Seventh Heaven
There are places here on Earth that have been said to be Heaven on Earth. To qualify for that heavenly name it must be a peaceful place with pleasant weather all year around. There must be lovely landscapes, beautiful flowers, blue skies and delightful foods. Then the most important of all the population must fit into all of that perfection with ideal personalities and good will.
Pam and Eric lived there and appreciated the things that Heaven on Earth, better known as First Heaven, provided for them.
They could swim in the warm waters and climb the gentle green hills. The fruits and vegetables that grew in abundance gave them instant relief from hunger. And the grapes and oranges were juicy and ripe just as they grew on the vines to quench their thirst.
The First Heaven was almost perfect in every way except one. There were no challenges. Absolutely everything came too easily.
They began to wonder if there was more of a challenge up in Second Heaven . So one rather mild but perfect day they caught an Angel flitting by and called out,
“Beautiful Angel of Heaven can you tell us how we may get to Second Heaven?”
The Angel paused and looked them over. They seemed to look alright, so he answered.
“It can be a bit difficult. To get admittance to Second Heaven you must perform an act that qualifies you to become a member of that more distinguished of Heavens, known for entertainment challenges.”
“An Act?” Eric was confused, “ Do you mean like a play or something?”
“I mean something like no other, that sets you apart from the very good commoners in First Heaven.” And he flew off, as he was far above the petty problems of that simple little First Heaven on Earth..
“What can we do to get into Second Heaven? Pam asked Eric.
“The Angel said an act. Maybe a song would do it.” I know a pretty good song.” Eric told her.
“Do we both have to sing it or if you sang a good song solo would you go to Second Heaven without me?”
“We can’t take any chances of that happening, so let’s practice together until it sounds good.”
“But after it gets good, who do we need to sing it too?” Pam wanted to know.
“Let’s get good first and then figure that out.” Eric looked for a pretty little quiet Glen for them to sit alone and practice his nice little song.
After about a week they began to both get tired of that song, although they sounded pretty good and it was much too late to start with another one. So Pam suggested that they get a test audience, here in First Heaven to try it out upon.
Of course neither knew how to gather an audience, so after while they wrote some little leaflets that said,
“Free Show in the Forest Glen at one o’clock Tuesday.”
“Can we really call one song a show?’ Pam asked. Eric thought for moment, then suggested,
“ Maybe not. Suppose you wear some pretty long, silk, scarves and do a little dance first. The colors would look lovely flying in the Glen Air. “
“You mean kind of like the Bollywood dancers?” Pam asked. Eric nodded and Pam agreed, because she liked the dance moves of those East Indian dances. But… Pam asked,
“Dance to what music?” But Eric was ready for that.
“I can play a Penny Whistle!”
“I didn’t know you could do that!” Pam was surprised. “Let me hear what you will play, then I will know if I can dance to it.”
So Eric took a Penny Whistle from his pack and played a catchy little tune.
“That was very good .” Pam clapped her hands. “Why have I never seen or heard you play it before?” Eric admitted that he only carried it to call his dog, but he hadn’t used it here, because dogs were not allowed in First Heaven.
“I didn’t know that either. Are Cats allowed here?”
“No,” he told her, “But I heard that they are in Third Heaven.”
“Good then let’s do our show and go to Second Heaven, then inquire about Third Heaven quickly, so I can get a kitten.”
On Tuesday they did a run through show for the small group who came to the Forest Glen to watch.
It seemed to go okay, so they hoped the next, if they were to do a little better, would be adequate. Then how could they let the Angel know They were really ready to present a good show and who decides anyway?
Just then the same Angel flitted down and handed them two tickets to Second Heaven. ‘You both did very well.” The Angel told them. “We keep a good eye out for talent from high above.” He pointed up the hill.
“The Entrance is on top of your highest hill.” And off he flew before Pam could ask if they may bring anything with them.
But if Second Heaven is so much more perfect than First Heaven, then they probably did not need to bring anything. So they tilted their chins up and began to search for the highest hill in First Heaven. It only stood to reason that Second Heaven would be a lot higher up.
SECOND HEAVEN
Pam and Eric spent the next week walking to the top of the highest hill in all of First Heaven.
Pam needed to sit and rest and Eric agreed, As anxious as they were to get to Second Heaven, this was very difficult. Eric complained,
“The Angel said Second Heaven was hard to get to, but I thought he meant the act would be difficult not the journey.”
“We have been walking for a week.” Pam wondered, “ Would we have even decided to go there, if we knew how far and high we had to walk to get there?”
“Oh, don’t worry , Pam, If Second is more Perfect than First then it will be worth it.”
It was just what they wanted, perfectly flat and easy with millions of shade trees so you could travel in any direction without struggling up a steep hill or keep your sun hat on.
They should have been tired of walking, but the scenery was so compelling that they glided through the charming wooded areas with no effort, passing one glade after another where they observed different groups still practicing their own little shows, which they always stopped to enjoy.
But they were soon becoming bored with all of those same little songs and dances. They were more than sick and tired of their own, but did it on command..
One slow afternoon, Pam sat down and picked up a soft fruit and set it in a tiny rock bowl. Not being very hungry, but a little thirsty, she added whatever juicy fruits she found nearby. She didn’t notice the gooey sap dripping from the golden leaved tree she was under and some of that dripped into the little bowl. With a sharp pronged stick she stirred the mixture into a juicy drink. It had a very sweet, tart, flavor and she encouraged Eric to taste it. He liked it very much.
Can you do it again? Do you remember what you put into it?
Pam gathered some of the same fruits and after taking out the pits and some of the skins she began to stir, but it was not as sweet. Why not? She noticed the drips from the tree and looked up. High above was a bees hive. So she climbed up and took a piece of the waxy comb and dropped it into the mix.
Now it was very tasty again. Just then another drip came from the tree and landed on her arm. She licked it off and loved the sweet flavor that was different from the honey taste. Soon she was catching the tree sap in one little hollow tree branch jug and the Honey in another. Then she could choose which to add to her different fruit mixes.
Eric loved them both. Pam called her fruit drinks, “Smoothies” and they were as different as the fruits in season, but all pretty darn good.
As long as Pam was having fun making her mixes, Eric tried something else that was different. He smashed the wheat seeds he had gathered to just munch and chew on and added water, but the taste was bland, so he kept trying something like salt or sesames to flavor them, but they could not compete with the taste of a Smoothie, so he tossed the mess into a the little fire he had made to light the night.
The weather was too perfect to build a fire for warmth, but the flames were pretty in the dark and they both enjoyed watching them dance. That morning when the fire was cold, Eric noticed that his sauce of seeds had browned on a stone and he lifted the brown flat cake up and gingerly took a nibble.
Now this tasted pretty good. Besides the browning had made it easy to roll up and eat. With a thin stick he put a little of Pam’s honey from the bees on his flat rock cake.
“Umm taste this!” he told Pam. She loved it. So he made another fire and made some more. They were rolled and wrapped in leaves with honey in the middle for later eating.
An Angel appeared and told them that they were in the wrong Heaven.
“You two belong in the Third Heaven!” He told them. “If you wish I can send you there at once.”
“Do they allow Kittens in the Third?” Pam asked. The Angel thought, standing quietly for a few long seconds as Pam watched. Then he suddenly looked at Pam to answer.
“I just went there mentally and yes there are lots of Kittens there.”
“Is it a long hard walk?” Eric wanted to know first thing. “We just got here, and it wasn’t exactly an easy stroll.”
I can send you myself . Because you are who they want up there. And take your new foods with you. Food is the prime joy of the Third Heaven.”
Pam corked the wooden jugs of Smoothie and Eric put the leaves filled with rolled up Flat Honey Cakes in his pack.
“Close your eyes. “ The Angel whispered. “Count to ten and open them.” Eric took Pam’s hand and they closed their eyes as Eric counted softly.
THIRD HEAVEN
At ten they were standing in Third Heaven just like magic . It was a lot like Second Heaven, forested and flowered, but gently rolling green land with many tiny lakes and ponds.
Eric noticed right away that there were fish jumping and swimming in them.
“Wow! I’m going to like this Heaven. “ Eric announced.
“And listen.” Pam told him, “the trees are filled with birds singing a chorus of sweet songs. I haven’t seen a kitten, yet, but I love this Third Heaven already.” Pam whistled back with the birds and sounded just like them. Eric was surprised. He took out his Penny whistle and joined her making music with the birds.
They were having fun and didn’t notice that a fluffy little yellow kitten had joined them and climbed up to Pam’s shoulder to watch her whistle. It had heard the whistling and thought she was a big bird. She was not, but it loved her anyway. And Pam was thrilled with the kitten which had found her. They strolled through the trees, kitten on her shoulder, sometimes whistling and mostly just listening and watching the birds.
People were picnicking with much joy in all of the glades they passed and Eric soon noticed that they were all trying different methods of preparing their marvelous meals.
Preparing the foods! Amazing! Everywhere else that was almost unheard of. The Earth grew such fine fruits and veggies that they could be enjoyed just as they ripened in the ideal sun light. Why would anyone want to go to the trouble to change them? But some did so Pam and Eric were not the first.
They began to notice small coal fires and large roaring hearths of burning wood surrounded by smooth stones. Everyone was doing something different with their harvest. Even the fires were made to suit the cooks wishes.
The smoke carried the roasting odors in the breeze and Pam and Eric experienced a new sensation. Their mouths began to produce a juice which craved to taste those differently heated hot roots and bubbling broths.
Several groups had welcomed them in, but they had hung back uncertain about what was happening and how they fit in.
No one knew exactly how it had happened that the Third Heaven had filled itself with so many people interested in cooking and eating. It had been so long ago beyond anyone’s memory, but those people from the Second Heaven with that kind of unique ability to change the natural foods were very quickly invited to join this superior Third Heaven and it had developed this interesting food culture.
It wasn’t long before Pam and Eric had begun to share their recipes with the others and the sky was the limit here in happy Third Heaven.
There was only one little problem. The next time he saw an Angel Eric stopped to ask him about the one thing he was missing to make his life in Heaven perfect. After all, isn’t perfection what Heaven was all about?
Pam thought he was happy just getting to fish as much as he wanted to with such a large variety of fish to challenge him. So what was missing?” She listened as Eric asked which Heaven allowed dogs.
She was so happy with her kitten, which she named, Streak, as she was so fast to run and climb like a Yellow Streak, that she did not notice that every time Eric watched her pet her cat, when she slept in Pam’s lap, that he was wishing to have a nice big, loyal, puppy again.
The Angel thought about it. In spite of all the many Angels did to make everything perfect in the Heavens, there were all of these folks living in the Heavens, but still wanting something else.
This Angel just shrugged, as he realized that must be the reason why they have so many Heavens to keep improving and not just one perfect place. So he sighed and explained as he always tried to do for the human population.
“Fourth Heaven has some little dogs, but the big dogs are all in the Fifth Heaven where there are horses and cows and they need some large dogs to help with those other less capable creatures.
“What must one do to get to Fifth Heaven? “ Eric asked. Pam looked surprised,
“You mean skip one altogether? Is that fair? Can we do that?”
“I’ll have to look into it.” The Angel explained that it would be unusual and I will have to finish the task I am on now for another human and let you know later.”
Pam could only wonder what might be in Fourth Heaven that they would be missing.”
“If you don’t know what it is, how can you miss it?” Eric asked her.
Pam couldn’t answer that. It was just that she would like to know what she would be giving up to skip straight to Number Five.
A few weeks later the Angel retuned to tell Eric what qualifications were needed to advance to Heaven Five, if he wanted to go so fast.
“You must be able to demonstrate an ability to care for helpless animals. They were only finally allowed in Heaven at all if they were with those folks who knew how to care for them. As most people would consider that to be work, thus if Heaven to them meant freedom from work, Five was not for them… no way!
All animals who had been domesticated and or adopted by people, who had made them dependent for their care, could not survive in the wild. So caretakers had to be willing and able to manage them.”
“How do I prove that I can care for my Pup? “ Eric asked.
“That is your problem!” The Angel answered rather crisply.
“What will I be giving up that only Four has to offer?” Was Pam’s only question.
“We are not suppose to give information like that about the Heavens to anyone who has not qualified themselves to be moved to it. To be allowed to enter Four, you need to be able to write a story about life where you are living now and what you like about it. Then add why you want to move upward on Heaven’s simple scale.”
“I see.” Pam replied, “and if I want to go with him to Heaven Five what do I need to do?
“ Eric frowned,
“What do you mean if…? Of course you want to go with me. What exactly could Fourth Heaven have that you would leave me for?”
Pam just smiled as she said, jokingly, “Ben and Jerry ice cream?”
Even the Angel laughed at that. Then he told her, “As long as you guessed it, I can tell you that ice cream is pretty close. Fourth Heaven has ice.”
“Wonderful, I can use that for my Smoothies.” Pam admitted.
“In that case you will love Fifth Heaven even better,” Eric told her. “Because there, I understand, they have cows and that means cream!”
“And Fifth has Ice also?” Pam questioned. So the Angel was explaining again, though somewhat reluctantly.
“Each new Heaven has everything the old ones had, but some extra improvements, thanks to our work.” The Angel confessed.
“So you will not miss anything in Five,” Eric reminded her. “But how will she and I qualify?”
“For Pam, her cat will soon have kittens. I will collect the mother and all babies except two and she must show that they will survive under her care, “ The Angel explained.
“But I love Streak and I don’t want to give her up.” Pam complained.
“As soon as you have two kittens in good health and find homes for them, you may have Streak back.”
“Oh I can do that!” Pam smiled. She turned to Eric and asked,
“What are you going to do to earn your admission?”
“I will build my new Puppy a very nice big Dog house to keep him happy when he has grown very large. “
“What kind of dog do you want?” She asked.
“I would like to have a big fluffy Golden Retriever… while he is still a fuzzy little puppy that is.”
Streak gave birth to seven kittens and the very next day there were only two shivering little blind wet kittens left behind in the bed.
Pam took them out and toweled them dry and wrapped them warm in their motherless bed, then mixed a bit of water with some banana and honey and fed it to the kittens. They did not like the tart fruits, but loved the water with Maple sugar or honey. Some of Eric’s flat cakes were welcome also. Little bits of fish and water was popular. But they were content all day with Maple syrup and water.
Soon they had open eyes and were playful kits eating fish and water or eggs. After they were a pretty pair of healthy kittens, she found them a new keeper in Third Heaven .
Eric’s big dog house was finished, so when they woke up in Fifth Heaven with Streak back with Pam and a very large, but simply, darling very large golden puppy in the dog house, they celebrated by taking the Puppy and the Cat and went on a tour of their new Fifth Heaven.
Fifth Heaven had large fields of grass, peppered with huge Oak trees and patches of wild grains for the horses and cows to browse in. But they both noticed that in Heaven there are no fences, so all of the live stock belonged to all of the interested people.
Some folks rode the horses bare back and others just petted and pampered them with apples and carrots. The cows were often milked, but not if their calves were very young. The giant bulls simply lolled under the trees and watched the interesting scene with quiet demeanor.
Pam named them all Ferdinand, after the song about the Bull with the delicate ego.
Now Pam thought she was in Seventh Heaven because she could ride and play with the horses at will and make ice cream and butter with the milk from the cows.
Eric like his cakes to be finer also with sugar from beets and milk from the cows , plus eggs from the larger birds then buttered and drizzled with maple syrup. In fact they were both in Seventh Heaven.
Seventh Heaven… what was the real one like? Then one day they talked to their regular Angel.
We started out in Heaven on Earth, but kept moving to better ones. We are both so happy here in Fifth Heaven that we cannot think of a reason want to go to Sixth Heaven or any that are higher. We know you cannot tell us about them but…”
“I can only explain one to you.” he said and that is the last and nonexistent one, known as Seventh Heaven. That is because it can only live inside of you. It is what you might call, a State Of Mind.
Seventh Heaven is only achieved by your own desires. When you can be happy and contented with what you have and what you can do for yourself, followed closely by what you want to do for others, then, and only then, you will be living in that glorious Seventh Heaven.
You could have had that back in your First Heaven on Earth.”
“May we go back there then? And take this Seventh Heaven with us?” Eric asked.
The Angel was accustomed to this question. It always came sooner or later. So he tried again to explain it. Sometimes the people who asked it understood him and others could only think of other things to ask, which he could not even try to explain. So he said this one more thing before disappearing forever.
“If you thought it was difficult to get here, then probably you could not get there, but if you have found it an easy journey to come this far, then yes, anytime you want it enough to find it for yourself, it will be there waiting for you.
But… I may not help you find it. Nor can my and by the way, your higher up boss be any help. For this one important thing, you are on your own.”
Then he was gone. It was as if he had never even existed.
However the Angels knew that Pam and Eric were capable of making their own way to whatever they chose.
The End
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