<h2 class="wp-block-heading eplus-wrapper" id="crosshead">Reception perfection</h2>

Denise arrives at work in a towelling robe, chewing gum. "Thank you for calling 777 heaven," she says to an unseen woman. "Your granddaughter? OK, you're calling to see is she's gonna get in... No, you're calling to see that she doesn't get in. Let me pull up her file. OK, I see she's a mother, she's done a lot of good deeds - things are looking good for her."

But the woman objects. Her granddaughter, she says, had a baby without getting married. "So, I hope you're sitting down," Denise laughs. "Well - we don't care!"

This is a scene from a TikTok video which has had 1.5 million views. It stars Taryn Delanie Smith as a receptionist in the most important place of all - heaven.

Her job is to welcome newcomers, deal with requests from residents who want to contact people on Earth, and explain to malefactorsPeople who commit crimes or do things that are wrong. why they are not going to be allowed in.

There are some hilarious posts - and also some very moving ones. Admitting 20-year-old Leah, who has died suddenly and is bewildered by her new condition, Denise is full of sympathy:

"Please don't be frightened - come forward... Can I give you a hug?... You're so young: I understand.

"But listen: if there's something I know, it's that there's a lot more to being alive than just living - 'cos up here you can learn and grow, and play... and you can check on all the people you love throughout their lives... and you can make new friends up here if you like. Who are you a fan of? I can look them up for you."

Smith is a university graduate who was crowned as Miss New York last year. She had the idea for Denise in the shower and immediately recorded a sketch - which explains the towelling robe. The comedy is based on her own experience of working in a call centre.

Denise's heaven is a liberal place where being kind to people matters more than how many times you said your prayers. Her targets include evangelicalA kind of Christianity that stresses the experience of being "born again" when one accepts Christ. preachers who have lived luxuriously at their followers' expense. After just two months, she has over one million TikTok followers.

"Playful as it is, Smith's vision of heaven conveys serious ethical content, as all visions of heaven do," writes Kate Cohen in The Washington Post. "Do good deeds get you in? Do you have to believe certain things? Can you still go if you've done something wrong?"

More importantly, Cohen adds, the videos are a way to comfort people in the face of death. To Smith's amazement, she has started receiving requests from followers: she has now made several videos in which Denise welcomes real people into heaven.

Heaven has inspired many artists' imaginations. One of the most important works in European literature is Dante Alighieri's Divine Comedy. In it, the medieval Italian poet journeys through hell and purgatoryIn Catholic tradition, the place where sinners go to have their sins purified before moving on to heaven. It is a time of troubled waiting. before finally arriving in paradise.

In Powell and Pressburger's classic film A Matter of Life and Death, a World War Two pilot faces a solemn court and a jury of the dead who will decide his fate.

Yes: Our knowledge of the universe is extremely limited, and while there is no proof that heaven exists, there is also no proof that it does not. Many people have a sense that part of us is immortal.

No: It is just a fantasy dreamed up by those who want to believe that good people eventually get rewarded for their deeds and bad ones get punished. Death can only mean non-existence.

Or... Heaven is here on Earth, if we just open our eyes to the wonder of the world around us. If we just treated each other with more respect, we could make life paradise for everybody.

Malefactors - People who commit crimes or do things that are wrong.

Evangelical - A kind of Christianity that stresses the experience of being "born again" when one accepts Christ.

Purgatory - In Catholic tradition, the place where sinners go to have their sins purified before moving on to heaven. It is a time of troubled waiting.