Chapters 22 through 24 Summary and Analysis

Chapter 22: Inspiration to Others

Interest was growing about Mary's story. After she got stronger, she was asked to speak to groups at several different churches. Mary is a scientist and naturally skeptical. She relies on data and numbers. But there is one area a scientist cannot account for and that is the "alteration of time and space and dimension that is God's." (136) Mary does not know, on a scientific level, how it works but she knows that God loves and knows each person.

Sharing her story had several benefits. It inspired others and it freed them, gave them permission, to tell their own stories. Mary has observed that people who relate stories about encountering angels or about being in the presence of God can tell their stories effortlessly and in great detail. Most of the stories that Mary heard...