Kids Give the Lowdown on Heaven

What is heaven? “It’s where girls get turned into angels . . . and then God tries to do the best he can with the boys.”

What is heaven like? “There are no doctors or lawyers in heaven. . . . They don’t need them because God does all the healing and because all arguments are against the law.”

Out of the mouths of children come some of the most refreshingly personal views of God.

In “Angels Must Get Their Wings by Helping Little Angels Like Me,” a delightful work from Kensington Books, David and Elizabeth Heller have collected the ideas children 5 to 11 have about God, heaven and the angels.

The authors write that after extensive interviews with the kids, a separation of Earth and heaven has never seemed so tenuous or insignificant. Throughout the 101-page book, children tell of a personal God deeply involved in their lives. God is not portrayed as a distant, wrathful judge, but as a loving caretaker.

“God is sitting in heaven, but he isn’t on a throne or anything, no sir,” said 6-year-old Cara. “He’s sitting in a garden playing with the children and the animals and letting them climb on him.”

From the children’s vantage point, God attends to details, from putting soda in the cafeteria to shutting off all the televisions in heaven if kids neglect their Bible homework. One can even take naps with God in heaven.

Marie, 6, said that one of the passing thoughts God has is: “I wish I had a bigger refrigerator. . . . Then I could put drawings from all of the children in the world on it.”

How did heaven begin? Seven-year-old Robyn explains, “A lot of people in the ancient years were crying because their grandmas and pas were dying, so God said, ‘All right already, you win!’ . . . And so he made heaven a beautiful place and he let the grandparents stay there forever.”

This collection of children’s heavenly thoughts is not only humorous, but at almost all points it reveals the strong faith of childhood.

“Most of the people I know believe in heaven. . . . You might say that we’re just kids, but then maybe God just talks to us more often,” said 10-year-old Michael.

So is there any special test to get into heaven?

“No,” said 8-year-old Peggy. “God just kisses you and says, ‘Welcome aboard.’ ”