Proof of Heaven - A Lesson in Purpose

I do hope you had time to catch Dr. Eben Alexander this past Sunday on OWN's Super Soul Sunday. Along with Oprah, Dr. Alexander spoke about his book, "Proof of Heaven" and the experience that he encountered in his life that drove him to write his book. Dr. Alexander has spent his professional career as a neurosurgeon. Because of this, he has what you might call a greater-than-average knowledge of the brain and its inner-workings. Growing up an adopted child, he left a space in his life for the possibility of a God. As he grew older, that began to wane. When he reached out to his birth parents to meet, he was turned down. This was the crushing blow to what existed of his faith. He no longer believed in God.

Until, years later, Dr. Alexander met God.

Forced into a week-long coma by bacterial meningitis, Dr. Alexander was close to brain-dead, with his neocortex completely shut down. So what does that mean to the average person? The neocortex is the portion of the brain where consciousness, memory, emotions, language, etc - all experience - is pieced together and made sense of here. And here's why this is important to note: science has often explained away near-death-experiences (NDEs) as misfirings in the brain during times of physical distress. Basically, science has called NDE's something akin to a dream when your body goes into shut-down mode. So here's where we hook in that neocortex part. There is no explanation for how Dr. Alexander could have experienced the sights, sounds and sensations that he did if it was not real, because the part of his brain that processes or creates the illusion of sensation, the neocortex, was not working at all.

Now I won't really go into the details of Dr. Alexander's NDE becaue it's not really the point of this article, plus I think it would do far more justice for you to pick up the book and read in his own words what he experienced. Just know that it was miraculous, as is the fact that the man is alive today. Dr. Alexander was give next-to-no chance of living, and no chance of recovery. However, he woke up at the end of his week long coma, sat straight up in bed and told each person in the room, calmly, "All is well". After a month, he had recovered, and after three months, he was back at work.

So what am I getting at? I want to talk about purpose. I've never been a big fan of the idea that everything in your life is mapped out ahead of time. I'm far more in the belief of a God that grants us free will. That being said, I do believe there are things that are meant to happen during your life, and I do believe that each of us has a purpose here. And I believe that Dr. Alexander is living his purpose.

So many of us in this day and age strive to believe in something. We want to. We really do. But our nature as left-brained creatures leaves us wanting proof. Proof means something different to everyone. Some people read about NDE's online, and that's proof enough for them. Other people lean more towards the scientific view and say NDE's are your neocortex doing some crazy stuff when you're near death. And so enters in Dr. Alexander. Who better to be chosen for this particular role? Who better to get across this message to people who DEMAND proof before they can begin to believe?

The man is:

• A scientist
• A neurosurgeon (and therefore incredibly knowledgeable in the ways of the brain)
• Capable of explaining how he cannot explain away this experience and therefore knows it to be true!

God works in mysterious and awesome ways.

Many people have asked for proof of life after death, and Dr. Alexander is walking, talking proof. Its very hard to go against a neurosurgeon's experience to tell him what he's wrong about, concerning his own brain. His neocortex was shut down. He was incapable of perceiving experience. Yet, he did! This man is truly living his purpose. I've got to believe this was something that was meant to happen in his life so that he could live his purpose of spreading this information to the world. As a neurosurgeon, what would he have to gain by telling this story? It goes against everything that most science-minded individuals believe.

And so I ask you, are you living your purpose? Have you found it yet? And no, your purpose doesn't have to be something that involves reaching millions of people like Dr. Alexander. We aren't keeping score. Life isn't a contest; its an unending web of inter-connectivity. We are all connected in some way. So what is your purpose? Whose life or lives have you touched? Even if its just one person...a son, a daughter, a sibling, a parent, a friend, or a stranger. Trust me when I say to that one person, they don't care that you haven't touched a million people, because helping them was your purpose. And its because of you that they will live a better life, a great life, or live at all. Find your purpose. You'll know it when you find it.