"Time", the Captain said, "is not what you think." He sat that down next to Eddie. "Dying? Not the end of everything. We think it is. But what happens on earth is only the beginning."
Eddie looked lost.
"I figure it's like in the Bible, the Adam and Eve deal?", the Captain said. "Adam's first night on earth? When he lays down to sleep? His eyes are closing and he thinks he's leaving this world, right? Only he isn't. He wakes up the next morning and he has a fresh new world to work with, but he has something else, too. He has his yesterday."
The Captain grinned, "The way I see it, that's what we're getting here, soldier. That's what Heaven is. You get to make sense of all your yesterdays."
The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom, Pg. 95-96 (Timewarner Paperback, 2003).
I love this book. I read it in two days. It's hopeful, thoughtful and beautifully written. Eddie dies only to discover that Heaven isn't how he expected it to be. Heaven is five people waiting to show you the impact of your life. I had to read it with my journal next to me to scribble down everything that struck me. It's simple, well paced and profound. A real must read for everyone.
I have Weds, Thurs and Fri off work and I'm not sure what to start reading next. Do I go for superior science fiction with Phillip K. Dick's Do Andriods Dream of Electric Sheep, or C. S. Lewis's The Magician's Nephew? Decisions, decisions...