Friday, April 28, 2006

Do they pass out programs when you get to Heaven?

I usually try to keep the fight2type pretty light hearted. While the title to this post may seem somewhat amusing, I’m warning you now that this will be one of the heavier posts to date for me. Consider yourself warned.

So, seriously, do you think they pass out programs when you get to Heaven? I mean there has to be like a gazillion things going on up there. Surely they assemble some kind of guide for you. Like this:

Football:

Dan Marino and the Dolphins win a Super Bowl – Game played Sundays at 6pm on field DM-7

Payton Manning and the Colts win a Super Bowl – Game played Sundays at 7:30pm on field PM-18

Baseball:

Cubs win the World Series – Game played daily at 3pm on Field CC-27

Flying Lessons:

“Break in your new wings” - Monday’s and Wednesday’s on Flight deck C at 2pm

“Intermediate Flyers” – Thursday’s at noon and 4pm

“Advanced Flyers” (Pre-requisite: At least one year in Heaven and completion of “Intermediate Flyers” course) – Friday’s at 7pm (Please stretch before coming to class)

Celestial Choir:

“Interested in Joining” – This is an informational session conducted on Monday’s and Friday’s at 2pm. We will answer all of your questions about joining the Celestial Choir including, “If I couldn’t carry a tune on Earth, can I sing here?” We will also discuss rehearsal and Performance schedules.

Rehearsals – you’re Angels, you don’t have to rehearse.

Performances – Every evening at 8pm in the Celestial courtyard, “Taps” will be performed (just like at band camp). The Celestial choir does have additional performances which you can find listed in your weekly newsletter.

Okay, I could go on and on, but you get the point. I’m just thinking that the “Orientation Pack” should include a program of events.

Well, that was the fun part of this post. This is your last warning. The following is not the flighty ramblings that normally appear here, but rather me getting some stuff out of my system.

Last week a small one engine Cessna crashed near the Bloomington Airport. On the plane were 5 music students from IU. One of them was an incredible friend of mine from high school. Zach was 25 years old and a grad student studying choral direction. He had an awesome voice, a smile that could light up the world, the heart and patience of a saint, and he could totally tear it up on piano.

When we were high school I decided I wanted to learn to play piano. I convinced Zach (who already had more on his schedule than any 3 normal people could handle) to swap piano lessons for saxophone lessons. If I recall correctly this went on for the better part of a year. I was wretched at piano and his saxophone skills were less than fantastic. Honestly, we rarely got much done. We spent most of the time talking and laughing. Zach had an amazing ability to cheer me up if I was feeling bad. On the few occasions that I actually tried to be serious and learn piano he was incredibly patient and encouraging, no matter how horrible I was.

It’s been several years since I’ve talked to Zach but the loss is still deeply painful. He’s the kind of person that if I ran into him on the street it would be as if no time had passed since we last spoke. When I found out about the accident, once I got past the denial part and realized it was real, I was mad. No…. I was PISSED. It’s so unfair for such an AWESOME and talented person to be taken at such a young age. He had his whole life ahead of him.

Yesterday was his visitation and I knew I would be stopping by right after work. As I got ready for work in the morning I couldn’t stop thinking about Zach. And suddenly it all made sense. Heaven must need a new director for the Celestial Choir. I’m fully convinced that at this moment Zach is directing a choir angels and is happier than he could have ever been on Earth.

So, when you get to Heaven, find your program in the Orientation pack, and look for the Celestial Choir, under the direction of the AMAZING Zachary Novak.

posted at 6:38 PM   ::   2 comments

2 Comments:

Blogger Plankiest said...

That was beautiful. They definitely have web access in Heaven, and he is reading your amazing post right now.

11:03 PM, May 03, 2006  
Blogger podslave said...

Jillian,

Thank you so much for your kind comments. If you happen to check back and read this, I would really love the opportunity to talk to you some time. Thanks again for your comment.

12:06 AM, May 24, 2006  

Post a Comment

< < Return to the homepage