Here’s a scene that describes what Heaven looks like. . .
along with a hint of trouble ahead.

In Heaven’s northern hemisphere sits its largest continent, a vast and open parkopolis filled with tall grass, green shade trees, and red, purple, and yellow flower beds. Sweet, aromatic foliage surrounds an assortment of villas dotting the grassland. Some look like large white domes, others like yellow polygons, while still others feature the traditional red brick A-frame structure. Great rain fountains in this semiarid land spray jets of water and ice crystals hundreds of feet into the air. The water show creates an aerial garden of deep red, yellow, and violet ribbons that arch across the sky.

 Large sculptures made from aluminum, glass, and rock decorate the landscape like oversized toys spread across a green-carpeted living room. Some of the immense artwork takes the shape of faces or people in various poses. Still others boast delicate lattice work and parts that move with the wind.

Small roads and trail-ways, broken into outlines of granular rock and concrete by the wind, rain, vegetation, and time, snake through Heaven’s savanna neighborhoods. These pathways lace together the gentle hills, sculptures, and villas scattered throughout the countryside.

It’s rare to encounter anyone walking these sparse trails. Once in a while a bike rider or perhaps a couple in a white horse-drawn buggy will pass by, but now twenty-three men walk briskly along one of the trails. One of them carries a tall pole, from which a blue light forms a giant electronic umbrella. In tight formation, the men march beneath this shield toward the Great Scientific University lab perched atop a hill. One of them stands nearly seven feet tall and wears a red cape.