Tunnel Vision

45

“We have a little surprise for you,” said Dr. Luria on the phone the next Tuesday. “No suspensions tonight, and please come dressed up.”

That was all she told him, except to meet at the usual pickup spot near Symphony Hall.

Zack’s sole dress-up wardrobe consisted of a blue blazer, a pair of chinos, and a blue shirt. His one tie was balled up with a pair of dress socks. He ironed that, and at six sharp he was at the corner of Huntington and Massachusetts Avenues, picked up this time by a Lincoln Town Car, not Bruce in the SUV. And the driver came with a personality.

“Where we going?” Zack said, getting in.

“The Taj Boston.”

He had heard of it and knew it wasn’t exactly a grad student hangout. “Sounds good.”

“I take it you’re not from around here.”

He didn’t want to sound dumb, given that he was born and raised just ten miles out of town. “Nope, just arrived.”

“Where from?”

“Maine.” He had no idea why he said that.

A few minutes later, the driver pulled up to the corner of Arlington and Newbury at the doors of the most elegant hotel Zack had ever been to. When the driver let him out, Zack fumbled for money, but the man said that was all taken care of.

“Tenth floor.” He handed him a card: “Commonwealth Suite.” “Enjoy your stay in Boston.”

Zack thanked him and went inside, instantly aware of his have-not status. The lobby was bustling with people dressed in high-end clothing and looking as if they had stepped out of travel posters. Along the foyer were glittering shops and window displays of designer clothing and jewelry and a fancy café. The interior of the elevator looked like a jewelry box. At the tenth floor, Sarah greeted him, wearing an emerald green sheath that nearly knocked the wind out of Zack. “Dazzling,” he whispered.

She grinned and gave him a warm hug. “You’re looking pretty good yourself.”

She took his arm and led him through a fancy door and into an elegant suite with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the Boston Public Garden. Several well-dressed people sat on floral sofas or stood around with cocktails. He recognized a few faces from the lab, including Morris Stern dressed in a blue blazer and Byron Cates in a smart gray suit. Uniformed staff moved through the crowd with drinks and hors d’oeuvres. Along one wall lay a sumptuous buffet elaborately arranged.

When Dr. Luria saw him, she waved expansively for them to join her small clutch of people. “Here he is,” she chortled, and gave him a hug as if he were a favorite nephew. “I want you to meet a very special person. Zack Kashian, this is Dr. Warren Gladstone.”

Gladstone was tall and lean, with a tight, boyish face that contrasted with the loose skin of his neck, making Zack think that he had had cosmetic surgery. His chocolate brown hair, which was perfectly coiffed and parted with optical precision, looked artificially colored against the gray sideburns. A bright, toothy smile lit up his face. He looked like someone you might have seen in movies.

“I can’t tell you how pleased I am to meet you,” he said, pumping Zack’s hand. “You’ve been a real asset to our program. And by the way, I’m not a medical doctor. Doctor of theology.”

“A pleasure to meet you,” Zack said. Theology?

Elizabeth put her hand on Gladstone’s arm. Beaming, she said, “Warren is a very accomplished writer and televangelist. He has so graciously supported our research. In fact, I don’t know what we’d do without him.”

“The pleasure is mine and the rewards are great,” he said. “So, you’re at Northwestern.”

“Northeastern.”

“Of course. And what’s your major?”

“I’m doing grad work in English.”

“Marvelous. English was my favorite subject at UT in Chattanooga. That’s where I discovered Shakespeare, a heaven-inspired man if there ever was one.”

Zack nodded politely as Gladstone continued nonstop to tell him about the courses he took and dramatic productions he was in, quoting various lines.

“My favorite was Hamlet, of course. I played Polonius.”

“Of course,” Zack said, thinking, Typecasting. Polonius might be the biggest windbag in Western world literature.

“I ended up second in my class in English studies. I wanted to be a poet and minored in English but decided to go into the seminary.”

A waiter came by with a tray of champagne and wine. Thankfully, Elizabeth spotted him. “Warren, why don’t we let Zack get a drink, then we can chat some more.”

“Of course. ‘A man cannot make him laugh; but that’s no marvel; he drinks no wine.’ Recognize that?”

“Sounds like Falstaff,” Zack said.

He patted Zack on the back. “Very good. Henry the Fourth, Part 2. Now go wet the whistle and we’ll chat later.”

Sarah joined him for a refill. As they made their way to the waiter, he whispered, “Second in his class for nonstop talking.”

“Can you imagine who took first?”

“Some kid named Tourette.”

She snickered. They got their drinks and found a private corner by the window. “Be nice,” she said. “He’s Elizabeth’s sugar daddy. That fMRI machine has his name on it.”

That made sense, since no university, government agency, or legitimate scientific institution would sponsor NDE research. “Who’re the rest of these people?”

“Friends and associates of his.”

“He must have a pretty good-size ministry.”

“Plus a few bestselling books.”

“On what?”

“Near-death experiences.”

Then the name clicked. Reverend W. G. Gladstone. “You mean like Tunnel to Heaven?”

“That’s him.”

“How about that?” He had read up on NDEs, and Gladstone’s book was one of the few that had hit the New York Times Best Seller List. Zack remembered that it had included several reports, including Gladstone’s own, claiming to have died during an asthma attack some years ago—an experience that led him to his ministry. He also had recorded accounts of NDEs from blind people, atheists, even children whose brief encounters with death triggered paranormal experiences. What distinguished Gladstone’s book was its unabashed nondenominational interpretation of near-death and afterlife experiences. It also celebrated the healing powers of a loving nondenominational “Being of Light.”

Zack also remembered scathing reviews condemning the use of Gladstone’s ministerial authority to sell books with anti-Christian notions: that no one need fear death; that God was a nonjudgmental wimp; and that heaven was an open door. One reviewer railed, “In Gladstone’s heaven, you can have a garden party at the same table with Mother Teresa and Adolf Hitler.” As expected, most of the criticism came from religious conservatives.

While they chatted, a large, bald-headed man whispered into Gladstone’s ear. As he stretched, Zack noticed a bulge under his jacket. “Who’s the guy in the gray suit?”

“I think he’s an assistant to Gladstone,” Sarah said. “Why?”

“Just wondering.” The guy was armed.

The buffet consisted of lobster tail, shrimp Newburg, scallops, and a lot of other fancy dishes. He and Sarah ate at one of the stand-up tables located throughout the suite. He went back for seconds on the lobster. Later, Gladstone wandered over and asked Zack to move to the window where they could talk. The bald guy and another closed in on them, making a wall. Across the room, Sarah made a shrug.

“I just wanted a chance to chat privately.” He handed Zack a business card with shafts of light through a cloud. Embossed in gold was “GodLight,” under which were contact numbers and a Web site for Gladstone’s sermons. On the reverse side, an inscription:

OURS IS A COVENANT WITH THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY TO SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF THE MESSIAH BY MEANS OF MASS COMMUNICATIONS TO THE WHOLE WORLD.

“Elizabeth has told me all about your remarkable test results.”

“I guess she’s pleased.” The wattle under his chin didn’t go with the smooth face.

“As you may know, I’ve researched NDEs for years and heard all sorts of inspiring claims, hoping to find hard evidence to substantiate them.”

Zack nodded, knowing where this was leading.

“Zack, I’d like to hear it directly from the horse’s mouth.” He leaned closer. “How do you explain reciting words from Jesus’s Sermon on the Mount in Aramaic?”

That was not what Zack had expected. “I really can’t.”

“Did someone teach that to you?”

“No.”

“Did you learn it in school or Sunday school?”

“Not that I remember.”

Gladstone stared at him with wonder. “You can well imagine my interpretation,” he said. “You’re making phenomenal history in neurology, biology, theology, and every other -ology. Because of you, we—Elizabeth and her team—may be on the cusp of the greatest discovery of mankind ever. Can you appreciate that?”

“Probably not.”

“Well, who really can? But if subsequent tests are as encouraging, we have an obligation to share this with the world. Don’t you agree—to let the world know that science has confirmed the continuation of the spirit?”

Zack was beginning to feel uncomfortable. “I guess.”

“You guess? Zack, we’re talking about singular evidence for the existence of the afterlife and, by extension, the Lord God Almighty.”

Zack sensed a lecture coming.

“Zack, the Bible tells us that ‘faith is the assurance of things hoped for, a conviction of things not seen.’ But the reality is that for thousands of years people have believed in the Lord by putting faith not in things unseen, but in the trust of others, people who claim to know God—family, friends, ministers, priests, rabbis, imams—you name it. For Christians, it’s trust in the character and teachings of Jesus Christ.

“But that’s not the same as belief based on hard evidence. And that’s the bugaboo—the reason why faith is considered nonrational. And the heart of the age-old debates between science and religion. Also the reason why atheists rant against religion: There’s nothing to stand on but faith in the faithful.”

His face swelled. “But you’re changing all that. You’re giving us hard evidence that your mind transcended your body and passed through the tunnel into the realm of spirit.”

Zack saw himself crawl out of a sand pit in the middle of the night and end up on a sunlit sandbar. But he was dead certain that was some kind of hyperdream, the result of all the electrical and chemical juicing of his brain. “Okay,” he said to humor the guy.

Gladstone clapped him on the shoulder. “Good. After the introductory fanfare, I see video interviews of people proclaiming how their passage into God’s light changed their lives forever. One testimony after the next, all climaxing with footage of your own remarkable journey.”

Zack had forgotten about the release agreement on recording his suspensions.

“But videos alone can’t convey the enormity of the truth. I’m saying that I would like you to bear personal testimony before the GodLight congregation—nay, the world.”

“You mean you want me to go on your show?”

“Precisely, and I’d be honored to share the pulpit with you.”

Zack felt a prickly discomfort. Gladstone had invested millions of dollars to prove the existence of the afterlife and now wanted Zack as his pitchman. “But I’ve got nothing to tell.”

“Not just yet, but you will.” Then Gladstone took Zack’s arm, pushing his face so close that he could taste his bourbon fumes. “I’m just setting the stage.”

Zack didn’t like this at all. An alleged out-of-the-body experience, and Gladstone was setting him up to sell books, his ministry, and himself as the second coming. “I’ll think about it.”

“Fine, and remember that it’s more than a privilege. It’s a moral obligation to share our success with a world that’s suffered thousands of years of uncertain belief in things unseen.”

Zack made another noncommittal nod, thinking that the only unseen thing he believed in was the next thousand-dollar check.

“In the meantime, live in light, go in faith,” Gladstone said.

Zack walked away to join Sarah, thinking how he had heard those words before but couldn’t recall where. Nor did he bother to rummage for a connection because Sarah held another glass of champagne for him; and with her back to the afterglow of the sun and her emerald sheath hugging her like spring, she looked like a beatific vision.