What Colton saw in heaven

If there’s but one movie to watch during Lent or any other time of the year, it will be Heaven is for Real above all else.

It is a true story of Colton Burpo, a three-year-and-10-month-old boy then, who had been under a closer watch of the doctors because of a ruptured appendix, made more complicated that it burst five days before the operation and pus had already accumulated in his stomach. He was believed to be dying but miraculously survived.

Back to his being cheeky and lively, Colton at times recalls his ordeal in the hospital of his otherworldly experiences. He recounts how he saw the doctors cared for his dying body, how his grieving father “shouted” at God inside the hospital chapel, and how his mother called her friends over the phone to pray for his recovery. On top it all, how he saw heaven — that heaven is real.

Before Heaven is for Real exhibition in the wide screens across the globe, Colton’s out-of-the-body experience was read far and wide in a 164-page No. 1 New York Times bestseller book with self-same title Heaven is for Real. It was written in 2011 by Todd Burpo, the little boy’s father, a pastor in one small Midwest town in South Dakota.

Every now and then at playtime or in bed, Colton would share with his father the beautiful experience seeing heaven in bits and pieces. His mother Sonja casually dismissed it as just a figment of a smart child’s imagination. All the while, his father felt deep inside that his son is telling truthfully, expressing some amazement and wonder how Colton made mention of some dead family members his son didn’t ever get the chance to know and meet before.

Colton said he met in heaven his great grandpa named Pop. When Todd showed his grandfather Pop’s old photo with eye glasses, Colton said, he was not the one he saw because “Nobody wears glasses in heaven.” When Todd showed another younger photo of Pop, Colton said “Yes, I met him. Nobody is old in heaven.”

When Colton spoke of meeting his sister in heaven who died prematurely as a baby and how does she look like, Sonja was in floods of tears, finding herself convinced modestly of the earnest and true stories of her son. For how would Colton know that his sister he met doesn’t have a name because Sonja and Todd were not really able to give her one?

One time in the hospital, Colton touched the hand of a dying child and comforted her saying with a caring smile, “It’s going to be okay. The first person you are going to see is Jesus.”

Here are some more of Colton’s stories of his encounters in heaven:

“Jesus’ eyes are so pretty... Did you know that Jesus has a rainbow horse? I got to pet him.”

“I remember the hospital. There is where the angels sang the following songs to me: Jesus Loves Me and Joshua fought the Battle of Jericho. Colton also said that Jesus was there with him and in fact he sat on Jesus’ lap.

Some other Colton’s statements not shown in the film but found in the book are these:

“Did you know that Jesus has a cousin? Jesus told me his cousin baptized him. I don’t remember his name. But he was really nice… Jesus was my teacher. Jesus gave me work to do and that was my favorite part of heaven. There were lots of kids, Dad. Hey Dad, Jesus told me to tell you, He really loves the children.”

In answer to his father’s query as what do people look like in heaven:

“Everybody got wings. We flew, all except Jesus. He was the only One in heaven who didn’t have wings. Jesus just went up and down like an elevator. Everyone looks like angels. All people have a light above their head.”

“It doesn’t get dark in heaven. God and Jesus light up heaven. The gates of heaven are made of gold and there were pearls on them. The heavenly city itself was made of something shining like gold or silver. The flowers and trees in heaven were beautiful, and there were animals of every kind.”

In a burial rites officiated by his pastor father, Colton quizzed Todd referring to the dead man, “Did he have Jesus in his heart? He had to know Jesus or he can’t get into heaven.”

Finally, when Colton was asked, “What do you want people to know from your story?” Without hanging back, Colton replied: “I want them to know that heaven is for real” from which Todd Burpo took the title of the book he wrote for two and a half years.

Trust me to say that this is a must-see movie for everybody. You’ll be drawn with the heartfelt performance of the actors, especially Kelly Reilly as Todd Burpo and the lovable angelic wonder Connor Corum as Colton who act so natural as if they were true-blooded father and son both in reel and real life. Time and again, the film brings good tidings and hopeful inspiration to touch the hearts, cleanse the spirit and restore deeper faith in God and love for Jesus Christ and our fellowmen.

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