NOVEMBER 26
So he passed over, and all the trumpets sounded for him on
the other side.
—JOHN BUNYANIf we believe in a life after death, which images play around
that belief? Victorian images hardly seem plausible—or ap-
pealing. “Heavenly choirs” aroused antipathy in Mark
Twain, who wondered why we pictured Heaven as includ-
ing all those things we could hardly abide while alive. No
sex. Heavenly choirs. Please!
John Bunyan’s image in Pilgrim’s Progress seems old-
fashioned in some ways.
But what has fashion to do with it? It is all conjecture—at-
tempts to express the unknowable.
Modern images have to do with light—a tunnel, perhaps,
and then light! Always warmth. Always inconceivably
wonderful love. For many, the faces of loved ones. A figure
of God, or some other religious embodiment.
Who knows? But the sound of trumpets welcoming a tri-
umphant spiritual warrior home is not bad. What music
were they playing? We’ll have to wait and see.
In my fantasy I am reaching for the welcoming arms of my loved
one.