Heaven is a Cornfield

Ever since Owen learned to talk, I have been bracing for the onslaught of difficult questions - about heaven and hell and the existence of God, the meaning of life, and various science-related questions that I have absolutely no answers to. So far, the challenges have been minimal. There have been some vague heaven-related inquiries recently in the wake of the recent death of his great-grandfather Paul, but he hasn't really taken it in a direction that would require much knowledge on my part. Tonight, however, he did ask me whether people who died in Illinois, or Iowa, or Wisconsin, were all in the same place up in heaven. Can't say I had a prepared answer for this particular inquiry, as I had never considered whether heaven adheres to the arbitrary state or international borders that exist here in everyday life. So I stammered something about everyone being with the other people they knew up in heaven. As good an answer as any, I suppose, since I doubt even theological theorists have spent much time on the governmental subdivisions that might exist in heaven. Upon further reflection, however, supposing heaven does exist, I would like to think everyone from Illinois got to go somewhere a tad more scenic.