This Sunday, Oprah is sitting down with Dr. Eben Alexander to discuss the near-death experience he describes in his bestselling book, Proof of Heaven. The lessons this former skeptic learned from the experience can change how we all live. Today, Dr. Alexander is sharing his views on the holidays and how they have changed since his life-altering experience.

By Eben Alexander III, MD

December was a magical month for me as a boy—first came my birthday, followed two weeks later by Christmas! Many people get caught up in the Christmas spirit and all of the giving and loving of others that it engenders. This is so even if they do not fully believe in God and the divine linkage of humanity through the life of Jesus Christ. It is hard to avoid that magical feeling if one is at all open to the loving nature of the human spirit.

Looking back, I believe the joy I felt during the holiday season, focused on the miraculous event of Jesus' birth, had always depended, to some degree, on the extent to which I believed in the spiritual realm—in a divine, loving God. There was thus a lull in that lustrous magic, for I spent many years as an adult not enjoying such belief.

That all changed, dramatically and forever, after I returned from a week-long coma due to severe bacterial meningitis, from which I was not expected to recover. In the four years since my return, I have come to know that all-loving God as I never had before. Much of that awakening occurred immediately after I returned, for I was astonished by the power of my memories, much like others who have had similar near-death experiences. The real jolt came months later, though, as I was trying to explain how that realm (that was too real to be real) might have occurred in my brain. I finally concluded, based on all that we know about neuroscience, brain and mind, that it did not—and that it seemed that real because it was!

Such a radical shift in my worldview has changed my entire life, year-round. My every breath is so much richer for that experience, and for that knowing. Life has so much more purpose and meaning, for me and for those near and dear to me.

Overwhelming gratitude has dominated my mind ever since I returned from my coma. That gratitude comes into full bloom every holiday season through giving and love for others, when it is shared with so many who, at least for the holidays, can open more to the possibility of belief—in the Divine.