Amazing Grace

“I usually start by introducing newcomers to their relatives here. You can get your bearings at the same time. You’ll discover that you have special powers in heaven, and we’ll develop these as we go along,” Uncle Donald explained as we walked toward a dirt road.

            Heaven is a lot like earth in many ways. There are forests, cities, farms, stores, and playgrounds - anything you could ask for - but there are some very important differences. First of all, you only do what you want to do. That’s the reward for having been good on earth and for doing all the stuff you didn’t really want to do. Second, everything is peaceful. There's no fighting and no wars. I guess, if everyone can have whatever they want - and they don’t bother anyone else with it - there's no reason for wars. It was kind of unreal, but neat. On the other hand, it made me think that this might be just a dream. Like I might be in a coma or something.

            As we walked along, Uncle Donald pointed out some “lions sitting beside lambs.”

            “I always wondered about that while on earth,” he said. “I make sure to show it to every new soul in my care. Since no one has to eat in heaven, there’s no drive to kill. Lions who aren’t hungry don’t have to kill. Of course, an occasional lion likes to hone his skills, but that’s all part of his creative activity - an illusion of sorts - and doesn’t harm any animals. In fact, a gazelle might want to practice its own techniques of evasion using the same method of illusion.”

            That seemed weird to me. Why should they even want to play prey or predator? But then again, Sara used to run around my apartment all the time. I thought it was exercise, but maybe it was really “honing her skills.” I wondered if the big-game hunters who came to heaven did the same kind of think. I sure wouldn’t like to see that!

            “What did you think of the Lord?” Uncle Donald asked.

What’s there to think about? He was everything I would have expected, I guess. He was perfect. I’m kind of sorry I had those fits of anger.

            “He knew everything about me, and he still loved me. He wanted me to be happy,” I said.

            “How did he appear to you? I mean, I was judged by God the Father when I arrived.”

            “I saw Jesus, but I wonder who the non-Christians see,” I said.

            “I believe people see the image of God with which they are the most familiar. I always pictured God as an old man with white hair, a long, white beard, and a white robe. I wasn’t disappointed. Others have seen him sitting on a throne, and still others have seen the dove, if you can believe that. It’s all the same God, just different representations of him, based on the person’s own thoughts about how he should look.”

It didn’t really make sense, the way he could look like whoever you think, while he’s appearing to someone else in a different way. I wondered again if this might be just a dream.

            “Well, he did look glorious,” I said. “Why did he refer to himself as we? Is it because of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit?” Again, I pictured the three of them sitting around a conference table and agreeing to give me the shortcut to heaven. I was still pretty mad about that.

            “I suspect the Three Persons use the majestic plural. That’s the plural used by kings and the pope to refer to themselves.”

            That made sense. After all, God is greater than kings and the pope. On the other hand, why should he feel the need? I kept that question to myself. I didn’t know these uncles well enough yet. I just shrugged.

            “Yes, well, that’s what I think,” Uncle Donald said. “But there’s a lot of discussion about this here in the first level of heaven.”

            “First level!” I exclaimed. “I never knew there were levels in heaven.” Of course not. I didn’t believe in heaven.

            “Of course. This is where you begin to make the adjustments to the spirit world. If you ended up in seventh heaven right away, you’d go through severe culture shock. This place looks like earth, but it’s all illusory. This is where you learn about yourself as a spirit. And, believe me, going through the levels slowly is best. This takes patience, but it allows you to grow spiritually in a more solid way. When it comes time for you to serve, you’ll be better prepared to do your job right. Don’t rush yourself. You have all of eternity ahead of you.”

I wondered what I’d have to learn in each level. And I wondered how they’d be different. I also wondered what exactly “spiritual growth” meant. It sounded suspiciously like school. Maybe heaven was more like earth than I thought.

            “Have you given an thought to what you’d like to do in heaven, Iris?” Uncle Donald asked.

            “Do you mean, like, a job?”

            “Well, that would come later. I mean, what is your pleasure?”

            “Oh. Actually, I’d like to continue learning to play the guitar and maybe a few other instruments. And, if I could, I’d like to visit some places I didn’t get to see on earth.”

            “Will you start with music then?” Uncle Donald didn’t wait for an answer. “What kind of music do you like?”

            “There isn’t any music I don’t like, but I know you and Onkel Wolfgang like jazz, so that would do for now. It’s what I was working on when I, er, left the earth.” (I couldn’t put myself and death in the same sentence yet. That was just too much.)

            “All right then.” Uncle Donald was rubbing his hands together, eager to get started. “After we meet the relatives, I’ll take you to where all the musicians congregate. Wolfgang will come along. He loves all those jazz greats.”