When I Get to Heaven ─ The Lord Willing

This beautifully crafted memoir explores the life of the Reverend Howard William Brown, a senior pastor with the United Methodist Church, with powerful stories of one man's inner quest to grasp the very nature of eternity. "When I Get to Heaven" achieves a memorable portrait of Reverend Brown's dynamic spiritual journey, from his early childhood memories to an enlightened vision of the great beyond. Penned in the final year of his life, the book reveals deep insights into the 'great spirit of expectation' that captivates us while on earth and illuminates our path toward life eternal. From his last notes: I am not afraid of my journey past this life. Heaven is wonderful and I could talk forever about eternity, but I will only say that I am not afraid to go on. How did I come to be a believer? The walk I have taken began in a crowded bakery in the 1930s in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I stood in line for my mother, waiting nervously to order one dozen coconut jelly cakes. Somehow, I found my way, many years later, to the steps of Drew Seminary where I found the grace and the words to begin to become a preacher. Yet there was more to come much more before I would step into my first pulpit. As life would have it, I would go off to war to find the prayer I did not know was in me, the prayer that would lead me to the ministry but that was years away, and I still had many life lessons to learn.