Heaven and Hell (28 page)

“He’s always been a blessing to me, Father God,” Jennifer said, looking toward the place where God sat in the midst of His people.

“I think you mean he was a blessing
most
of the time,” God said.

Chris was surprised. He was certain that he had detected a trace of amusement in the voice of God.

“Yes, Father,
most
of the time,” giggled Jennifer.

“But you taught him well,” continued God. “Very well indeed. Even after you departed, his faith and love endured. That was the greatest test of his character.”

Jennifer was on her knees now, tears of joy in her eyes. “I praise and thank You, Father God, for bringing my son safely home. We would be lost without Your love.”

“I am happy to see a family reunited,” replied God. “One day, your reunion will be complete.” Again, the Creator’s attention turned to Chris. “My son, the days ahead will hold for you many joys and wonders, yet I know your heart. The day will come when your heart will be very troubled, and your mind full of questions. On that day, I do not wish for you to hesitate or fear to come to me. In the natural world, children will often turn to friends for council before they turn to their own parents. Even here, it is often that way. In that day, come to me, Chris, I will have your answers.”

“Yes, Lord, I will come to you,” promised Chris.

To Chris, God’s words seemed strange. He wasn’t quite sure that he understood, and yet he somehow knew that the day God spoke of would come. Of course it would, God Himself had plainly said so. Chris could have asked for clarification, but he refrained from pursuing the issue further. Perhaps he would ask later, there was plenty of time.

Chris and his mother remained in the presence of God for many hours, praising, singing, and communing with those around them. When they finally turned for home, Chris was full of joy. To have been in the presence of God, to have actually talked with Him was fantastic. It had left him with a lot to think about, though. The events of the day stirred within him a sense of awe, yet, with a strange undercurrent. Something was wrong. Even as he turned in for the night, he could sense an approaching storm.

I
T was some days after his return from the City of Zion that Chris found himself wandering through the forest several miles from the mansion. On this warm afternoon, he felt very relaxed and in perfect harmony with the world around him. The dreams that had disturbed his sleep had finally relented, allowing the undiluted joy of Heaven to hold sway over his heart.

The forest realm had an almost enchanted character to it. There were no thorns, no tangle of bushes, no snakes, and no dangers, only God’s handiwork, perfected beyond anything he had ever seen on Earth. Chris pondered if the Garden of Eden might have been something like this. No, this was probably even better.

The trees were familiar: oak, maple, poplar, and a collection of pines, and each one was a perfect example of the species. Birds sang new songs from the trees, while uniquely colorful butterflies flitted about him.

Chris approached one that sat perched upon a blue flower. Upon close inspection, he discovered that it was unlike any insect he had ever seen on Earth. It had a smooth, tan body that gave it perfect aerodynamic grace. When viewed closely, the bodies of earthly butterflies were dark and segmented, almost mechanical, lacking the beauty they seemed to possess from afar. But these heavenly butterflies were wonderfully different.

The process of inspection drew his attention to another curious fact. On Earth his eyes could focus on an object about 8 inches away, but to draw closer than that left the object a blur. Now his perfect eyesight could view objects a mere inch away, or all the way to infinity, with an absolute clarity that only eagles might know on Earth. It was positively fascinating.

He thought back to stories his mother had read to him as a child, stories of enchanted mystical forests. He had never associated enchanted forests with Heaven. The two topics seemed somehow divergent. But they weren’t, were they? How could anything created by the hand of God be anything short of wondrous, enchanted, and yes, mystical. To the simple mind of man, the works of God might be described by any of those terms.

From up ahead, he heard the sound of running water. Heading in that direction, he reached the bank of a stream about 50 feet wide. It flowed down across rocks and boulders, forming clear pools here and there. The pools were teaming with fish. Not far away, he noticed a man standing about midstream, wielding a long fishing pole. He wore a floppy hat to keep the sunlight out of his eyes and the sort of woodsy attire that Chris might associate with a veteran fisherman. Beside him was a tackle box and wicker basket with a lid to hold whatever he might catch. He looked to be in his mid-forties, with graying hair and strong arms.

At his side was a large hound dog that, along with his master, was focused on a large pool of deeper water. Chris smiled thinking that he was not alone in having a special animal friend in Heaven.

As Chris approached, the man looked up and smiled. “Hello, Chris.”

“Hi Bill,” Chris said, still amazed to recognize a man whom he had never met. “Are they biting?”

Bill shook his head. “Nope, not today. Just because it’s Heaven doesn’t mean that the fish are biting every day. They were yesterday, all right, but today, that’s another matter.”

“You out here every day?” Chris asked while sitting down on a boulder at the edge of the stream.

“Most of the time. Ya know, I was afraid that when I ended up in glory, I’d have to give up fishing, that there’d be no good fishing streams in Heaven. Boy, was I wrong; Heaven has the best trout streams around. I live just a couple miles downstream.”

“I live over that way,” Chris said, pointing toward the woods.

“Yeah, that’s what I hear,” Bill said, pulling a bit on his line. “You’re Jennifer’s boy, if I’m not mistaken.”

“That’s right,” confirmed Chris, watching the expert fisherman reel in his line only to cast it out again.

“Fine woman, your mother,” said Bill. “I’ve crossed paths with her many a time in this forest. She loves these here woods as much as I do. She has had the misses and me over many times for dinner. She sure is a fine cook.”

“You got that right,” said Chris, watching a particularly large trout swim around the hook only to pass it by.

“I’m sure she’s in her glory now that you’re here with her,” continued Bill. “She’s spoken of you many times. How are you liking it here so far?”

“It’s everything I expected and more,” Chris said. “How long have you been here, Bill?”

“Since fifty-nine.” Bill chuckled. “If I’d have known this place was so wonderful, I don’t think I’d have fancied living to be eighty-seven back on Earth. My wife followed me only a few months after I arrived, so our separation was a brief one. There’s no marriage here, you see, but we’ve still continued on our journey to eternity together. We probably always will. We spent better than sixty years together on Earth, and nearly fifty here. We’ve kinda grown on each other. Blessed be the name of Jesus for giving us the opportunity.”

“Amen,” Chris said. “Where would we all be without Him?”

Bill shook his head. “I don’t even want to think about that one. Sarah and I often go to the great City of Zion to express our gratitude to our Maker. It’s a wonderful experience, it surely is. You been to the city yet?”

“Yes indeed,” replied Chris. “My mom took me there about a week ago. It was fantastic, no, better even than that.”

“I know,” Bill said. He paused for a moment, then turned toward Chris, the fish temporarily forgotten. “Come to think of it, when I first came here, it was my mother who took me to the city. I remember how wonderful it was to be with her again. You see, I hadn’t seen her in nearly thirty years. We still get together often. She’s not much for fishing, understand, but we always have a good time when we get together.”

“What about your father?” asked Chris. “Does he like to fish?”

The long silence, and the expression on Bill’s face, told Chris that he had just asked the wrong question.

“I don’t remember my father,” admitted Bill. “That’s odd isn’t it? My memories of my life on Earth are a bit hazy here and there, but you’d think that I’d remember my own father. My mother doesn’t remember him either.”

Chris was certain that he had somehow violated a code of heavenly etiquette in the course of his question. He felt so very awkward. “I’m sorry.”

“Oh, don’t be,” replied Bill, smiling slightly. “This isn’t Earth, its Heaven. Those earthly things that would be a stumbling block are, well, forgotten, cast into the sea of forgetfulness, allowing us to move on.” Bill reeled in his line and walked toward Chris. “I reckon that the memory of my father would have been a painful one for me. That is why I don’t remember him. The fact that he ain’t here can mean only one thing.”

Bill didn’t need to continue; Chris got his meaning clear enough.

“I feel sorry for all those in Hell, truly I do, but they are nameless, faceless people, far removed from us. I know that it must sound terrible, but I’ll not be questioning God’s wisdom in removing that part of my life from me, for there ain’t nothing I can do about it.”

“And you’ve never had the desire to find out about him?”

“Nope,” confirmed Bill. “It’s for my own good that I don’t remember. I mean, would you want to remember a loved one, doomed to the torments of Hell? Would you want to be aware that they were suffering through all eternity and that there was nothing you could do about it? I wouldn’t.”

“I understand,” Chris said. “I guess it’s better we don’t know.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of a young boy. Chris was so transfixed by Bill’s words, that the freckled-face youth caught him by surprise. The grinning boy appeared to be about 11 or 12 years old and he held a fishing pole in his hand. With his old straw hat and suspenders, he looked like a character straight out of a Mark Twain novel, perhaps Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn. He rubbed the large brown hound on the head before turning to the men sitting on the rocks.

“I thought I’d come on out and help you with the fishin’,” he said, his smile growing.

“Did you finish with your studies and your chores?” asked Bill, turning his attention to the excited youth.

“An hour ago. Mom said it was OK if I went fishing with you for a while.”

“OK, Jerry,” replied Bill. “Maybe you’ll have more luck than I’ve had today.”

That was all it took, Jerry’s hook was bated and in the water in the wink of an eye.

“Oh, Chris, this is my son, Jeremiah,” said Bill.

Jerry took a moment to turn from the pool of water where he had just cast his line. “Good afternoon, sir,” he said politely.

For a moment Chris was confused. Jerry had to be older than he looked, he just had to. “Hello Jerry. Do you mind if I ask how old you are?”

Jerry just kept on grinning. “Oh, no sir, I don’t mind. I turned twelve just last week.”

Bill placed a loving arm around his son. “And we had quite a party, didn’t we?”

“A swell party,” confirmed the youth.

Now Chris really was confused. There was no marriage in Heaven, no births, no deaths, he was certain of it. That being the case, how could one explain the presence of Jerry?

Bill sensed his friend’s confusion. “My wife and I never had any children of our own while we were on Earth. It was always one of our greatest regrets. But here, God has blessed us with Jerry, and we praise Him for His love and mercy.”

“God has been so good to all of us,” confirmed Jerry. “I love Him more than I can say.”

Jerry’s proclamation of love brought a smile to Bill’s face. He rose to his feet and hugged his son.

“Jerry wasn’t born here,” continued Bill. “He would have been born on Earth twelve years ago, but something happened.” Bill hesitated; he still had trouble talking about it. “You see, his earthly mother didn’t want him, didn’t want him to be born. She had a doctor sweep him from her, kill him while he was still within her womb. She didn’t want to be troubled with him.”

Again Bill hesitated, and a tear appeared.

“It’s all right, Daddy,” said Jerry. “I’d rather be here with you than on Earth. From what I hear, it isn’t all that great a place anyway.”

“But you should have been allowed to live,” said Bill. “To grow up on Earth, to have earthly parents, go to school, have a wife, children, and a full life. What was done to you wasn’t right; it was a crime against humanity, against God who created you.”

Bill looked back toward Chris, to see the concern in his eyes. “Twelve years ago, an angel came to us. In his arms he held a tiny baby, Jeremiah. He told my wife and me that God had chosen us to raise this child in His ways. We were to love him, comfort him, and instruct him. We would become the only parents he would ever know. You see, Chris, no soul goes unaccounted for, even if that soul is still in the womb. Since Jerry wasn’t given the opportunity to know God on Earth, to select the road he would follow, that opportunity shall be given to him here. The day will come when he will be brought before God, and given the choice to serve Him or turn from Him.”

“And that day is less than a year away, when I turn thirteen,” Jerry chimed in. “I can hardly wait.”