Chapter Two

Jack

Heaven

WHEN HAD HEAVEN gotten boring? Not boring exactly. Just the same, century after century.

Jack leaned his chin on his elbow and looked around him. No one else seemed bored. The pax collectors were busy. There was always someone praying for peace. Beyond them, the dogma catchers were arguing a point of law. They never stopped debating and never changed their minds on anything.

He turned his chair in the other direction. The hosanna-tation workers were busy preparing hallelujahs, and the sic transit gloria mundi drivers were scheduling those who were about to take their final journeys.

Everyone was busy. Everything was running smoothly. Just as it always did.

He watched as a trainee, Ernie, placed a stack of papers on Jack’s otherwise clean desk. He seldom got ahead here at the Pray Care Center and never at this time of year. When December rolled around on Earth, folks who had not had time for prayers during their busy lives the rest of the year suddenly sent up requests for blessings on the whole world. Goodwill to men was easy. Peace on Earth he passed on to the pax collectors in hopes that this year would be the one to answer that prayer of peace.

“What is this?” asked Ernie, picking a slip up from the floor. Glancing at it, the trainee gulped loudly as he handed it to Jack.

Jack sat straighter. What was this? A prayer request on the floor? How had it gotten on the floor? He looked at the date on it. The prayer had been sent up in October, almost two months ago. He groaned as he read the prayer asking that a child’s pet not die.

Gathering his robes around him, Jack fairly flew to his supervisor. He held out the slip, bowed his head, and gulped like Ernie had.

His supervisor took one look at it and sighed. “Oh, good heavens, this is not good.”

“The pet—?”

“Spot is no longer on Earth.” The supervisor opened a large book and pointed to a page. “Yes, Spot left the Earth two days after this prayer was sent up.” She sighed again. “It was a blessing, for Spot was suffering greatly.”

Jack smiled with relief. “So there is nothing that would have changed.”

His supervisor closed the book. “Jack, you know our policy. We will have no unanswered prayers.”

“But if Spot was scheduled to leave—”

His supervisor tapped a scroll hanging nearby. “How could you have forgotten our prayer policies after your many years at the Pray Care Center?”

Jack stared at the scroll and read silently:

No prayer will go unanswered.

If the prayer request cannot be filled in a timely manner, a satisfactory substitute will be found.

Every request is blessed.

The supervisor shook her head again and said, “I will have to take this to my supervisor. This is a sad oversight, Jack. A child could lose faith over this. It will have to be attended to at once, before we lose that young heart.” She gave him a kind smile as she put her hand on his shoulder. “You have always paid such attention to your work. I am sure that will count in your favor.”

Jack dragged himself back to his desk. Ernie was waiting there, his eyes wide.

“What happened?” Ernie asked.

Jack sat at his desk. “I let a prayer slip past me. I’ve never done that before.”

“Everyone makes mistakes.”

“This is Heaven, Ernie. You’re not on Earth any longer. Heaven shouldn’t make mistakes.”

“So what will you do?”

“I need to make sure I don’t make any more mistakes. I need to get these prayer requests handled on time.” He brightened. “Better yet, I’ll make sure I get answers for every prayer coming here for the next few days. I’ll make sure everyone gets just what they pray for.”

Ernie looked uncertain. “You know that all prayers can’t be answered like that. Sometimes people pray for things that aren’t what they should have, things that could ruin their lives on Earth.”

Waving him aside, Jack reached for the topmost sheet on the pile. He choked back a gasp so loudly that the others in the Pray Care Center looked down to see if thunder was nearing the gates of Heaven. When he saw the names scrawled across the slip, he glanced in the other direction. Not every prayer came from below. Some came from above. Prayers from them had the highest priority.

He scanned the request. A lonely-hearts request—to help a man and a woman know that they were meant to spend their lives together and build a family that would bring them joy.

He checked in his files. Yes, this was all right. Answering this prayer should be simple; he’d forward the request to family services with an “expedite immediately” on it. They would handle the details, find the soul waiting to make this pair a family and get that soul to Earth on the double. This was real basic stuff. Even Ernie could handle this one. Love was one of the things Heaven did best. Jack had answered these kinds of heartfelt prayers since he’d started working here.

The only question was why they had sent it. They did not usually get involved in this type of prayer request. They were more apt to deal with the big global issues. Peace on Earth definitely would come from them.

It was Christmastime, though. No one in Heaven ever forgot that this was a very special time of year when exceptional things happened and miracles seemed almost commonplace. Maybe that was what they wanted. A miracle.

Jack grinned. Miracles were fun. They must be used sparingly, because folks on Earth found it difficult to accept that a miracle had happened. They wanted explanations why. Few people were able to accept the truth on faith.

Ernie asked, “Can I help?”

“You can watch. As a trainee, you still have a lot to learn.” He quickly told Ernie what he needed and sent him to retrieve it. “Just keep an eye on the time, okay?”

“Time?”

“Miracles have to unfold at the proper time.”

Ernie grinned and rubbed his hands together. “A miracle? Cool.”

Jack smiled, too, as the trainee rushed off to get what they needed. His smile disappeared as he glanced down at the slip again. It did seem odd that this request for a miracle had come in as a simple prayer request, but, if this was what they wanted, then he should not delay fulfilling it by asking his supervisor silly questions. He could not let this one slip past him. He would make sure it was answered.

Immediately.