Eternal Life and How to Enjoy It is a real-life tour of what awaits us in the afterlife, as told by a guide Henry, who just happens to be dead. Author Gordon Phinn has been in communication with Henry for many years and brings us the tragicomic tale in his own inimitable style.
Henry, a so-called “boring accountant,” relates how–immediately after being killed in a car crash–he is welcomed by the affable Jack, who guides him on his first day dead. We see this new world through Henry’s eyes and feel his amazement at every turn. Even better, we witness this stuffy “bean counter” let go of his suffering and guilt and turn into the fun-loving, carefree soul he truly is.
After Henry gets used to the place, he becomes an afterlife guide himself, indulging the newly deceased in any whim or fantasy that will help them to “wake up and realize they’re dead.” Henry explains that most people have the afterlife experience their cultural and religious belief systems set them up for–including all the heavens, all the hells, and all the purgatories in between. When really, he says, we can view the afterlife as a constant progression towards the reunion with the god consciousness that we put aside to practice the art of being human.