Heaven Is for Real: A Little Boy's Astounding Story of His Trip to Heaven and Back (11 page)

If there were comic-strip thought-bubbles over peoples heads, mine wouldve been filled with question marks and exclamation points right then. Every Sunday morning before I give the sermon, I pray a similar prayer: God, if you dont help this morning, this message is going to fail. In light of Coltons words, I realized I had been praying without really knowing what I was praying for. And to imagine God answering it by shooting down power . . . well, it was just incredible.

TWENTY-FOUR ALI'S MOMENT

After Colby was born, Sonja and I had found that the dynamics of taking the kids with us everywhere had changed. Now we were outnumbered three to two. We decided the time had come for a regular babysitter, so we hired a very mature, responsible eighth grader named Ali Titus to watch the kids for us. On Monday nights, Sonja and I still played coed softball on our old peoples team, though my sliding days were over.

One Monday evening in 2005, Ali came over to babysit Cassie, Colton, and Colby so we could go to our game. It was around 10 p.m. when we pulled back into the driveway. Sonja got out and went inside to check on Ali and the kids while I shut the garage down for the night, so I didnt hear what happened inside until a few minutes after the fact.

The interior garage door leads into our kitchen, and when she walked in, Sonja later told me, she found Ali at the sink, washing up the supper dishes . . . and crying.

Ali, whats wrong? Sonja said. Was it something with Ali, or something that had happened with the kids?

Ali pulled her hands from the dishwater and dried them on a towel. Um . . . I really dont know how to say this, Mrs. Burpo, she began. She looked down at the floor, hesitating.

Its okay, Ali, Sonja said. What is it?

Ali looked up, eyes full of tears. Well, Im sorry to ask you this, but . . . did you have a miscarriage?

Yes, I did, Sonja said, surprised. How did you know that?

Um . . . Colton and I had a little talk.

Sonja invited Ali to sit on the couch with her and tell her what happened.

It started after I put Colby and Colton to bed, Ali began. Cassie had gone downstairs to her room, and Ali had given Colby a bottle and then put him down in his crib upstairs. Then she headed down the hall, tucked Colton into his bed, and came out to the kitchen to clean up from the evening meal shed fed the kids. I had just turned the water off in the sink when I heard Colton crying.

Ali told Sonja that she went to check on Colton and found him sitting up in his bed, tears streaming down his face. Whats wrong, Colton? she asked him.

Colton sniffled and wiped his eyes. I miss my sister, he said.

Ali said she smiled, relieved that the problem seemed to have a simple solution. Okay, sweetie, you want me to go downstairs and get her for you?

Colton shook his head. No, I miss my other sister.

Now Ali was confused. Your other sister? You only have one sister and one brother, Colton. Cassie and Colby, right?

No, I have another sister, Colton said. I saw her. In heaven. Then he started to cry again. I miss her so much.

Colton told Ali, When I was little, I had surgery and I went up to heaven and saw my sister.

Then, Ali told Sonja, Colton began crying again, only harder. I dont understand why my sister is dead, he said. I dont know why shes in heaven and not here.

Ali sat on the bed beside Colton, as she put it, in shock. This situation definitely wasnt on the normal in case of emergency babysitting list, as in: (1) who to call in case of fire; (2) who to call in case of illness; (3) who to call in case child reports supernatural experience.

Ali knew Colton had been extremely ill a couple of years before and that hed spent time in the hospital. But she hadnt known about what had happened in the operating room. Now she had no idea what to say, even as Colton shrugged off his covers and crawled up in her lap. So as he cried, she cried with him.

I miss my sister, he said again, snuffling and laying his head on Alis shoulder.

Shh . . . its okay, Colton, Ali said. Theres a reason for everything. And they stayed that way, with Ali rocking Colton until he cried himself to sleep in her arms.

Ali finished her story, and Sonja gave her a hug. Later, Ali told us that for the next two weeks, she couldnt stop thinking about what Colton had told her, and how Sonja had confirmed that before his surgery, Colton hadnt known anything about Sonjas miscarriage.

Ali had grown up in a Christian home but had entertained the same doubts as so many of us do: for example, how did we know any one religion is different from any other? But Coltons story about his sister strengthened her Christian faith, Ali said. Hearing him describe the girls face . . . it wasnt something that a six-year-old boy could just make up, she told us. Now, whenever I am having doubts, I picture Coltons face, tears running down his cheeks, as he told me how much he missed his sister.

TWENTY-FIVE SWORDS OF THE ANGELS

From a kids perspective, maybe the best thing that happened in 2005 was the release of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. During the Christmas season, we took the kids to see the movie on the big screen. Sonja and I were excited to see the first high-quality dramatization of C. S. Lewiss Chronicles of Narnia series, books we had both enjoyed as kids. Colton was more excited about a movie that featured good guys fighting bad guys with swords.

In early 2006, we rented the DVD and settled into the living room for a family movie night. Instead of sitting on the furniture, we all sat on the carpet, Sonja, Cassie, and I leaning against the sofa. Colton and Colby perched on their knees in front of us, rooting for Aslan, the warrior lion, and the Pevensie kids: Lucy, Edmund, Peter, and Susan. The house even smelled like a theater, with bowls of Act II buttered popcorn, hot out of the microwave, sitting on the floor within easy reach.

In case you havent seen The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, it is set during World War II when the Pevensie kids are deported from London to the home of an eccentric professor. Lucy, Edmund, Peter, and Susan are bored to death, until Lucy stumbles on an enchanted wardrobe that leads into a magical kingdom called Narnia. In Narnia, not only can all the animals talk, but the place is also inhabited by other creatures, like dwarves, hobgoblins, and centaurs. The land is ruled by the lion Aslan, who is a good and wise king, but his archenemy, the White Witch, has cast a spell on Narnia so that it will always be winter, but never Christmas. Back in the real world, the Pevensies are just kids, but in Narnia, they are princes and princesses who also become warriors fighting on the side of Aslan.

That night, as we were watching the final, fantasy/medieval battle scene, Colton, then six, was really getting into it as winged creatures dropped boulders from the sky and the battle-dressed Pevensie kids clashed swords with the White Witchs evil army. During the fight, Aslan sacrificed himself to save Edmund. But later, when he came back to life and killed the White Witch, Colton leaped to his feet and pumped his fist. He likes it when the good guys win.

As the credits rolled up the television screen and Colby picked at the dregs of the popcorn, Sonja said offhandedly to Colton, Well, I guess thats one thing you didnt like about heavenno swords up there.

Coltons giddy excitement vanished as quickly as if an invisible hand had wiped his smile off with an eraser. He drew himself up to his full height and looked down at Sonja, who was still sitting on the floor.

There are too swords in heaven! he said.

Surprised at his intensity, Sonja shot me a sideways glance, then kind of drew her head back and smiled at Colton. Um . . . okay. Why do they need swords in heaven?

Mom, Satans not in hell yet, Colton said, almost scolding. The angels carry swords so they can keep Satan out of heaven!

Again, Scripture leaped to my mind, this time from the book of Luke where Jesus tells the disciples, I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.1

But how did a six-year-old know that? Yes, Colton had had two more years of Sunday school by then, but I knew for a fact that our curriculum didnt include lessons on Satans living arrangements.

As these thoughts flashed through my head, I could see that Sonja didnt know what to say to Colton, who was still scowling. His face reminded me of his irritation when Id suggested that it got dark in heaven. I decided to lighten the mood. Hey Colton, I bet you asked if you could have a sword, didnt you? I said.

At that, Coltons scowl melted into a dejected frown, and his shoulders slumped toward the floor. Yeah, I did. But Jesus wouldnt let me have one. He said Id be too dangerous.

I chuckled a little, wondering if Jesus meant Colton would be a danger to himself or others.

In all our discussions of heaven, Colton had never mentioned Satan, and neither Sonja nor I had thought to ask him. When youre thinking heaven, youre thinking crystal streams and streets of gold, not angels and demons crossing swords.

But now that hed brought it up, I decided to press a little further.

Hey, Colton, I said. Did you see Satan?

Yeah, I did, he said solemnly.

What did he look like?

At this, Coltons body went rigid, he grimaced, and his eyes narrowed to a squint. He stopped talking. I mean, he absolutely shut down, and that was it for the night.

We asked Colton about Satan a couple of times after that, but then gave up because whenever we did, his reaction was a little disconcerting: it was as if he changed instantly from a sunny little kid to someone who ran to a safe room, bolted the door, locked the windows, and pulled down the blinds. It became clear that in addition to rainbows, horses, and golden streets, he had seen something unpleasant. And he didnt want to talk about it.

TWENTY-SIX THE COMING WAR

A few months later, I had some business in McCook, a town about sixty miles from Imperial and the site of the nearest Wal-Mart. For many Americans, an hour is an awfully long way to drive to get to Wal-Mart, but out here in farm country, you get used to it. I had taken Colton with me, and Ill never forget the conversation we had on the way back, because while our son had spoken to me about heaven and even about my own past, he had never before hinted that he knew my future.

We had driven back through Culbertson, the first town west of McCook, and were passing a cemetery. Colton, by now out of a car seat, gazed out the passenger-side window as the rows of headstones filed past.

Dad, wheres Pop buried? he asked

Well, his body is buried in a cemetery down in Ulysses, Kansas, where Grandma Kay lives, I said. Next time were down there, I can take you to see where it is if you want. But you know thats not where Pop is.

Colton kept peering out the window. I know. Hes in heaven. Hes got a new body. Jesus told me if you dont go to heaven, you dont get a new body.

Hang on, I thought. New information ahead.

Really? was all I said.

What do you mean? Were we still on the heaven topic? I wasnt sure.

Theres going to be a war, and its going to destroy this world. Jesus and the angels and the good people are going to fight against Satan and the monsters and the bad people. I saw it.

I thought of the battle described in the book of Revelation, and my heartbeat stepped up a notch. How did you see that?

In heaven, the women and the children got to stand back and watch. So I stood back and watched. Strangely, his voice was sort of cheerful, as though he were talking about a good movie hed seen. But the men, they had to fight. And Dad, I watched you. You have to fight too.

Try hearing that and staying on the road. Suddenly, the sound of the tires whirring on asphalt seemed unnaturally loud, a high whine.

And here was this issue of heaven time again. Before, Colton had talked about my past, and he had seen dead people in the present. Now he was saying that in the midst of all that, he had also been shown the future. I wondered if those conceptspast, present, and futurewere for earth only. Maybe, in heaven, time isnt linear.

But I had another, more pressing concern. You said were fighting monsters?

Yeah, Colton said happily. Like dragons and stuff.

Im not one of those preachers who camps out on end-times prophecy, but now I remembered a particularly vivid section of Revelation:

In those days men will seek death and will not find it; they will desire to die, and death will flee from them. The shape of the locusts was like horses prepared for battle. On their heads were crowns of something like gold, and their faces were like the faces of men. They had hair like womens hair, and their teeth were like lions teeth. And they had breastplates like breastplates of iron, and the sound of their wings was like the sound of chariots with many horses running into battle. They had tails like scorpions, and there were stings in their tails. Their power was to hurt men five months.1

For centuries, theologians have mined these kinds of passages for symbolism: maybe the combination of all those different body parts stood for some kind of country, or each one stood for a kingdom of some sort. Others have suggested that breastplates of iron indicate some kind of modern military machine that John had no reference point to describe.

But maybe we sophisticated grown-ups have tried to make things more complicated than they are. Maybe we are too educated, too smart, to name these creatures in the simple language of a child: monsters.

Um, Colton . . . what am I fighting the monsters with? I was hoping for a tank, maybe, or a missile launcher . . . I didnt know, but something I could use to fight from a distance.

Colton looked at me and smiled. You either get a sword or a bow and arrow, but I dont remember which.

My face fell. You mean I have to fight monsters with a sword?

Yeah, Dad, but its okay, he said reassuringly. Jesus wins. He throws Satan into hell. I saw it.

And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, And cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled: and after that he must be loosed a little season. . . . And when the thousand years are expired, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison, And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea. And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them. And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever.2

Colton was describing the battle of Armageddon and saying I was going to fight in it. For the umpteenth time in the nearly two years since Colton first told us the angels sang to him at the hospital, my head was spinning. I drove on, speechless, for several miles as I kicked around these new images in my head. Also, Coltons nonchalance struck me. His attitude was kind of like, Whats the problem, Dad? Ive told you: Ive skipped to the last chapter, and the good guys win.

That was some comfort at least. We were just crossing the outskirts of Imperial when I decided to adopt his attitude toward the whole thing. Well, son, I guess if Jesus wants me to fight, Ill fight, I said.