Life and Death--Heaven or Hell

I recently read The Prologue: Two Brothers, by Chris Stewart. It was a well written book about a pre-mortal family and their struggle to get everyone on the Lord’s side so they could all come to earth and gain a body. In it, we get glimpses of Satan and his rise to power as the fallen one.


Although the characters were well written, I must say that reading about Satan isn’t one of my favorites—kind of gives me an uneasy/creepy kind of feeling. I know he won’t waft through the pages and haunt me, but just to make sure I’d rather not give him any more thought or attention than absolutely necessary.

It’s funny and even ironic then that the next book I picked up to read was, I Hated Heaven, by Kenny Kemp. I’ve had this book for a long time and didn’t remember reading it until I began reading it again.

Tom gets sick and dies unexpectedly of pancreatic cancer, but, on his deathbed he promises his wife, April, that he’ll come back and tell her if there is a God and an afterlife. Tom is a devout Christian and his wife only believes in science and things that can be proven.

So, Tom’s spirit-self ascends the stairs to heaven and finds himself in Paradise—a place where the righteous go while awaiting their final judgment. Jonathan, his spirit-guide or mystagogue is there to greet him. He’s a strictly-business guy who only gives Tom the shortest of answers to his questions, and is only interested in efficiency.

All Tom is interested in is keeping his promise to April. He knows that her spiritual salvation depends on it, and he has no interest in an eternity that doesn’t involve his beloved wife.

Jonathan does his best to distract Tom from his seemingly errant quest and sets him up in classes to learn all about the hereafter. He also sends him to be analyzed to know what kind of post-mortal job he’ll be good at. When Jonathan tells him that his memories of earth life and April will soon fade, Tom is determined to return to earth and keep his promise before it’s too late.

After coming across a crazy spirit named Stan, the pathway back to earth is finally made clear to him. He breaks all the rules to do it and after Tom finally gets through to April, Jonathan is there to return him to Paradise where he must face the Council and accept his punishment.

Mr. Kemp portrays an interesting view of Paradise—a place with buildings so tall they put the Tower of Babel to shame, and with lots of smudge-free stainless steel. The place is beautiful, however, and Jonathan has everything we all dream of in an afterlife—which is to reap the rewards of good behavior. However, he’s miserable there until he has the hope of sharing it with April one day.

Family is everything. The Prologue and I Hated Heaven are both good reminders of the importance of family and keeping our promises.

Farewell to Farrah

I haven't much to say--it's not like I knew Farrah personally. I feel sad in her passing though. Sad for her long struggle with cancer, and sad for her friends and family who now suffer.

I believe it was a right gentlemanly thing for Michael Jackson to pass away that very afternoon, thereby turning all the media circus away from Farrah and her loved ones. Now they can grieve privately.

Life is a fleeting thing. We need to be sure to take full advantage of every moment, and live every corner of our life so that when it's our time to go we won't be regretful.

Memories of Denmark, parallels on life

As summer draws near, I’ve been thinking of Denmark. It’s funny about that. My dad was Danish and went to Denmark on his mission. He learned how to speak Danish and retained that knowledge for the rest of his life. I wish he would have taught me, although I never gave it much thought as a kid. He was probably waiting anxiously for me to express an interest, and I was too busy climbing trees.

My sister, Shirley and I had the privilege of going to Denmark twice (two summers in a row). We met some really nice people there and immersed ourselves in the culture of our ancestors. We went on the cheep, reserving bed and breakfast rooms, buying Eurail passes, and basically planning our own tours.

It was hectic and crazy and scary going to a country where we didn’t speak the language, but the Danes were friendly, and if they didn’t speak English, they’d ask around until they found someone who could help us. We got lost more than once, and sometimes our accommodations were less than we had hoped. Occasionally, we discovered that there was no easy way to get where we wanted to go--and more than once, it rained hard enough to change our plans.

We discovered on both trips that we weren’t as prepared as we thought for the rainy and cold weather. None of it mattered because we had agreed ahead of time that it wouldn’t. What ever happened was all part of the adventure.

I think life is like that. We get so many things that we aren’t prepared for. It rains on us; we get lost. Life gets hectic and crazy, and if we don’t decide ahead of time, we could let ourselves get pretty frustrated. But, if we remember that the good and the bad and the detours are all just a part of the adventure called life, it’s easier to relax and enjoy it.

This is our first b&b. We got there around 10pm sans luggage. It's a half hour bus ride from Odense, the woman didn't live there, and she left us a note to call. My phone didn't work in Denmark. We knocked frantically on the door, and luckily two young men were staying there and let us in.

This next picture is of a 500 year-old house next door to our second b&b. Older homes like this

one are cherished and go for top dollar.

This is Eskov Castle. It's an amazing place and very beautiful. There are 3 shrub mazes, meticulous gardens, a motorcycle museum, bicycle museum, car museum (with the strangest cars I've ever seen), and a horse and carriage museum. The grounds has it's own herd of deer.

This is Christ and the twelve apostles. If you recognize the statue of Christ - it is original of the one the LDS church uses in the Salt Lake City visitor's center, and in Mesa visitor's center. The room was so big, I didn't get all of the apostles in.

Ah, the memories! If I could get there in the twinkling of an eye, I'd go again. In fact, if money weren't an issue, I'd buy me a summer home there.