My visiting parents, securely fastened in their seat belts, remained silent as our Land Cruiser climbed the steep incline of the Going to the Sun Road in Glacier Park.
When we first moved to Montana, I was eager to show off this spectacular sight to mom and dad. “Lookie, lookie, what I found,” ran through my mind thinking that this beauty could only be termed as “heavenly”! I considered these spectacular sights as a almost sacred.
Knowing my dad can be a little sarcastic, (referring to the Grand Canyon as a “big hole in the ground”), I preempted my possible hurt feelings and had a little “daughter/father” talk before we started on this exploration.
To advert an ugly situation, if dad did make a crude remark about the Park, my warning went something like: “Dad this Park is a special place to me, so please try to like it and not say anything that might hurt my feelings about it? OK??
Winding through the hairpin turns as we climbed and climbed, Dad took it all in without a word. Finally after about 45 minutes of unexpected silence on his part and about 9000 feet below us, Dad finally, spoke.
“Pat, can I say something now?”
“Sure Dad,” not having even the vaguest idea just where he was coming from.
“Pat, do you think this is what heaven is like?
“Yes, dad, I do, I replied holding my breath fearing what might follow.
“Me too,” he praised. Whew…
We really don’t know what heaven is really like. We have people who have had near death experiences, all talking about the incredible light and indescribable peace. A feeling that no one can find words for.
Some people say heaven is here on earth, but many hellish situations surround us. People losing loved ones, cut off in unexplainable early years, far too many others are living with excruciating pain trying not to complain, and still others suffering a total loss of control of all the freedoms of their lives, both mental and physical. How could this be heaven on earth?
We all have our ideas about what heaven is like, but we have been told in Corinthians “”No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”
We know that something good is ahead of us.
Wayne Dyer helps put it into perspective for us. He explains that we are really spiritual beings having a temporal experience. So this life is not who we really are. Our situations, for better or worse, do not define who we REALLY are.
I do believe that we do carry around a little bit of heaven within us to remind us every once in a while of our Godly indwelling. Our Divine flame burns within.
When something or someone literally takes our breath away, we get a glimpse of heaven, remembering we are ”awe-some” beings just passing through.
We feel this connecting when we experience seeing the vastness of the ocean for the very first time, or when you hold your new born child, or being touched by the glorious colors and miracle of the daily sunrise and sunset.
This life is supposed to be an “experience”, a chance for us to learn while we search for communion with our Divine essence. We are on our journey back “home”….back to heaven.
We must find some awe, some piece of the God experience every day to give us hope for the journey. We need to keep the hope of “heaven” alive by recognizing the “awe” that we find, like picking up little clues of what is to come.
It’s only going to get better!
What do you think heaven is like? Find your “awe”….
