Messages from Heaven, a Bestseller

I’ve just learned that Chicken Soup for the Soul: Messages from Heaven, a book for which I wrote two nonfiction stories, is officially a bestseller. This comes as no surprise. I have written pieces for Chicken Soup books before, so I’ve gotten to read plenty of books in the series. While they all feature heartwarming tales, there was just something about Messages from Heaven that made it stand out, taking its place as my favorite of all the Chicken Soup books I’ve read.

Messages from Heaven, a Bestseller

The book features true stories of experiences people have had with messages from beyond this world. My “contact” with the world beyond has always been through dreams. But when I read some of the stories in the anthology, I was surprised to learn that others have had similar experiences to mine, even though not everyone “saw” their experiences through dreams.

For example, one theme in my dreams has been that I am never “allowed” to fully see what the world beyond looks like. It is always shrouded in shadow, with just enough light—almost like a spotlight on a stage—for me to see just enough. Just enough to reveal a location or a person, but never more than that. In the dream in which I met my grandfather, a man who died before I was born, the world he stood in was intentionally shadowed. In other stories in the Chicken Soup book, young children were given a glimpse of what lies beyond, but they refused to disclose any details to the world. It seems there’s a common theme about not being allowed or able to disclose many details about the world beyond. Even the Bible makes us aware of this—those who have seen glimpses of what lies beyond are not allowed or able to communicate details. The fact that my view was shadowed is interesting. As a writer, I certainly would have exploited my experience, disclosing it to as many people as possible with as much description as I could use. It’s as if those who chose to show me a glimpse of the world beyond—namely my grandfather—knew better than I did.

I recommend the book for anyone interested in what lies beyond, to anyone who has fears of leaving this world, or to anyone who has lost a loved one. The book provides rare comfort in this world. I read a chapter or two before bed and was always lulled into a sense of comfort before bed. There is nothing to make life enjoyable like the light of peace and the comfort of hope.