For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come?

Haven't posted in a while because there's not really much to my life right now. Work used to take up a big chunck of that and now I don't have it anymore. There's the wedding but there's not much to write about there. The details don't exactly make for a thrilling blog post.

So for the most part I've just been reading a lot lately. I started getting into near-death exeriences a few years ago after reading What Dreams May Come and I began to write a short story that kind of has something to do with those experiences. I haven't touched my story in a while though. At least a year. But that changed a couple of months ago when I saw a doctor on tv talking about a study he's conducting. It will be the largest NDE study on cardiac arrest survivors that has ever been conducted. This doctor, Dr. Sam Parnia, also talked about a book he wrote called What Happens When We Die. Shane got it for me for Christmas and it completely totally intrigued me. I also noticed as I began reading it that I would be able to use it to help my unfinished short story move along.

But besides the book just being able to help me out, it pulled me in. I ordered 2 more books that deal with the same subject that I can't wait to read and in 1 day I read one book that focuses entirely on one NDE case... it made me cry. No book has ever affected me the way this book has. But I will be posting more about all this later. This subject has seriously captivated me and I want to write a long, well thought out, educating post on the matter.

Until then this is the post you get. :p

I'm also reading A Prayer for Owen Meany which Shane gave to me a year ago and I kept forgetting to read. It's fiction and the movie Simon Birch is loosely based off it. Some of it is a little hard to accept but for the most part it's a good book. Talks a lot about religion. I just finished reading a huge chapter about some kids putting on a play, The Christmas Carol, and doing a big nativity scene for a church Christmas pageant. In the midst of all this, the writer goes off on his own thoughts about other things and he talks about Mary. He doesn't really go into any of this but I was reminded of my own thoughts about Mary and women in general.

Men get to do a lot of things. The man is the head of the house, the world is known to be ruled by them. But the thing that always touches me and makes me incredibly proud to be a woman... was the fact that when Jesus was taking his long walk to crucifixion, when men were cold and brutal, mocking him, slashing him, literally kicking him when he was down, it was the women who would stay out of this. It was the women who would not hurt him, it was women who would go after his death to annoint the body with sweet spices, it was the women who actually cared.

We may not be perfect but we have strong hearts and that's a pretty powerful thing.

Well I will end my random thoughts with a favorite quote from the current book I'm reading.

"Anyone can be sentimental about the Nativity; any fool can feel like a Christian at Christmas. But Easter is the main event; if you don't believe in the resurrection, you are not a believer."