here was physically real, everything was composed of spiritual energy.

I also knew that this existence was non-linear; there was no future, no past, only the present. Yet, the present also included the future and the past. Everything that ever happened or was ever going to happen was actually happening at that very moment. Unfortunately, there was too much information and I was unable to comprehend any single event, so I did not gain insights into the future or the past.

The most amazing and wonderful thing was that God was pouring His love (as if from a bucket) onto every block in the infinite array, all at once. It was amazing to know that so much pure love could exist. The feeling of peace that I received from this love was indescribable. The Bible gives the most understandable description of this when it speaks of the peace that surpasses all understanding (Phil 4:7). I had the thought, "I'm finally home."

Just as I had this thought, I heard the voice of my friend franticly repeating my name and asking if I was okay. I could feel myself being pulled back to this realm. I was not happy about this but I realized that there was nothing I could do to stop my return. Just before I regained full consciousness, I felt the burdens of this physical world (bills, work, other daily struggles) press down on my soul like a ton of bricks. I felt as if my spirit (not my body) was barely able to breathe.

Once I regained consciousness, paramedics were called, I was taken to the emergency room and I began an extremely frightening and painful fight for my physical life. I was told later that I had myocarditis and that my heart's electrical system had suddenly and completely failed. I had not fainted, but had actually died when my heart stopped. My doctors told me that survival in such cases is a medical rarity.