The Five People You Meet in Heaven

"All endings are beginnings. We just don't know it at the time..."

Eddie is a grizzled war veteran who feels trapped in a meaningless life of fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. As the park has changed over the years -- from the Loop-the-Loop to the Pipeline Plunge -- so, too, has Eddie changed, from optimistic youth to embittered old age. His days are a dull routine of work, loneliness, and regret.

Then, on his 83rd birthday, Eddie dies in a tragic accident, trying to save a little girl from a falling cart. With his final breath, he feels two small hands in his -- and then nothing. He awakens in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a lush Garden of Eden, but a place where your earthly life is explained to you by five people who were in it. These people may have been loved ones or distant strangers. Yet each of them changed your path forever.

One by one, Eddie's five people illuminate the unseen connections of his earthly life. As the story builds to its stunning conclusion, Eddie desperately seeks redemption in the still-unknown last act of his life: Was it a heroic success or a devastating failure? The answer, which comes from the most unlikely of sources, is as inspirational as a glimpse of heaven itself.

This rare glimpse into the life of heaven is a wonderful tale of the people who impact our lives in so many ways.

Following after Sum: Forty Tale from the Afterlives, The Five People You Meet in Heaven is a quick read and a wonderful transition into the realm of heaven.

As you read The Five People You Meet in Heaven here are a few questions to think about:

• Which person did you think had the most influence on Eddie's life?
• Why do you think these particular 5 five were chosen to show Eddie his life?
• Who would your five people be? Why those five?
• If you could only thank five people who have significantly impacted your life who would they be and why?

Sum: 40 Tales from the Afterlives

What happens when we die?

That has been the question that humans have asked perhaps from the dawn of time. We all would love to know what happens once life is over. Is there an afterlife? Does it involve clouds and angels? Do I get to meet God? Fair questions that we all ask as we journey through life.

In Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives David Eagleman attempts to answer, sometimes with great humor, the big question of what happens after death. Drawing from several understandings of the afterlife, Eagleman creates a theological platform for his readers to jump into the mystery of what happens after death.

As our July discussion book this collection of parables will elicit a number of different reactions. Each tale is about two pages long and will tickle your imagination in such a way that you'll fall into temptation: the temptation to read all the tales in one sitting. But I recommend that you read each one slowly, taking no more than two a day, which will give you a chance to appreciate and digest each tale. My hope is that we will have a lively discussion after reading this book.

So to spark our discussion here are some questions to ponder and respond to as you make your way through the book:

• Which afterlife was your favorite?
• If you could create an afterlife what would it be?
• Do you think we shouldn't diverge from the "authorized" understanding of the afterlife? (Heaven with angels and St. Peter etc.)
• Do you think some of the tales would offend? Which ones?
• What did you like most about the tales? What did you like the least?
• If you could sum-up Sum in two sentences or less what would they be?
• Would you recommend Sum to a friend?