I enjoy different perspectives and ideas about heaven and I loved Mitch Albom’s previous Tuesday’s with Morrie, so I thought Albom’s new The Five People You Meet in Heaven would be a surefire hit. Well, it certainly doesn’t live up to Morrie, but there’s still a sweet sincerity in this search for life’s meaning.

Having worked as a repair man at an amusement park, Eddie dies while trying to save a little girls life when a ride goes off track. The rest of the book follows Eddie as he discovers explores the afterworld. Throughout the story we begin to see Eddie’s feelings of worthlessness and purposelessness about his life. Using a thread of sacrifice, Albom then weaves together five different encounters Eddie experiences in the post-mortal world to show him that his life wasn’t so worthless after all.

The five people Eddie meets in heaven are people that he knew or had some connection to in his life. Two are people who died protecting his life. Others speak of the sacrifices that were made for his sake, and sacrifices that he made for others. One major sacrifice he made was taking over his father’s job as a repairman in the amusement park. He realizes his marriage wasn’t as bad as he thought it was because of his poor income, but positive because of his enduring love. Finally, he discovers his life was of worth because he spent his days keeping people safe in the amusement park.

The ideas tie together well and make for an affecting story, but it’s essentially problematic. The primary problem is that Albom is briefly addressing an extremely complex – and sensitive – topic. Much like a funeral eulogy, Heaven wants to glorify the life of one who has passed on, whether there’s much to glorify or not. It seems universally the case that, when someone we love dies, we want to praise. We want to place them with the gods. It’s part of what heals us as mourners. In some sense, Heaven feels more like therapy for those who have had a loved one die than a source of personal encouragement.

On the other hand, we don’t all really live up to the praise heaped upon us at our passing. Eddie’s particular case is convenient because he had a job that protected people. You could create a similar story with policemen, firemen, security guards, pilots, doctors and so forth. But not everyone has that kind of job. There are millions of people just like Eddie who spent their lives working in an office, selling some unnecessary product.

The hard reality is that we tragically live far more empty lives than we ought. You can find nice things that everyone did in life, but that does not necessarily fill the existential void that many people such as Eddie often feel. In that sense, Heaven provides something of a false solution to a serious problem.

Though it certainly makes you think about the issue, The Five People You Meet in Heaven seems to be missing a carpe diem point. Much like pop Christianity, it wants to say everything is going to be okay as long as you were a generally well meaning person in life. Though there’s a certain sweetness to a humble man finally recognizing how good a person he really was, Heaven might have been more effective had it taken a Schindler’s List slant and featured five people in heaven who show Eddie how he could have lived a much better, fuller life.

But that’s just me. And I think Albom was really just trying to show one side of the issue. Albom says in his introduction that his purpose is to show “people who felt unimportant here on earth…how much they mattered and how much they were loved.” He accomplishes exactly that.

06/04