Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo, a four year old's view of heaven

After “Embraced by the light” by Betty Eadie, “Heaven is for real” by Todd Burpo is another book that let’s you glimpse through heaven…

“I was desperate for prayer, desperate that other believers would bang on the gates of heaven and beg for the life of our son.”  This passage brought tears to my eyes. I have been there before bargaining with heaven for my son. I thought I have been cynical already, unbelieving. Yet, it touched me because I remembered what it feels like to beg at heaven’s gates.

Honestly, part of me is still a little bit apprehensive. Is this another take on heaven to sell off millions of copies, someone’s attempt to exploit their child? Yes, I know its kinda mean but there are people out there who do it.

However, I want to believe that this is not the case for this book. I want to believe that the child talked about heaven even if part of me is still unsure he wasn’t influenced by his parents especially his Dad who was a pastor. If the father was an atheist farmer, maybe my skepticism would have been minimized. But then again, I’m still in between full belief to a doubting Thomas.

Despite these, there are a lot of heartwarming stories here. Like the story about meeting his grandfather who died before he was born and also meeting the child his mom miscarried who turned out to be a sister. It is also interesting to note that he met Jesus and quipped how kind and strong he was. And that he also met God the Father and God the Holy Spirit and saw Angel Gabriel and Mary near the throne of God and interesting too, are the animals and rainbows he saw in heaven.

In the age of the internet, where everything is digital, fast-paced, stories like these can be hard to believe. I mean is it really true? It sounds simplistic to an adult’s pragmatic mind but in the eyes of a child, he describes it as he sees it. Maybe I have lost that sense of wonder, that belief in miracles.But why am I still drawn to stories like these? Why buy these books?  Maybe because part of me still wants to believe that after living in this world, there is still something better for us out there, that after saying goodbye to loved ones who have passed on, we know that we will still meet again. That “See you or till then” would have been the appropriate phrase and not the word goodbye.

Heaven is for Real is a book that intrigues you, enough to ponder on your beliefs again. It’s not as detailed as “Embraced by the Light” because it was taken from the viewpoint of a child but it makes you see though heaven, God, Jesus in a young person’s eyes. It has that sense of wonderment, that sense of belief, that lack of apprehension that whips a breath of fresh air in a world where most people have lost their innocence and some who have lost their faith.