Introduction

The subject of Heaven and the next life often raises mixed feelings. Many of us see it as a wonderful place where we will be happy for eternity. Despite this, when our mortality or that of a loved one is seriously threatened, we tend to view the possibility of passing on to the next life with great foreboding, as if Heaven were a terrible place to be avoided for as long as possible!

We hope that this collection of reflections, personal accounts, anecdotes and verse will encourage your faith that Heaven is a very real place, where each of us can find unconditional love and complete fulfillment. Being assured of a future eternal home is a great help in enduring the trials of life, and, as Shakespeare said, “makes one heavenly.” Such assurance also enables us to embark on that final journey with, as one believer put it, “the gladness of a boy bounding away from school.”