EHE Autobiographies Record Type: Review   ID: 69
Journey of the Heart: Spiritual Insights on the Road to a Transplant Bartlett, Elizabeth Ann
This is a very well written autobiography by a woman who nearly died many times from cardiac arrests beginning when she was 20 on into her 40s. Finally, her only hope was a transplant. The first half of the book recounts the history of her heart problems, and the things she held dearest—her husband, her new-born son, her work as a college professor, being a member of a 3-woman music group, running, swimming, dancing with her son. She had great zest and energy, and then there was the tortuous pain. The second half describes the lessons she learned from her ordeal of the heart. They are similar to those of an NDEer: gratitude, feeling of being born again, which, in her words is "to experience the world with the wonder that one has as a newborn babe. And I did" (p. 160). And the "indestructible sense of wonder" that came with it was accompanied by a sense of gratitude and humility culminating in joy and praise and celebration...."surely this was salvation" (p. 162). Another aftereffect was profound personal concern for the environment. "Living in wonder brings forth reverence, for all created things. All are held sacred" (p. 163). She now knows, from her many exceptional peak experiences, that we are all one. Although she did not have an NDE, she had recognized the onset of death at least twice. She also had the experience of feeling connected with the deceased 9-year-old whose heart she had while at the same time recollecting the cadence of her original heart.
Publisher Information:	Duluth, MN: Pfeifer-Hamilton, 1997. ix + 181p.

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