Every Heaven: The Tree of Life, an Introduction

Every Heaven, The Tree of Life is published as an e-book. It begins the epic journey of a struggling married couple through Heaven.  My writing, you will find, is rooted in scripture and traditional Christian spirituality. This first volume weaves into the journey numerous children's stories and novellas, tales I have struggled to develop in sermons over the years for listeners. I thank God that I have been able to celebrate my love of Christ and His holy word, and to explore Christian allegory through this work. I didn't want to give these stories out one at a time, but all at once, give the whole enchilada to enjoy.

You can download the book for free at: Every Heaven: The Tree of Life or click the image in the side bar.

The title, Every Heaven, comes from a line of Robert Frost ("Astrometaphysical"):
My love for every Heaven
O'er which You, Lord, have lorded
From number One to Seven,
Should be rewarded.

I have always liked Frost's poem of a person who stumbles and falls from looking up too much, who might receive "undue renown" for this focus, but hopes to arrive in Heaven in spite of his failures and successes. To be clear: my book's title does not refer to multiple Heavens after this life. We will live in God, one God, living and true, and, as Frost indicates, one Lord lords over every Heaven. Every refers to all of the small glimpses of Eternity within this life, gifts of God we are given by the Lord, and it celebrates how every one of these is gathered together from our lives into the memory of a loving Lord. Heaven does meet earth, Eternity changes time, and God shines through even the most un-heavenly appearing crosses of our lives: celebrating these moments is what Christian poetry should be about, at least for me.  We will be celebrating these forever!

So this first volume focuses on childhood in Christ. Why? Our Lord told us clearly that we will not see the Kingdom, will not have the power to perceive every Heaven, unless we become like children. And He did not make it an option. You must become like this child, was what He said. I have tried to see Heaven through the eyes of a child.  It is not easy for us adults.  But it can be done, can be learned, and must be learned.   This is not necessarily a children's book, but some of the tales are appropriate for kids.

Every Heaven, The Tree of Life includes:
*   An introduction to Millertown and the Central Street Church, it's colorful Pastor, and its worshipping community;
*   The conflicted couple John and Patricia Livingston, who, at Church one Sunday, are given the opportunity to explore Heaven. They take it, although they run into surprises along the way and are helped by an unexpected guide.
*   Narrative poems that celebrate childhood in Christ, our new innocence through grace, with numerous memories of childhood, such as a sonnet crown of a mother and daughter hanging a tire swing, conversations of a flower girl and rig bearer at a wedding, and numerous small revelations through child-play in a garden.
*   The fates of Adam and Eve, what happend after Christ offered the world the fruit of the Tree of Life and brought salvation.
*   A retelling of the Christian folktale of Jesus and trees as a novella in verse: "The Tree of Life." This is a traditional folktale with several incarnations, most recently retold in Angela Elwell Hunt's, The Tale of Three Trees (Lion, 1989). I've known many ministers who have retold this story over the years with different versions, and the beautiful simplicity of Hunt's prose has lended itself to elaboration for those. After years of telling it myself, my own retelling has evolved.
*   "Andrew's Search: the Hidden Manna" This is based on the Gospel of John, Chapter Six, and tells the story of how the Apostle found the lad with five loaves and a couple of fish in the crowd of five thousand, and what the Lord did with his gifts. It is a slapstick comedy with a lot of nonsense verse, wild characters, and a strong message about charity; there is also a beautiful grace before meals in it, set in lyrical verse.
*   "The Ghost of Richard Brey: An Escape from the Second Death" A cautionary tale of how our worship on earth is preparation for worship in Heaven; this is a comedy of a lost soul wth only foul things coming out of his mouth, who must learn to give praise to God, the ultimate meaning of life; rated PG.
*   "Venus Fly Trap" The tale of the humblest plant in Paradise among the prouder flowers and the angelic hosts who are snatched up by it. This one is both fun and outrageous, and kids love it.
*   "Cheruboom" The bruisers who were left to guard the Tree of Life in Eden unfold the story of the Fall and of Salvation: of two trees, two gardens, two choices, and two deaths, with one fiery Sword that divides hearts, Who is at the center of all history.
*   An angel who struggles to tell her account of the Resurrection to a group of kids, a boy who is too fun to be merely human, the journeys of lost children finding their way back to God are some other tales from Every Heaven: The Tree of Life, and move the one story forward into the next volume.

For the entire series of volumes, I've attempted both a natural and a Divine progression. The natural progression is from childhood to adulthood and relationships and marriage to family life and all of these flow into Christian community and worship. Volume I celebrates Christian childhood first, and is meant to move into Volume II, Their New Names in Stone, which explores a marriage in Christ and spousal healing, and then Volume III, The Morning Star, which picks up the cross of parenthood and the struggle of family by re-imagining the Christmas journey of the Magi, and the Holy Family's flight into Egypt. The last, Volume IV, Pillars of the Temple of God celebrates worship and Christian living in community.

In terms of the couple's progress through Heaven, the story travels from the New Eden, the Garden of Paradise into Christ's Bride, the New Jerusalem, and finally to the Temple of God and to the Throne; however, Hell's possibility and pain is also on the tour at various points. The challenge was to re-create Heaven as scripture gives it, that wild Heaven given in the Apocalypse with its challenges, battles and visions, its Victors and villians, and to connect that vision with the rest of the Gospel, which also presents God's template for Eternal Life and Eternal living for people here, on earth.

This first volume is a little on the sweeter side, compared to the rest, but it too has some edginess. Enjoy! I've been encouraged to start putting the second volume, Every Heaven: Their New Names in Stone, on this site canto by canto, and I may give it a try before publication.