I was four years old when my family got our first television set. It was the only TV on our block and my dad had carefully planned its delivery to coincide with the biggest happening since the end of World War II, so most of our neighbors joined us for the very first broadcast we watched on our new set--the coronation of Elizabeth II, Queen of the United Kingdom, on June 2, 1953. Never mind that the picture was in black and white and a bit scratchy, the grown-ups all marveled at the technology that made it possible for us to see a spectacle taking place that very moment on the other side of the world. I don't suppose that many of them understood that technology any better than I did, but that didn't matter. It worked.

That might seem like a strange anecdote to begin this issue on Heaven and the spirit world, but the point is this: Like the TV, we don't have to understand everything about the spirit world to know it's real or receive its benefits. For people to say they don't believe in the spirit world because they've never been there or don't understand it would be like saying they don't believe in TV because they've never seen one. Just because they've never seen it doesn't make it not so.

It took some very smart people to discover radio waves and learn how to use them to bring us first the radio and then TV, but now we can all benefit. God also made a way for us to connect with the spirit world, so we can all benefit. It's called prayer.

Once we learn to connect, many amazing things are possible: We can have a personal, intimate relationship with Jesus; we can get very real help with our problems; we can even catch glimpses of the world beyond our physical plane. The benefits are endless--all put there by our loving heavenly Father for us to discover, use, and enjoy.

Keith Phillips
For the Activated family