We’re using another novel written by Mitch Albom for our next series, Heaven, beginning the second Sunday of June. The First Phone Call from Heaven is captivating as Albom takes us on a rollercoaster ride of hope-filled mystery.
The story begins one morning in the town of Coldwater, Michigan, when several phones start ringing. What makes the calls unusual is that the voices on the other end claim to be calling from heaven.
Is this the greatest miracle ever or a cruel hoax? Soon after, a reporter from Alpena arrives, thinking her boss has sent her on an insignificant news story, visitors suddenly overrun the small town.
Meanwhile, a disgraced pilot named Sully Harding returns to Coldwater from prison only to discover his hometown gripped by “miracle fever.” When his young son starts carrying a toy phone, hoping to hear from his mother in heaven, Sully has had enough.
As proof of an afterlife spreads, the town and the world start to transform. Church attendance increases as believers turn to the local pastors for confirmation. But Sully is convinced there is nothing beyond this sad life. So he digs deeper, determined to disprove these miracles for the sake of his child and his own broken heart.
Moving seamlessly between the invention of the telephone in 1876 and a world obsessed with the next level of communication, Mitch Albom takes readers on a breathtaking ride of frenzied hope.
Album reminds us that while no one is certain who invented the telephone, the U.S. patent belongs to the Scottish-born Alexander Graham Bell.
Many believe he stole it away from an American inventor named Elisha Gray. Others maintain that an Italian named Manzetti or a Frenchman named Bourseul or a German named Reis or another Italian named Meucci deserves credit. What few dispute is that all these men, working in the mid-nineteenth century, explored the idea of transmitting vocal vibrations from one place to another. But the very first telephonic conversation, between Bell and Thomas Watson, standing in separate rooms, contained these words: Come here. I want to see you.
“Come here, I want to see you.” These words describe the familiar feelings of telephone conversations between two people who long to be together. Their sentiment also reflects the promise of an afterlife where we’re once again reunited with lost loved ones.
Mitch Albom is the founder of SAY Detroit, a nonprofit that provides pathways to success for Detroiters in need through major health, housing, and education initiatives. The nonprofit is funded in part by profits coming from a dessert shop and a gourmet popcorn line. He and his wife Janine also operate Have Faith Haiti, a home and school for impoverished children and orphans in Port-au-Prince.
As an author, Mitch Album has written eight #1 New York Times bestsellers, Emmy Award-winning TV films, stage plays, screenplays, a nationally syndicated newspaper column, and a musical. As a result of his work at the Detroit Free Press, Album was inducted into both the National Sports Media Association and Michigan Sports Halls of Fame and received the Red Smith Award for lifetime achievement.
If you choose to follow along, I suggest using the following schedule:
| Sundays | Pages | Chapters (Weeks) |
|---|---|---|
| June 8 | 1 – 59 | Weeks 1 to 6 |
| June 15 | 60 – 101 | Weeks 7 to 9 |
| June 22 | 102 – 143 | Weeks 10 to 11 |
| June 29 | 144 – 186 | Weeks 12 to 14 |
| July 6 | 187 – 238 | Weeks 15 to 16 |
| July 13 | 239 – 308 | Broadcast Day to 2 Months Later |
We’ll have a few books available for purchase. New copies of the paperback edition are available through Amazon for $10.10, and used copies in good condition are usually under $7, including shipping. This book is likely to be available at the local library.
Our Book Club does not meet as a group. However, our weekly messages reference that week’s chapters. You can anticipate spoiler alerts unless you keep up with the pace. You can purchase your own copy or visit your local library.
You can contact our office with questions by phone or simply type your question or enter a prayer request on our website’s homepage — FlintAsburyChurch.org.
Pastor Tommy
Mitch Albom. The First Phone Call from Heaven. New York: HarperCollins, 2014.