Just Like Heaven (11 page)

Therefore,
Roland had finally made some sense –
if Nick believed in heaven. But
he didn’t.
Still,
maybe opening his mind to possibilities he hadn’t before considered might prod his brain to give him some answers, so that he co
uld discover the reason he dream
ed
up
this
imaginary world.

Another question prompted consideration:
while dreaming, how
often
did he
eat, sleep
, or breath
e? None! Therefore, he assumed that whatever drugs the nurses pumped through his veins in the hospital had resulted in a more realistic dream-state.

“
All right,” Nick said. “What’s next, Colonel?”

*
             
             
             
*
             
             
             
*

Inside the Hall of Reco
rds,
a building similar in size and structure as the
Hall of Wisdom
,
Nina appeared with
Mei Lee
on the first level and gaped in awe at the towering marble columns
and
spacious
steps that reached up countless levels toward a massive dome.
It seemed that, although there seemed to be a limitless amount of floors inside this building, the dome l
ooked only about forty
levels above her. This t
rick of physics reminded
her
of God’s power to bend space and time at His will.

In every direction, row upon row of endless shelving units stretched throughout the building. And just as with the dome, Nina didn’t need to wander down an aisle to know that, the farther she traveled down that row, the further she could explore without reaching the end of that pathway. After all, each aisle contained volume upon volume of every individual’s life history on
e
arth
. And considering that around one hundred billion people had walked on the planet,
at one time or another,
God needed to create a
n edifice
that could continue to expand in order to store the recorded history of each
person’s life
.

“I see that some of your memory has returned,”
Mei Lee
said. “How much do you remember?”

“Just that I’ve lived many lives. How many?”

“One hundred and thirty four.”

“That seems excessive. I must be a total screw-up.”

“Not at all. You have an adventurous spirit. That is why you continue to visit
e
arth
and
continue to work on
your spiritual advancement.”

“How many times have you re
incarnate
d?”

“Four.”

Nina recalled that Spirit Guides needed to have visited at least once
before fulfilling their
responsibilities to their charges,
but she had no idea why she would have chosen
Mei Lee
–
if she’d had such limited experience on
e
arth
. For someone with
thirty times
more human
experience than her Spirit Guide, Nina
considered whether she should have
selected someone with more insight into the human condition. But one look into
Mei Lee
’s kind eyes told N
ina that she couldn’t have found
a more devoted friend and trustworthy ally. If she needed to go to battle, and these moments on the Other Side convinced her that living any place other than heaven could only be described as a battleground, she couldn’t have picked a more supportive soul than
Mei Lee
.

Besides, even though Nina didn’t recall much about her relationship with
Mei Lee
, other than that, for whatever reason, she felt completely at ease in her presence and trusted her wholeheartedly, she
now realized why she hadn’t chosen a
Spirit Guide
with excessive human experience; because it may have amounted to
a
more haphazard approach when guiding her.
Therefore, her decision
made sense: she would have wanted someone who could empathize and guide in a gentle but firm manner. But how did
Mei Lee
fulfill these
duties? If she resided in heaven, how could she help Nina on
e
arth
?

“
I know why I wanted you as my Spirit Guide,” Nina said, “but
I’m still a little fuzzy on how you guide me.
”

Mei Lee
offered her a smile. “The most immediate way is through intuition. On
e
arth
,
people often confuse intuition with instinct. But they are two different concepts. Instinct
is encoded in your DNA and is a result of evolution. For instance, if you were to examine the chances of jumping from one cliff to another, your genetics and physical condition might give you an idea of whether or not you could make it to the other side. So you may be certain you could complete the jump. But som
ething at the back of your mind
will e
ither
convince you to jump or not to jump. That is intuition. Many times, someone will just
know
without an ability to explain why
they feel one way or another.
That
is where
your Spirit Guide
comes into play. We are often
that voice of reason
, prodding you in one way or another.
”

Nina thought back but couldn’t recall a specific instance where intuition guided her. The example about jumping from one cliff to another made sense in the context of explaining instinct and intuition. But for some reason, she got the impression that
Mei Lee
had chosen
the example of jumping from a
cliff for a more specific purpose, but she couldn’t pinpoint
why
. “
The cliffs. You mentioned that for a reason. Why?”

“
Some of us have nicknames here. Yours is
Roxy.”

Nina
stared at her, aghast. “
You’re joking. Was I a stripper?
”

“I’m afraid not
.”

“Was I born in the 1920’s
?
”

“Your nickname has been in existence much longer than one hundred
e
arth
years. After all, time moves much faster on the Other Side than it does on
e
arth
.”

“That makes sense
, but I don’t know why.
Am I hazy on the concept because I’m between two worlds?”

“Yes.”

“Before you mentioned spiritual advancement. What did you mean? If I’ve been to earth so many times compared to you, I must be more advanced than you? Am I right?”

“In this instance? No.”

Nina felt like her friend had slapped her face with a wet noodle. “So does that mean
you’re somehow better than me? That your spirit is more pure?”

“There’s that defensive aspect of your personality I’m so used to,”
Mei Lee
said, although she didn’t look
dis
pleased. “It just means that my spirit has advanced to a higher
plane.
There
may be different levels o
f spiritual advancement, but God
loves each of us equally.
That I’ve attained a higher level of spirituality just means that I’ve endured more
…shall we say unfortunate circumstances
in my four incarnations on
e
arth
than you have.”

“What do you mean?”

“Before you decided to visit
e
arth
this last time aroun
d, we discussed what your soul
has encountered and experienced as well as what you hoped to lear
n and how you wanted to grow.
Then we created a chart for your life.
Afterwards, you met with God and drew up a
contract.”

“With God? I’ve met God?”

“
We all have. But you make it sound like you and God sat
down on a
park bench and ha
d a conversation. Like, “
Hey, did you watch the Blackhawk
s game last week?”

Nina broke out laughing. She hadn’t expected a total shift in
Mei Lee
’s tone, not to mention joking around
in the middle of such an important conversation. “You know about sports teams?”

“I don’t pay attention to them. But you do. And I pay attention to you.
So I know that you go to at least one game each year. And that you have a crush on Patrick Kane.
”

Nina’s mouth dropped open. She didn’t like the idea of an observer watching her at all times. “You’re worse than an eavesdropper. Do you watch me in the shower, too?”

“See? You’re still in the physical world. We have no interest in physical affection – at least in terms of sexual relations. That’s a human activity, and in order for the continuation of your species, you must have a reason to continue procreating. So evolution gave you reason to find sex appealing. Besides, we have a more spiritual form of physical affection.”

Nina felt somewhat disappointed that there wasn’t a form of sexual relationships on the Other Side, but
Mei Lee
’s description made sense. And it made her curious to discover what she meant about this other form of
affection. Then she recalled how her friend had mentioned that she had
conferred with God before visiting
e
arth
again. “So God and I don’t sit down over a couple glasses of wine and chat. That makes sense. He’s a busy guy.”

“He always has time for each of us. He’s omnipresent, meaning he can be in anywhere at any time. But he
is in each of us, and we all share a connection with him. But you can’
t grasp the
underlying concept of talking with God because you’re half in this dimension and half on
e
arth
.”

“So I’m not dead?”

“
I didn’t say that. Y
ou
r spirit
is
here with me. I only said that, if you were completely emotionally, intellectually, and spiritually here with me as well, you would know exactly how to communicate with God.”

“What about prayers.
He hears our prayers, doesn’t H
e?”

“That is exactly what I’m talking about. Although you can feel and understand a little about life on the Other Side, most of you is still tethered to your physical presence on
e
arth
. But yes, God always hears your prayers.”

“So you and I
drew up my chart? What does that mean
?”

“We looked
at
your spiritual advancement in context with what you needed to experience an
d learn in order for your soul
to grow. And we
set up certain obstacles in your life on
e
arth
in order to make that happen. That explains why you chose your parents.”

“
But
I’m a total disappointment in their eyes. They wish they had another child, someone who took after them. They think I’m a failure
.
That’s a pretty tough obstacle, wouldn’t you say?”

“
It sure is.
But th
at was your choice.”

“M
y left leg is a little longer than my right leg. I didn’t choose that, did I?”

“That’s genetics. You selected your parents. But they determined your physical appearance.”

“So you’re saying th
at people who are born with HIV
or
Down
syndrome
asked for those impairments?”

“Those who are born into the physical world with physical or mental disabilities often leave the physical realm with a much higher
spiritual progression
than you or I would obtain in multiple lifetimes. They are the brave souls. They are the ones we admire on the Other Side.
But in other cases, it is the parents or someone close to the family who comes into contact with someone with a life-changing disability that will be most impacted by that person. Under those circumstances, the person who freely allows herself to live with any disability for the spiritual advancement of others
is
on a different spiritual plane: they sacrifice themselves to allow others to grow from the privilege of their relationship.
”