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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 near-death experience.
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 head 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
inces 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.
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