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Spiritual progression is not a race. We proceed at our own pace. But we should never put it off. By opening ourselves to new truths and greater faith, we increase in light. By becoming more Christ-like in love, we naturally perform purer service for others and thus develop greater peace and confidence within.
Usually God allows our growth to progress naturally. But he knows what's right for us and on occasion quickens our advancement. The surprises at these times can provide lessons for life. One man wrote of such an occasion.

In the eighties I suffered from a massive heart attack, during which I had a near-death experience. It changed my life. I traveled through a very brightly lit tunnel and when I reached the end of it, Jesus was there. He placed his hands on my shoulders and said, "Go back, my son; your work is not done.

This would not seem important to you, Betty, in that your experience was so much more intense than mine. But what is different is that I didn't believe in Christ. I am of the Jewish Faith.

It was then that my spiritual journey to him began. At first it was a step by step by step experience. Then I started praying to God, thanking him for each day. This was something I had never done before. I wanted to go back to church, but my new understanding held me back. Later, almost ten years, when my father-in-law died, I read Embraced By The Light, and oh how I was moved! I could not pray enough or show God enough how much I loved him and missed him in my life! Now, this year, I will be baptized and confirmed into the Catholic Church, as a believer in Jesus Christ. I want you to know that your book played an important part in this wonderful time of my life, as did my experience with Christ.

This man's sudden knowledge of Christ changed his life, and now he is entering a new belief system with a portion of truth more comfortable to him because of what he knows. I have received thousands of letters and have met many people who have visited the spirit world and met Christ there as I have. At first I feel great excitement and joy for these people because Christ's love has come into their lives. But as I look deeper, I see that some of them suffer greatly for the changes to their core beliefs. Some churches excommunicate them for their new beliefs—even for their beliefs in Christ. Husbands and wives divorce. Children turn their backs on changed parents. Distrust and suspicion run deep. But do these people turn from their knowledge of Jesus? In all my journeys I have not found a single one—in any religion—who has denied Christ after meeting him on the other side.
Sometimes, as the following letter indicates, the prospect of a new belief system can be frightening, even if the new belief system includes Christ.

My son died suddenly a year ago and I am trying to find something, some belief to comfort me. You speak of Jesus as welcoming you after your death. Where does this leave a person who is Jewish? We do not believe that Jesus is the son of God, but, rather, a man who lived and did good for others. I want so desperately to believe I will be reunited with my son, and I believe your story, but what happens to a person of a different faith from yours?

We need not fear meeting Jesus Christ. Our spirits already know him, and when we meet him again, we will regain that knowledge. Even today our inner voice will speak of him if we open ourselves and listen. Although I had some knowledge of Jesus before my death, I never dreamed he would meet me when I died. But I recognized him at first glance, knowing with a perfect knowledge who he was. All will have that experience at some point. Even while living on earth, we can gain a knowledge of Christ if we desire it. By finding him here, we raise our level of spirituality and power to do good.
God is pouring out knowledge of his Son upon the earth. The Awakening is for all people of all faiths. While in New York recently I met an Iranian Muslim. During the war between Iran and Iraq he was fatally injured. What he experienced on the other side changed him forever. He had believed all his life that Allah, or God, was divine but that Jesus was simply a good man, perhaps a prophet, who had begun a new religion. Now, as he entered the spirit world, he met Jesus and learned that he was more than a prophet; he was the literal Son of God. In amazement he learned from Christ that his lack of understanding did not require forgiveness, that all will yet have the opportunity to learn of him and his teachings. The man was filled with joy and was given a message to bring back to his family and friends, that Jesus Christ awaits us with love and that we will find greater joy in turning to him than in any other way. But they were not receptive. Their families had been Muslim for countless generations, and they were not about to accept the word of a wounded soldier that Christ was the Son of God. His friends and community first turned against him, and then his wife and family left him. But the man knows what he knows, and today in the strength of his unbreakable convictions he shares his knowledge with all who will listen.
Not everyone will meet Christ at the moment of their deaths. In his wisdom he chooses the appropriate messenger to greet us. It may be a family member or an angel, or even a beloved pet—as a few have written to tell me. It may be a departed religious leader or a magnificent light filled with love. But I have spoken with many who have been there and returned, and most were met by Jesus Christ. Those who had not believed in him before, often came back to find their worlds turned upside down.
One man went through a tunnel with a bright light at the end. Standing in the light was a spirit being. As he drew nearer, the man recognized the being as Jesus Christ. He ran to Him and fell at his feet, repeating over and over how sorry he was that he had forgotten him on earth. Jesus helped him up, took him into his arms and held him like a baby. Christ told him that he loved him and that He was his brother who had died for him. As the man shared this story with me, he wept tears of grief that he could not be with his brother, Jesus Christ, at this time. He retains the memory of Christ's love, and he yearns to be with him again.
I, too, yearn to be with him again, and I often weep for the lack of his love in this world. However disturbing it is to some Christians who reject my story, the light I entered after dying was the light of my brother and Savior and God, Jesus Christ. He is my religion, the one eternal truth that defines all others. In this life or in the next, he will come to each person, and each will know what I know.

Today I completed reading The Awakening Heart. I think my three greatest joys in the book were learning of Holly, of David Stone, and especially of Tom Eadie's awakening to God. My adult road has not always been smooth, and there are times when I know I have not listened to God or worshipped him in the "conventional way" as some church groups stereotypically say we must. Reading your books has helped to show me more positively that, indeed, how we choose to worship is an individual expression, and that we are not to criticize others for their beliefs or lack of them. For those who do not believe in Jesus, I have always prayed that somehow their eyes will be opened. I drew such joy from learning in your books that "nonbelievers" can dwell in the valley until they come to know God's love.

God granted us a miracle a month before my future father-in-law passed away. The night he was taken to the hospital we feared he would die before we could get there to be with him. I was invited into the room to see him, and though he was peaceful, he could barely whisper when he spoke. I told him that I loved him and that I would take care of his son. He responded with, "I love you. Now, go home." That night, thinking we would not see him again, we all grieved. The next morning our miracle came. He rallied overnight and even talked to his wife on the phone. He said, "I'm gonna live!" When we visited him at the hospital, he was glowing and said, "I love everyone! I even like that guy on the wall!" That guy on the wall was a crucifix of Jesus.

I had just completed reading your first book, Betty, when I felt in my heart that during the night my soon to be father-in-law had met our Lord, and that his statement was his way of letting us know that he was one Jewish person who had seen the Savior. I find much comfort in that. Thank you for sharing with us . . . that all will come to love Jesus, if not here, then in the Valley in his time.