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In the summer of 2004, I had the joy of traveling with Rosmarie Trapp on a five-day, whirlwind storytelling tour of southern Wisconsin. Rosmarie is the firstborn child of the Captain and Maria, of the famed von Trapp Family Singers of Sound of Music fame. She has seven older and two younger siblings, five of whom are still living. The von Trapps escaped from Austria when the Nazis came in 1938. Rosmarie said her parents had a vision like Abraham to go to a new land that God would show them; a decision, she said, that saved their lives. She was nine years old when they arrived in "Amerika" and settled on a farm in Stowe, Vermont, where the von Trapp Family Lodge is still located today. They slept in a haymow in a barn the first summer while their home was being built.

The von Trapp Family Singers offered concerts all over the world in the 1940s and '50s. "Tiny one-horse towns and big cities, we went everywhere -- every state in the US (except Alaska), Canada, Mexico, South America, and New Zealand," Rosmarie said. When we passed Kohler, Wisconsin, on our way from a book signing in Plymouth to a church event in Sheboygan, she exclaimed, "Oh, we played here in the 1940s." She remembered touring the factory where the popular Kohler tubs, sinks, and other bathroom accessories were made.

I opened each program with vision stories from the three books in the Vision series (Rosmarie has a personal story in each one), and after I had warmed up the crowd, Rosmarie would come out and tell the stories behind the story of The Sound of Music; what really happened and what was just "Hollywood." She said it was true that the captain had a whistle, but he was not a soldier and did not teach the children to march. He had a whistle because he had been a submarine captain -- it was the only way to get the sailors' attention over the noisy engines. She told about appearing briefly as an extra with her mother and a niece in one scene of the movie as Julie Andrews sang "I Have Confidence" under an arch. It was shot in Salzburg, their former home. After ten takes, she was glad that that was the beginning and the end of her movie career.

Wherever we went, Rosmarie witnessed to her faith, played guitar, and led people in singing favorite songs from The Sound of Music: "Do-Re-Mi," "My Favorite Things," "Edelweiss," "Climb Every Mountain," and "The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Music." The tunes are still ringing in my head. Rosmarie always invited the children to come up and sing with her. At one event, there was a developmentally disabled girl who was singing loudly and off-key. Rosmarie invited her up on stage and had her sit by her side and sing with her during the rest of the performance.

I heard new stories each time Rosmarie spoke. On the last night, she told about a sister who was always late. They used to tease her, telling her that she would be late for her own funeral. When she died, her body was sent, by mistake, to Waterbury, Connecticut, instead of Waterbury, Vermont. They had to start the funeral without her, and when the casket arrived about halfway through the service, everyone had a good laugh. "It was the best funeral we ever had," Rosmarie said.1

That's one way to make a memorable exit. The disciples would not have called Jesus' departure, the "best ascension we ever had," because they had never had one before. But it had to have been one of the most defining moments of their lives. And, of all of their many experiences with Jesus, raising the dead, healing the sick, feeding 5,000, and his many resurrection appearances, it may have been the most difficult to explain. What could the angels have meant when they said, "This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come again in the same way as you saw him go into heaven"? (Acts 1:11b).

What Goes Up ...
Then he said to them, "These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you -- that everything written about me in the law of Moses, the prophets and the psalms must be fulfilled." Then he opened their minds to understand the scriptures, and he said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Messiah is to suffer and to rise from the dead on the third day, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things. And see, I am sending upon you what my Father promised; so stay here in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."

Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and, lifting up his hands, he blessed them. While he was blessing them, he withdrew from them and was carried up into heaven.
-- Luke 24:44-51

In the first book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. After his suffering he presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. While staying with them, he ordered them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait there for the promise of the Father. "This," he said, "is what you have heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."

So when they had come together, they asked him, "Lord, is this the time when you will restore the kingdom to Israel?" He replied, "It is not for you to know the times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." When he had said this, as they were watching, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.
-- Acts 1:1-9

What goes up here is Jesus. What comes down -- and when, and how -- is the story we have lived with for 2,000 years.

The season of Eastertide ends every year with this incredible account of Jesus being "carried up into heaven" as the disciples watched. How does one describe such an occurrence or understand it? If you or I were to show up at the coffee shop and announce that we had witnessed such a thing no one would believe us.

Is the response any different when these scriptures are read in worship? It would be interesting to ask several thousand average Jo-and-Joe-pew-sitters what they think about this event and then do some statistical analysis of the results. Would a majority of Christians say they believe what they say when they say that line in the Apostles' Creed, "... he ascended into heaven and sitteth at the right hand of God the Father almighty, from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead"? (Is that the coming down part?)

I expect most followers of Jesus would say they believe this, but I also suspect that, if pressed, they would admit that they haven't thought much about it at all. Unlike the resurrection, which gets much bigger play because churches are full on Easter, the ascension gets little attention. This may be, in part, because we have almost no framework for comprehending such an event. After all, how many ascensions have there been in the history of the world? Not many, at least not many that have been recorded. There is, of course, Elijah's dramatic whirlwind and chariots of fire ascension documented in 2 Kings.

The day came when Elijah was to be taken "up to heaven by a whirlwind." The great prophet tells his understudy, Elisha, to remain in Gilgal while he goes ahead to Bethel for the big send off. But Elisha refuses, saying, "As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you."

When they arrive at Bethel, they are greeted by a delegation from the local Junior Prophets Association (JPs) who ask Elisha if he is aware of what is about to happen. He says yes and bids them to "keep silent." Again Elijah tells Elisha to stay put because God is now sending him to Jericho. And, again Elisha talks back to his mentor, Nothing doing -- "As the Lord lives and as you yourself live, I will not leave you."

So they went on to Jericho, and as at Bethel, the local JPs met them and asked Elisha the same question their Bethel brothers had asked. Did he know that this was the day God would take his master away from him? Elisha says, "I know, I know, keep quiet!" Once more Elijah announces another destination, this time God is sending him to the Jordan, and as before he wants Elisha to remain behind, and again his stubborn protégé says, "As the Lord lives, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you."

So they went on together and this time no less than fifty of the JPs tagged along. When they came to the Jordan the parade came to a full and final stop. The JPs watched from a safe distance as Elijah "took his mantle, rolled it up, and struck the water; the water was parted to the one side and to the other, until the two of them crossed on dry ground." The Hebrew storyteller doesn't say, but we might assume that this little repeat of Exodus history was not lost on the boys in the JPs. Surely they knew they were about to witness something monumental.

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Tell me what I may do for you, before I am taken from you." Elisha said, "Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit." He responded, "You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you; it will be granted you; if not, it will not." As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a whirlwind to heaven. Elisha kept watching and crying out, "Father, father! The chariots of Israel and its horsemen!" But when he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.
-- 2 Kings 2:9-12

Elisha did indeed inherit a double portion of Elijah's spirit. And his first Elijah-like act of power was another Exodus redux. He took the mantle of the great prophet, struck the waters of the Jordan and walked across on dry ground. There can be no doubt that he is now in the big leagues, a sure pick to be nominated to the prophets hall of fame.

The fifty big-eyed JPs who had watched all of this were now humming "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot." They could hum a little of the tune but they still couldn't sing with the big boys. They wanted to send a search party out looking for Elijah, just in case he landed on some mountain or ended up in a ditch. Elisha was against it, but they pestered him and pestered him until he began to worry. What if they were right? He didn't want to be the one to leave poor old Lige hanging out there in a tree somewhere, so he said, "Okay, already, go look if you have to!" All fifty of them looked high and low for three days and could find no sign of the great prophet anywhere. When they reported back, Elisha gave them that major prophet look of exasperation and said, "Didn't I tell you?" (2 Kings 2:13-18).

Elisha's own death occurred in quite a different way than his master's. Like Elijah, he performed many wonders and miracles throughout his lifetime, but died as most other humans die and was buried in the ground. Some time later, a man was being buried on the same plot of land when suddenly a band of marauders appeared. The mourners quickly threw the body into Elisha's grave, and, "as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he came to life and stood on his feet" (2 Kings 13:14-21).

Elijah passed on his power through his mantle. Elisha's power was present and still potent even in his dried-up bones. Jesus would bestow power on those who came after him in another way.

The disciples were clearly in the "Elisha seat" at the ascension of Jesus, though they were about to receive the mantle without having to ask. Jesus tells them to stay put in Jerusalem, where in a few days they would be "baptized by the Holy Spirit," "clothed with power from on high," and become "... witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" (Luke 24:49b; Acts 1:4-8).

Then, like Elisha, the disciples gaze in wonder at a miraculous, metaphysical event involving the movement of a human being from one dimension to another, similar to what some of them had witnessed at the transfiguration. They are left standing, looking up with their mouths open, not quite comprehending what they have just seen. What do you do after you see something like that? What words do you employ to describe a phenomenon unlike anything you or anyone else on earth has ever seen, and who would they tell? Who would believe it? And, what do we do with this story in the twenty-first century?

Very likely we will do nothing with it until we come to believe something extraordinary really happened on that day: that ascensions, though exceedingly rare, are possible in the natural order of things, and that the ascension of Jesus, like all of his miracles and his resurrection, are not supernatural, but extraordinary natural events that open our eyes to a dimension of reality that we have heretofore been unable to see or participate in. This is not to say that Jesus has created a new reality, but rather that he has prompted us to wake up and see what has always been there. This can be compared to a swimmer who, coming upon a land-bound people who have no knowledge of the sea, takes them to the shore so that they can look out at the great expanse of water all around. He dives in, invites them to follow, and then teaches them to swim. In Jesus' case, he teaches his followers to swim into the powerful and empowering presence of God, to pray, heal the sick, open the eyes of the blind, and raise the dead.

Phyllis Tickle once asked her pastor, "What do you think happens when we pray?" Earl King, a retired Presbyterian missionary who had served with his wife for 35 years in what was then called the Belgium Congo, replied, "I guess the answer is, 'What is the Mount of Transfiguration?' " Phyllis then asked, "You mean we are transformed?" King said, "Good heavens, no ... What I mean is that prayer is a place, and Peter and James and John just happened to catch Jesus while he was in it." And then as an afterthought he added, "You can't go there as long as you don't recognize that the spirit works because it is spirit."2

This is the power that is given to us through the Holy Spirit: an apprehension of the divine energy all around us, and the ability to use it in partnership with God. The problem is, many of us who have grown up in this scientific age assume ascensions like those attributed to Elijah and Jesus are physically impossible. We look for metaphorical explanations.

Then there are those of us on the other extreme who believe every event described in the Bible literally happened: that miracles like the ascension were possible for Jesus because, as the Son of God, he had super powers not available to the rest of us. And probably the greatest number of us don't think very much about these miracle stories at all. We put our everyday living in one compartment and our religious beliefs and practices in another. The two worlds seldom intersect until we are beset by tragedy, face the prospect of our own deaths, or have a direct encounter with the divine.

About a year into my first full-time pastoral appointment, I had an opportunity to hear Elizabeth Kübler-Ross speak at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. I was a great fan of her early death and dying books. It was a thrill to be in the same room with her and to hear her talk about her work. She told a number of stories about patients who described near-death experiences. My eyes were opened to a part of our world I had never known before, had never really believed existed, though I was a student of the scriptures that are filled with stories of such encounters with the holy. It was a life-changing experience that would lead me, twenty years later, to a new calling to tell and interpret vision stories in the Bible by comparing them to the visions of ordinary people today.

I began to pay more attention to bereaved church members who told about experiencing the presence of deceased loved ones. I had previously dismissed these kinds of reports as wishful thinking: normal delusions that sometimes occur in the grieving process.

Jack Kaufman, the lay leader of our congregation, a physician, and professor of Pulminary Medicine at The Medical College of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa, wrote about a guided meditation he experienced in one of our Lenten classes in March of 2005.

Aunt Anna's Smile
Jack Kaufman
Kathryn Rambo, our meditation guide, placed us in a familiar peaceful location.

Where was I? I was on the bank of the Chagrin River, in Ohio, a spot I passed numerous times in my own meditative way on a Sunday whenever I would return to med school. Once on that bank, in the shadow of St. Christopher's-by-the-River Episcopal Church in Gates Mills, Ohio, my younger brother and I went fishing. During the guided meditation, my brother was gone; I was alone.

For years, when I drove past that church and gazed on the golden cross atop the steeple, I prayed for my Aunt Anna. Anna, an Orthodox Jew, had been afflicted with arthritis at a relatively young age. I observed her sufferings in a day before effective medical and surgical techniques. But why that cross? I pleaded with God to alleviate Anna's pain.

She had reared seven daughters until she finally had a son, a man who was to be a bomber pilot on a B-17 in World War II. Anna was a tough woman who, despite the rigors of raising a large family, was able to withstand the pain and discomfort of her arthritis. I always thought she would die from the suffering, but it made her stronger. And yet, I prayed for her each time I saw that cross.

During the guided meditation, I saw Aunt Anna. She questioned me as to why I believed in Jesus. "Aunt Anna," I said, "I have prayed for you for years through Jesus."

"You have abandoned your Jewish faith," she replied.

"I have been no different than those early Jews, including Paul, who did not necessarily give up on Hebrew commandments of mercy and justice, but also felt that Jesus was God incarnate."

However, she then looked upon me in pleasure and satisfaction. From the time I began praying for Anna to the time of her death, 23 years elapsed. Her arthritis was controlled, her pains alleviated. "I prayed for you, Aunt Anna. Please don't criticize me."

She continued to look at me. Finally, she said I had made a good decision. Perhaps, not one she would have made.

By the end of the meditation, Anna smiled down on me. I felt she spoke to me from heaven, a place I longed for her final abode, free from the pain and suffering that I had petitioned from the cross at St. Christopher's.3


Spirits come and go, and are sometimes present with loved ones on earth.

Della Reese wrote about both the visitation of a loved one and being outside of her own body after crashing through a glass patio door at her home in Hollywood in the early 1970s. The shattered glass cut deeply into her stomach and just as the glass on top of the door was about to fall down on her head, her mother, who she said, "... had died in 1949 ... reached around from behind me, taking hold of my head and shoulders, and lifted me onto my feet and told me to sit down in my chair." Della knew it was her mother because "... it was her smell only, that wonderful-smelling mixture of Ponds cold cream, vanilla, and spices ... Mama spoke to me, her scent still all around, telling me what to say to Dumpsey (her daughter) to show her how to make a tourniquet for my leg. And then Mama was gone."

Later, in the emergency room, Della describes what she called "... a definite out-of-body experience." She found herself "... sitting above a large medical cabinet, listening to them discuss me as if I wasn't there." They needed an adult relative to sign a release form so they could operate. It made Della angry. She didn't want to die because of some "damn papers." So she came down, and she wrote, "... came back to my body, looked up, saying, 'Give me the papers, I'll sign them myself.' " Della said, "Their eyes bulged as if they were seeing a ghost."4

Millions of people have had out-of-body and near-death experiences -- and have told about what they have seen.

My cousin, Francis McDonough, tells of an out-of-body experience he had when he was in grade school in Lime Ridge, Wisconsin, in the 1950s.

When I was in the third grade at Lime Ridge School, I got very sick and was shaking with the chills. I walked outside and went next door to Grandma McDonough's house. She took me in and laid me down in the living room on a parlor bed, covered me up, and then left. I remember floating over to the big stove and being above it to keep warm. Then Grandma came back in with some more blankets. I was watching her as she leaned over me on the couch. It was then that I became aware of a little old man, all white hair and a big mustache, on the side of the room motioning for me to go down by my grandma. I found out later that the little old man was my great-grandfather, but that he had been dead for quite a while. I never told my grandma.5

Most people in our society take these accounts about as seriously as ghost stories told around a campfire, no matter how credible the source might be. We find it difficult to integrate out-of-body and visitation experiences, even when they are reported by people we love and trust. We believe them, but put the idea into that compartment that rarely affects our everyday life in the "real world." We don't know what to do with views of reality that are radically different from the accepted scientific worldview by which most of us live.

The apostle Paul also addresses this issue in a dialogue about resurrection with doubtful Christians in the Corinthian church, saying, "If there is a physical body, there is also a spiritual body ..." (1 Corinthians 15:35-51).

It is not as difficult to believe that we have both a physical and a spiritual body as it is to comprehend that a person who has died and left the physical body behind can come back, seemingly appear out of thin air as Jesus did, and pass through walls that feel solid to the touch (Luke 24:36-43; John 20:19-23).

Psychologist Raymond Moody tells about a woman who came to him after her son died from cancer. She missed him terribly. Dr. Moody writes:

One day I received an incredible call from her. A few days after her visit to my clinic, she awoke from a deep sleep ... There, standing in her room, was her son. As she sat up in the bed to look at him, she could see that the ravages of cancer were gone. He now looked vibrant and happy as he had before his disease ... The woman was in a state of ecstasy. She stood up and faced her son and began carrying on a conversation. "I couldn't believe it was him ... so I asked if I could touch him...." Her son stepped forward and hugged her. Then the woman said he lifted her right off the ground and over his head.6

If this is true, and I believe it is because I have talked to people whose word I trust who have had this kind of experience; it is indeed possible that Jesus was lifted up into heaven, just as it is written in scripture, and that he can and does come back in the same way.

Will Come Down
While he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven, suddenly two men in white robes stood by them. They said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking up toward heaven? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven."
-- Acts 1:10-11

I have come to believe, after hearing many testimonies, that Jesus does come back in the same way he went into heaven, just as the messengers told his disciples that day.

Bill Penaz of Milwaukee tells of a vision he had at a Lenten service at his church in 1965.

I found myself focusing on the cross on the altar about fifteen feet away. The cross was about fifteen inches high and made of wood. Although I was not thinking of anything in particular, I kept my eyes focused on that cross, and suddenly it disappeared and I saw Jesus in all of his glory! I saw him standing there in a white, white robe, the whitest thing I have ever seen. His beard was black and he had flowing black hair. His body was outlined in the most beautiful color of gold I have ever seen.7

While I was studying a commentary on Acts and writing an outline for this chapter, a friend, Mike Rother, who is an active member of the Episcopal church, stopped in my office. He is intuitive and often shows up at some opportune time when I need his assistance, usually before I know I need it. I told him what I was working on and we talked about the ascension. I read him a few verses of the text and asked him if he thought it possible that anyone could leave the earth in this way. This prompted him to relate the following personal experience.

It was October, 2004, in San Francisco. I was accustomed, as part of my spiritual practice, to meditate frequently. One night I made my way toward the Hartford Street Zen Center for 6 p.m. Zazen, or Silent Practice. I felt very much at home there, and was as frequent a participant as my schedule permitted. On the evening in question, after entering the Zendo, or Temple Area, I observed that my forearms seemed "luminous" as I made my way to my chair. The visiting priest and a monk in residence bowed slightly in my direction acknowledging my presence, but something they observed in my regard caused a less than detached response and they conversed in brief sentences which somehow seemed to be about me. After a slight reverence to the altar, I took my place and began my meditation. I very quickly entered an interior place of intense illumination and time/space seemed to meld into something else. I had the distinct feeling, as the bell sounded signaling the end of Zazen, that I had returned from a long trip. Yet only five minutes seemed to have passed. Again, I observed a luminous quality to my physical self. Somewhat uncomfortable with more undue attention from the priest and resident monk, I proceeded to exit quickly before the start of the evening service.

The following day, as I made a necessary trip to Walgreens near the Zen Center, I was warmly greeted by the resident monk, who cautiously approached and said, "Mike, may I speak with you please?" Of course, I responded, "Yes!" The following day, as I made a necessary trip to Walgreens near the Zen Center, I was warmly greeted by the resident monk, who cautiously approached and said, Mike,mayIspeakwithyouplease? Of course, I responded, Yes!

"You have caused some discussion and sensation around the Zendo lately, and I feel drawn to share with you what was observed last evening by myself and Roshi (the priest). You had an unusual luminous quality about you as you entered the Zendo. Your physicality, in relation to this luminous quality, could only be described as 'fading.' After meditation started, upon impulse I opened my eyes, and even though I could initially hear your breathing, you had vanished. Upon the end of Zazen, I opened my eyes quickly and observed that you had indeed returned to us, but your physical outline seemed 'out of focus.' " Noticing that I was growing uncomfortable, he graciously said good-bye, and offered an "ear" if I wished to discuss it further. As he embraced me as a brother, he said softly, "Don't worry, your secret is safe with us."8

____________

1. Rosmarie Trapp is a member of the Community of The Crucified One, 104 E. 11th Avenue, Homestead, Pennsylvania 15120. She lives in an apartment in one of the church's mission houses in Vermont, where she is involved in children's Bible classes and prison ministries. Her family's story was told in the well-known movie, The Sound of Music. Rosmarie is the firstborn child of Captain and Maria von Trapp. Three of her personal stories are included in the three-volume Vision Stories series edited by John Sumwalt, CSS Publishing, 2002, 2003, and 2004.

2. Phyllis Tickle, The Shaping of a Life: A Spiritual Landscape (New York: Doubleday, 2001), p. 374.

3. Jack Kaufman is Professor of Pulminary Medicine at The Medical College of Wisconsin in Wauwatosa. While editor of the Medical College publication, The Grapevine, a monthly collection of essays, commentary, and poetry, Dr. Kaufman wrote over 140 articles on the art of medicine and society. He has published more than fifty scientific articles in refereed medical journals, and has written medical textbook chapters on asthma, smoke inhalation, and carbon monoxide poisoning. Dr. Kaufman has taught adult Sunday school and Disciple Bible Study classes at Wauwatosa Avenue United Methodist Church since 1976 and has served as the lay leader since 2004.

4. Della Reese, Franklin Lett, Mim Eichler, Angels Along The Way: My Life With Help From Above (New York: Berkley Boulevard Books, 1997), pp. 220-221.

5. My cousin, Francis McDonough, lives in Lime Ridge, Wisconsin. The old man he saw in his out-of-body experience may have been our ancestor, Edward John Long, who came to America from Tipperary, Ireland, in 1850.

6. Raymond Moody, Reunions (New York: Villard Books, 1993), pp. 206-208.

7. Bill Penaz, "I Saw the Lord," Sharing Visions: Divine Revelations, Angels and Holy Coincidences, ed., John E. Sumwalt (Lima, Ohio: CSS Publishing Company, 2003), p. 65. (See also "Maundy Thursday Visions," pp. 107-108, and "Visions of Christ," pp. 211-215.) Bill Penaz lives in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and is a longtime member of Loving Shepherd Evangelical Lutheran Church.

8. Mike James Rother is "an actualized old soul" who is active in the Anglican Communion. He lives in Milwaukee and will soon be returning to his "beloved San Francisco Bay area to resume a spirit-infused life of service dedicated to transformation and healing."