The Five People You Meet In Heaven; An Observation Rather Than A Review

*Contains spoilers

“Each affects the other, and the other affects the next, and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one.”

Apologies for the radio silence, to put it bluntly, my partner’s Dad died on Monday, so he has been my absolute priority, rather than reading. However, I did have a cheeky two hour read of The Five People You Meet In Heaven, which is an old favourite of mine. I find it oddly comforting, the whole idea that one day, we will all be able to make sense of our lives.

Because, let’s be honest, sometimes, none of our lives make sense, and on the odd occasion, we can and we do make sense of events and situations, but more often than not I find that we forget about why it didn’t make sense in the first place, and just accept it how it is so we can move on to other events and situations in our lives that may need to be made sense of. Does that make sense?

But truly, if anybody who reads this has lost a loved one – and the probability is high – or loses a loved one in the future, I hope that you can read this post and experience almost the same solace that consumed me whilst reading The Five People You Meet In Heaven.

The protagonist in this book is Eddie. We are introduced to Eddie as an old man, about to die. He dies trying to save a little girl from a horrific accident at the fair where he works as Head of Maintenance. There is no real gore in this novel, only simple explanations.

The five people he meets in Heaven are lives that have entwined with his own, sometimes without him even knowing. The way we affect others has always been something that the human species takes for granted; we have great power in our languages and actions. And here, in Eddie’s Heaven, Eddie finds out just how much impact he has had on the lives that have been webbed with his own.

There are five lessons to be learnt in Heaven – hence the five people – that help Eddie understand why his life was the way it was on Earth. I like to think that the lessons would be different for each individual, pertaining to the events that shape our lives the way they are. My partner’s Dad lived life mainly as a military man, who then succumbed to the numbing depths of alcohol. I like to think that his lessons will finally help him find the peace that evaded him on Earth.

Eddie’s first lesson is one that he finds it hard to wrap his head around. I was easily persuaded by the notion myself, but I like to think of myself as open minded. Eddie learns that all lives are connected. Imagine a spiderweb, and where the pieces of silk joins, that signifies somebody’s life which is then connected to another life, and another, and another. Until ultimately, everybody’s lives are interweaved, and you cannot break a piece of web off without disturbing the others. This is Eddie’s first lesson.

His second lesson is one of sacrifice. Eddie learns that sacrifice is essential, to ensure that somebody else receives good in the world. This includes dying. In this day and age, more of us are being bought up to believe that sacrifice is something bad; because we lose something precious. In Eddie’s Heaven, he learns that it’s actually something to aspire to. If the purpose of our lives is to do good in the world, then sacrifice is necessary.

Eddie’s third lesson is forgiveness. Eddie learns that even when he, or somebody he loves, has been wronged, it is important to forgive that person, and to choose aspects like loyalty and love over hate. Of course, I take that with a pinch of salt as I am very good at holding grudges. But I do believe that hate damages ourselves more than it damages our target.

His fourth lesson is the importance of love. And how, no matter the distance, whether the distance is one as great as life and death, the power of love can be everlasting. This, to me, is a little bit cliche. I believe we need love to be happy, but not necessarily the love of a spouse. Although this lesson can be applied to all manners of relationships.

Eddie’s final lesson was my favourite. He learnt that somebody will die for the same reason that somebody will live; a purpose. If this week has taught me anything, it’s that fate always has a reason. Whether your life’s purpose is to show somebody else that their life has a purpose, then so be it. Now, this may not seem fair to you at first. But personally, if I was told that today, I had to die in order to let the person who could cure cancer live, then I would lie on the floor and wait impatiently for the Grim Reaper’s scythe. I wouldn’t consider it a sacrifice, I would consider it a purpose. And no matter how small, or how worthless, and hard, your life may seem, everybody has a purpose. 

I’m not actually a religious person. I’m agnostic, if anything. I don’t think God created the world in seven days, because there is a certain magic to life that makes me think, that can’t be all there is to it. There are things that even science and religion can’t explain. And I don’t know what happens when we die, only the dead know, but I do find comfort in the idea of finally understanding what my life was worth during my time on Earth.