Jonathan Livingstone Seagull

One evening the gulls that were not night-flying stood
together on the sand, thinking. Jonathan took all his courage
in hand and walked to the Elder Gull, who, it was said,
was soon to be moving beyond this world.

"Chiang..." he said a little nervously.

The old seagull looked at him kindly. "Yes, my son?"
Instead of being enfeebled by age, the Elder had been empowered by it;
he could outfly any gull in the Flock,
and he had learned skills that the others
were only gradually coming to know.

"Chiang, this world isn't heaven at all, is it?"
The Elder smiled in the moonlight.
"You are learning again, Jonathan Seagull," he said.

"Well, what happens from here? Where are we going? Is there no such

Place as heaven?"

"No, Jonathan, there is no such place.
Heaven is not a place, and it is not a time.
Heaven is being perfect." He was silent for a moment.  
"You are a very fast flier, aren't you?"

"I... I enjoy speed," Jonathan said, taken aback but proud that the

Elder had noticed.

"You will begin to touch heaven, Jonathan,
in the moment that you touch perfect speed.
And that isn't flying a thousand miles an hour,
or a million, or flying at the speed of light.
Because any number is a limit and perfection doesn't have limits.
Perfect speed, my son, is being there."