The VIEW FROM HERE — Jerrie Oughton

Rebellious sixteen year old Janie Rutherford had never spent much time thinking about Heaven. But now she's there. In The View From Here, Janie struggles to adapt and overcome her fear of not belonging. First she encounters The Teacher, an enormous black woman clad in a silver robe, who belittles Janie's link to the past �" a photo that she brought from her life on earth. As if it weren't already confusing enough, The Teacher then hands Janie a snapshot of a boy. “I don't know this person,” Janie protests. “You will,” The Teacher replies. Then turns away and calls out, “Next . . .”
On the other hand, her housemother, Mother Weir is a breath of fresh air for Janie. Old, but a rebel in her own right, she rules the home-place with a comforting but firm hand, assuring Janie and the other residents that it's perfectly all right that the Hereafter is not all skittles and beer. When Mother Weir takes Janie window shopping, first they see the next county up, which may one day be Janie's future. Window #2 looks into a nursery full of babies which becomes Janie's favorite place in the Hereafter. And, through Window #3, she revisits earth where her family is still grappling with her untimely death. Her memory floods back, and Janie remembers it all, including who the boy in the mysterious photo is and why she must carry him with her into the Hereafter.
The lessons she is beginning to learn in the Hereafter come from many sources. On earth, Janie put God inside a box. Here a peer mentor who calls himself Papa De guides her as she takes God out of the box and comes to understand there are no boxes strong enough to contain him.
It has been said that life is a journey. Janie Rutherford discovers that so is Heaven.