himself to save Edmund. But later, when he came back to life and killed the
White Witch, Colton leaped to his feet and pumped his fist. He likes it
when the good guys win.
As the credits rolled up the television screen and Colby picked at the
dregs of the popcorn, Sonja said offhandedly to Colton, “Well, I guess
that’s one thing you didn’t like about heaven—no swords up there.”
Colton’s giddy excitement vanished as quickly as if an invisible hand
had wiped his smile off with an eraser. He drew himself up to his full height
and looked down at Sonja, who was still sitting on the floor.
“There are too swords in heaven!” he said.
Surprised at his intensity, Sonja shot me a sideways glance, then kind of
drew her head back and smiled at Colton. “Um... okay. Why do they need
swords in heaven?”
“Mom, Satan’s not in hell yet,” Colton said, almost scolding. “The angels
carry swords so they can keep Satan out of heaven!”
Again, Scripture leaped to my mind, this time from the book of Luke
where Jesus tells the disciples, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from
heaven.”^1
And I remembered a passage from Daniel in which an angel visits
Daniel in answer to prayer, but says he was delayed for twenty-one days
because he was engaged in a battle with the “king of Persia.”^2
Theologians generally take this to mean some kind of spiritual battle, with
Gabriel fighting dark forces.
But how did a six-year-old know that? Yes, Colton had had two more
years of Sunday school by then, but I knew for a fact that our curriculum
didn’t include lessons on Satan’s living arrangements.
As these thoughts flashed through my head, I could see that Sonja didn’t
know what to say to Colton, who was still scowling. His face reminded me
of his irritation when I’d suggested that it got dark in heaven. I decided to
lighten the mood. “Hey Colton, I bet you asked if you could have a sword,
didn’t you?” I said.
At that, Colton’s scowl melted into a dejected frown, and his shoulders
slumped toward the floor. “Yeah, I did. But Jesus wouldn’t let me have one.
He said I’d be too dangerous.”