I found myself researching Near Death Experiences (NDE) quite deeply when writing my novel, Beneath the Tamarisk Tree. It seemed to me that an NDE seems to give Christian believers, and sometimes non-believers, an insight into heaven that was useful to consider. The many well-documented occurrences are fascinating to study, often in line with Biblical references.
An NDE for a believer may be comforting, confirming and encouraging. But for an atheist it is going to be wholly disturbing, challenging often long-held firm beliefs, making them realise that it has to lead to fundamental change in thinking and possibly lifestyle. That if the spiritual realm is real then it changes everything, to the very core.
And so in this novel, we find the story of an atheistic medical equipment salesman saved from death by the same equipment he sold to the hospital, experiencing an NDE that shatters his unbelief, taking him down a path of searching and questioning.
As a parallel story, we also observe the machinations of the dark forces who are determined to lead him astray. Their efforts are thwarted by his Christian wife and relatives, who don’t let go to the power of prayer and the spiritual battle that is being fought.
In this way, Dear Judas reimagines the themes of C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, exploring the tension between good and evil, revealing the conniving deceit that goes on to manipulate and shroud our lives in lies. Somehow, when you read it in black and white, the attempts look quite pathetic, but how often does it work!
The tricks and the subterfuge are played out in the spiritual battleground of our minds. When they are pointed out like this, they seem obvious and clumsy. But when we are the victims, we are often none the wiser.
The main protagonist, after his NDE, is caught up in a search for spiritual truth which takes him down rabbit holes, misguided by spiritual forces who want to destroy him. He has to wade through the lies and deceit to ultimately find truths.
The battle plays out seeing both sides, and it acts as a good reminder that the battles are not always seen.
