Journey to Heaven. A.W. Trenholm

she said. “We often give people who come here a new name, because everything is so different when you first arrive. At least it sure was for me!”

      Zaapha obviously wasn’t spirit-born. She must have been born on Earth. So in that respect she was more like me than Jamal, who had never lived on Earth. I wanted to ask her about herself, but thought I’d better stick to the topic at hand.

      “Well, how do you get a new name?” I asked.

      “Oh, there are lots of ways,” she laughed. “Come on, we’ll think and pray about it on the way to the stables. Do you want breakfast?”

      I had slept in my tunic, the one Jamal had given me. To my surprise, it wasn’t wrinkled, but was as white and fresh as the moment I’d put it on. I was already dressed for the day. I jumped up and followed Zaapha out onto the balcony and down the curved stairs opposite the pool side of the house.

      Joyus was busily working in a small but breathtakingly exotic flower garden along the side of the house.

      “Good morning!” she called cheerfully. “Would you like something to eat?”

      I thought about it a moment, and to my amazement, I realized that I didn’t feel the least bit hungry.

      “Thank you so much for the offer,” I replied, “but I don’t really feel hungry at the moment.”

      Noting the rather puzzled tone in my voice at this discovery about my new self-for on Earth I usually very much like to eat-Joyus said, “Well, I guess you just discovered that here you eat if you want to, or don’t eat if you don’t feel like eating. Whatever pleases you! Hunger is never a problem here.”

      “Well,” I said, “I guess, I won’t eat just now then. I’ll see how long I can go.”

      She laughed warmly. Then Zaapha grabbed my hand and pulled me along, heading towards the back gate. I waved goodbye to Joyus as we hurried out. She smiled and waved back. We dashed down the back lane that led off towards the open countryside of trees and streams, hills and meadows.

      Zaapha was spontaneous and fun. She didn’t seem at all cumbered with concerns about this or that. Also, there was an air of mystery about her that fueled my growing curiosity and interest.

      The countryside was beautiful. A small crystal stream bubbled cheerfully alongside the lane. I couldn’t help but run over to it and look down into its fresh, clean waters. A collection of bright, shiny objects caught my eye, and I reached down and pulled one out. In the stream were beautiful, shining gems, uncut of course, but bright and beautiful, and nuggets of what appeared to be pure gold.

      “Look at these,” I said excitedly, holding up to the light what appeared to be a large diamond in the rough. “What is it?”

      “A diamond, I suppose,” Zaapha said casually and matter-of-factly, as though that was about the most plain and common rock one could find in the streams around here. It was very exciting for me to find a diamond, but to her it was just another beautiful stone.

      My mind being still tainted by the material values on Earth, I blurted out, “Can you imagine how much this would be worth back on Earth?”

      Zaapha looked at me a little oddly for a moment, and then with a little look of disapproval, took the precious pebble from my hand and casually tossed it back in the stream. Obviously such things were of no great value here, or at least not valued in the same strange way that we value them back on Earth. On Earth, people take such rocks and make little trinkets out of them, which are then hid or hoarded and only worn out in proud, showy displays on rare occasions. Some even measure greatness in people by their possession of such things. How totally different it was here, as Zaapha had just clearly demonstrated.

      I realized how much I liked this place. It was so free of all those earthly attitudes and oddities that only left people envious and discontent. Wealth and power and riches really didn’t seem to have any meaning or significance at all here. Everyone seemed about the same, and to have about the same-which was a lot, really! There was enough, and no one took too much. It was wonderful. I hadn’t seen anything like money in this place; it just didn’t seem to exist or be needed in this great, loving, and cooperative society. How wonderfully strange and different this world was from Earth! I peered down into the crystal water of the sparkling stream a moment longer. Zaapha turned to go. It was hard to pull myself away from each new object of interest; there was always so much more to be learned. I was like a brand-new baby reaching out to experience everything in reach.

      “Wait for me,” I said, calling after her, and ran to catch up. “So how do I get a new name?” I asked, when I was beside her again.

      “Well, you could pray and ask the Lord to give you one.”

      “But isn’t that quite a small matter to bother the Lord about?” I asked.

      “Oh no, not at all,” she said. “He doesn’t mind. In fact, He likes us to talk to Him very often.”

      By now we were passing under a large, shady tree. “Here, let’s pray.” She took my hand and pulled me off the path, and we plopped down under the tree. She didn’t close her eyes, but was smiling and looking off as though she were actually seeing and talking to Jesus right there at that moment. “Jesus, please help us find a new name for this traveler in the Spirit who has come to visit us.”

      I was about to speak, but she signaled me to remain still. “Listen,” she said, “and the Lord will speak to you.”

      I closed my eyes and began to listen. At first I heard nothing more than the sounds around me and the hum of my own thoughts, but then as I began to relax and reach out to Jesus, I began to hear a still, gentle voice speaking within me, saying, “Well, what names do you like?”

      I replied to Him, “Well, I am a traveler here. I kind of like the sound of ‘Traveler,’ or maybe something like ‘Travis.’”

      “That’s quite nice,” the Lord said. “Why don’t you go with whichever one of those you like best for now. Then when you return here to stay, I’ll give you a new and special name.”

      “Okay, Travis it is!” I said out loud.

      “Travis!” Zaapha repeated. “That’s a good name. It sort of sounds like ‘travels to us’-and that’s what you are, a spirit traveler. Travis it is then!”