The Wanderers

Naomi Gladish Smith has done it again! As in "The Arrivals" she has taken Immanuel Swedenborg's masterpiece "Heaven and Hell" and has brought the more complicated work into the relm where almost everyone can understand many of the concepts put forth by Swedenborg. What happens when we die? Where did we come from? Where might we be going after we die? Who judges us? We are introduced to the many heavens and hells, or our preconceived ideas of heaven and hell. Swedenborg was one of the greatest minds the world has known and his many volumes are carefully cross referenced and elaborated on until they become very difficult, if truthful, reading. That's another reason these two books are so remarkable. While Swedenborg was a Lutheran he constantly risked falling afoul of the established church while trying to tell the generations to come after him of his remarkable experiences. This is a book for any religion, or lack thereof, it applies to everyone. Why are you here? Why not see what you think after you read this?

Have you ever wondered what happens after you die? Naomi Gladish Smith provides insight into this question. I enjoyed this well written book, with its interesting variety of characters. Eight people die on the same day, and meet as they enter what they come to know as 'the other world'. They become Wanderers as they travel together and discover what they want from this new life. Some discover they would be happier following their less moral instincts, while others find they are happier to be guided to more heavenly pursuits. They all come to understand that their happiness is what God wants for them. In Smith's early book, "The Arrivals" people from a plane crash arrive in the 'other world' thinking that they are the survivors of the crash. One of the arrivals questions how she can be dead, when she is alive? Another interesting read on what happens after you die. I found "The Arrivals" an easier, but equally intriguing read!