Betty Malz |
|
In
July of 1959, in Terre Haute, Indiana, when Betty Malz was
twenty-seven years old, she was pronounced dead and a sheet was pulled
over her head. In her book, My Glimpse of Eternity, Betty
describes her experience on the other side and how she returned to her
body to the stunned amazement of her grieving father and hospital
personnel. Her book is the story of how God dealt with a proud,
materialistic, controlling woman who had to die to learn how to
live. The following is an excerpt from her book describing her NDE. |
|
|
The transition was serene
and peaceful. I was walking up a beautiful green hill. It
was steep, but my leg motion was effortless and a deep ecstasy flooded
my body. Despite three incisions in my body from the operations,
I stood erect without pain, enjoying my tallness, free from
inhibitions about it. I looked down. I seemed to be
barefoot, but the complete outer shape of my body was a blur and
colorless. Yet I was walking on grass, the most vivid shade of
green I had ever seen. Each blade was perhaps one inch long, the
texture like fine velvet; every blade was vibrant and moving. As
the bottoms of my feet touched the grass, something alive in the grass
was transmitted up through my whole body with each step I took.
"Can this be
death?" I wondered. If so, I certainly had nothing to
fear. There was no darkness, no uncertainty, only a change in
location and a total sense of well-being."
All around me was a
magnificent deep blue sky, unobscured by clouds. Looking about,
I realized that there was no road or path. Yet I seemed to know
where to go.
Then I realized I was not
walking alone. To the left, and a little behind me, strode a
tall, masculine-looking figure in a robe. I wondered if he were
an angel and tried to see if he had wings. But he was facing me
and I could not see his back. I sensed, however, that he could
go anywhere he wanted and very quickly.
We did not speak to each
other. Somehow it didn't seem necessary, for we were both going
in the same direction. Then I became aware that he was not a
stranger. He knew me and I felt a strange kinship with
him. Where had we met? Had we always known each
other? It seemed we had. Where were we now going?
As we walked together I
saw no sun - but light was everywhere. Off to the left there
were multicolored flowers blooming. Also trees, shrubs. On
the right was a low stone wall.
My emotion was a
combination of feelings: youth, serenity, fulfillment, health,
awareness, tranquility. I felt I had everything I ever wanted to
have. I was everything I had ever intended to be. I was
arriving at where I had always dreamed of being.
The wall to my right was
higher now and made of many-colored, multi-tiered stones. A
light from the other side of the wall shone through a long row of
amber-colored gems several feet above my head. "Topaz," I
thought to myself.
Just as we crested the top
of the hill, I heard my father's voice calling, "Jesus, Jesus,
Jesus." His voice was a long distance away. I thought
about turning back to find him. I did not because I knew my
destination was ahead. We walked along in silence save for the
whisper of a gentle breeze ruffling the white, sheer garments of the
angel.
We came upon a
magnificent, silver structure. It was like a palace except there
were no towers. As we walked toward it, I heard voices.
They were melodious, harmonious, blending in chorus and I heard the
word, "Jesus." There were more than four parts to
their harmony. I not only heard the singing and felt the singing
but I joined the singing. I have always had a girl's body, but a
low boy's voice. Suddenly I realized I was singing the way I had
always wanted to ... in high, clear and sweet tones.
After a while the music
softened, then the unseen voices picked up a new chorus. The
voices not only burst forth in more than four parts, but they were in
different languages. I was awed by the richness and perfect
blending of the words - and I could understand them! I do not
know why this was possible except that I was part of a universal
experience.
While the angel and I
walked together I sensed we could go wherever we willed ourselves to
go and be there instantly. Communication between us was through
the projection of thoughts. The words sung in all the different
languages were understandable, but I don't know how or why. We
all seemed to be on some universal wave length.
I thought at the time,
"I will never forget the melody and these words." But
later I could only recall two: "Jesus" and
"redeemed."
The angel stepped forward
and put the palm of his hand upon a gate which I had not noticed
before. About twelve feet high, the gate was a solid sheet of
pearl, with no handles and some lovely scroll work at the top of its
Gothic structure. The pearl was translucent so that I could
almost, but not quite, see inside. The atmosphere inside was
somehow filtered through. My feeling was of ecstatic joy and
anticipation at the thought of going inside.
When the angel stepped
forward, pressing his palm on the gate, an opening appeared in the
center of the pearl panel and slowly widened and deepened as though
the translucent material was dissolving. Inside I saw what
appeared to be a street of golden color with an overlay of glass or
water. The yellow light that appeared was dazzling. There
is no way to describe it. I saw no figure, yet I was conscious
of a person. Suddenly I knew that the light was Jesus, the person was Jesus.
I did not have to
move. The light was all about me. There seemed to be some
heat in it as if I were standing in sunlight; my body began to
glow. Every part of me was absorbing the light. I felt
bathed by the rays of a powerful, penetrating, loving energy.
The angel looked at me and
communicated the thought: "Would you like to go in and join
them?"
I longed with all my being
to go inside, yet I hesitated. Did I have a choice? Then I
remembered my father's voice. Perhaps I should go and find him.
"I would like to stay
and sing a little longer, then go back down the hill!" I finally
answered. I started to say something more. But it was too
late.
The gates slowly melted
into one sheet of pearl again and we began walking back down the same
beautiful hill. This time the jeweled wall was on my left and
the angel walked on my right.
Then I saw the sun coming
up over the wall. This surprised me since it was already very
light and there seemed to be no passing of time. It was a lovely
sunrise. The topaz and other stones glowed brilliantly. I
remember noticing that the wall now made a deep shadow on my side.
Walking down the hill I
looked into Terre Haute as the worlds of spirit and time and space
began to fuse back together. Ahead of me were many church
steeples glistening in the morning sun. I was suddenly aware of
God's love for all his churches. It was a sudden bit of
knowledge, as if I were being told this on the inside by the Holy
Spirit. At that moment I loved all his churches too; and as my
prejudices dissolved, I loved all his people.
Then I saw the tops of
trees, then the hospital. My eyes seemed to bore through the
walls of the hospital like laser beams, down the hall of the third
floor to room 336. I saw a figure on the bed with a sheet pulled
over it.
After my descent I slowed
down and stopped. The sun's rays were in my eyes. There
were dust particles in the light which suddenly changed to wavy
letters about two inches high flashing before me like a ticker-tape
message. The letters seemed composed of translucent ivory, only
fluid - moving through the rays of the sun.
I was back in my hospital
bed now and the letters stretched all the way from the window, past my
bed and on into the room. They read:
"I am the
resurrection and the life; he that believeth in me, though he were
dead, yet shall he live."
The words were so alive
that they pulsated. I knew that I had to touch those living
words. I reached up and out and pushed the sheet off my
face. At that instant the Word of God literally became life to
me.
|