Forward

It's a classic science fiction theme. A person from another dimension slips through a "time warp" and plops down on Earth. He may have travelled billions of miles through space, or perhaps he hurtled back through time from some future era. Yet as far as he's concerned, he just stepped through a hole in space in a matter of seconds.

The notion of a parallel universe has intrigued the human mind for millennia. This book, however, is not about science fiction; it is about real life. Indeed, Jesus Christ himself, the most "real" human being that ever existed, spoke of the "Kingdom of Heaven" almost as though it were another dimension—a parallel universe.

We must live in the world, but not be of it, Jesus taught. If so,then what world are we supposed to be "of," and how do we get there? "The Kingdom of Heaven," answered Jesus, "is within you." All a person has to do is knock, he said, and the door will be opened.

The key to this door is our sincere desire to know the truth— from the most basic truths about our problems and our wrong way of living, right up to the ultimate truth about Christ and his message of salvation. Love of truth—that is what draws us,imperceptibly, inch by inch, toward the hidden inner door to this "parallel universe." And all those who follow the leading of their conscience to the "promised land" are able to translate that "parallel universe"—the Kingdom of Heaven—into their lives, their families, their little corner of the world.

Although this book is Christian in content, it talks less about Christ—although he is the embodiment of all truth—and more about personal problems. Why? Our deepest problems, it turns out—caused mostly by childhood traumas and the cruelty of others—have a profoundly positive side to them. Ironically, they are our strongest and surest connection with God.

Our conflicts tell us wordlessly that there is something wrong with the way we exist; they are sure evidence that the identity we have evolved is "of this world"—that is, full of pain and suffering. Our internal conflicts represent the warring of two worlds: the world of what we have become, with all our problems and hangups, versus the heavenly world of our bright potential. The contrast of these two warring worlds within us causes friction, which we know as pangs of conscience. Like a messenger from that other world, conscience is always trying to cut through our confusion and save us.

Listening to what conscience is trying to tell us about our problems is the beginning of truly listening to God. It is the 1+1=2 of salvation, before we get to the E=MC 2 of Christian Mystery, and without which the "advanced math" has little value to us.

If problems, hang-ups, and addictions provide us with a key focal point, then it is the way we focus on our problems that determines whether we get better or worse. Being obsessed with our problems is as bad as ignoring them—both approaches cause us to become more deeply mired in our troubles. Yet there is a positive way of standing back and focusing upon our inner conflicts—described in this book—a way that resolves problems, rather than making them worse.

When we listen to our conscience, the wisdom and understanding we gather through life evolve into an identity—a person within a person, so to speak. To be "in the world, but not of it," then, is to rise above identifying with the body and its feelings and cravings, and to stand in the objective place observing all things—a practice that truly "makes all things new."

If you are sincere about being a better person, this book will help you to rise above and overcome your suffering through developing grace under pressure. When you discover how not to be upset, angry, and doubtful—in other words, how to stop overreacting to outside influences—your life will undergo a metamorphosis, a change for the better in ways more profound than you could ever have dreamed possible.

If we stop running away from ourselves and into the distractions of this world just long enough to listen to our conscience—this voiceless voice from the "other dimension"—we will be guided safely by the Holy Spirit through even the most trying and dangerous experiences of life. And we shall experience a renewing of the self from deep within.

Eventually, the purity of our sincerity reveals to us Who it is, by name, that has been leading us all along. "Ask, and ye shall receive. Seek, and ye shall find. Knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

So now, heed the call from that other dimension. Follow your intuitive knowing confidently through that door, and discover the "parallel universe" alluded to by the patriarchs and prophets of the Bible. Far from being a distant alien realm, it is actually our true home, from whence the human race descended, and to which we, tried and proven, in faithfulness must return.

—Roy Masters