This is one of the most tender and poignant passages in Gilead, as John reflects on the miraculous gift his son has been in his life and the somber fact that, by the time his son reads these words, John will be long dead. Yet sorrow isn’t the main focus. John believes that after death, he will become “imperishable,” possessing eternal life and incapable of ever dying again. He will be reunited with loved ones who died (like his first wife Louisa and their daughter Rebecca), yet heaven is more than a fulfillment of earthly longings. Indeed, life there—“in…