HEAVEN and EARTH
The theme of this post actually came to me back on Jan. 10th as I was traveling back to Haiti. It is somewhat ironic that many of the thoughts I'm sharing now came to me just 2 days before the devastating earthquake struck Haiti. I intended to write this blog sometime after I got to Haiti but circumstances intervened and I forgot about it till just recently as I flew home from Texas through some beautiful cloud cover again. Maybe it was intended that I should wait 8 months to give more thought to what I was thinking about that morning in Jan. My thoughts back then about what I wanted to post were probably more light hearted than provocative.
I'm not one who likes to read or do computer work when I fly, so I usually either sleep, get into a conversation if I have a talkative seat mate (sometimes my wife) or often gaze out the window in deep thoughts. That day we were flying 32-35,000 feet over some beautiful clouds high above the Earth. So as we passed through those clouds I got to thinking about visions of Heaven and how as a young boy I would lay on my back out in the yard gazing up at the billowing white clouds high above in the sky .I don't know about your thoughts as a youngster but mine were shaped by visions of winged angels resting on clouds possibly singing and playing harps watching out for us humans far below. Somewhere up there was Heaven filled with friends and relatives residing with God in a city filled with many mansions. Much of this was imparted to me as a young boy at Sunday school and week long summer VBS classes. I'm also sure that some of my thoughts were molded by my grandfather passing away when I was seven years old and the comforting reassurance of my parents and grandmother who stayed with us for awhile after his death.
Those reassurances in my young mind about Heaven were quite welcome as were also those of Santa Claus at the North pole and the Tooth Fairy. Somewhere in those years of course I out grew those childhood images we form in our minds about life and replaced them with mature Christian ones. Now as an adult I have a different perspective, for one thing my job requires flying quite often each year. Those flights often allow me to look at those clouds not as before from down on Earth but high above in the sky. Many many times I have flown over them and through them in state after state and even out across the oceans. I have yet to see one angel nor a glimpse of that great city full of mansions in Heaven I imagined up there as a youngster, ( this is the light hearted part).
Yet just because the image I had of Heaven as a youngster was reassuring then and that I can now visibly see my image was compromised that doesn't at all deter my faith that I will be joining God in Heaven someday wherever it is. The fact is I see God and He is with me all the time. I join him each day and He works through me as He does through so many others at home and around the world. He doesn't distinguish between whether we are doing little acts of kindness and love or doing huge Kingdom building ministries by proclaiming the "good news", by planting the seeds, bringing in the harvest, bearing fruit that lasts, taking care of the lost and hurting peoples. He loves us and He calls us to love others by making an "eternal difference" in their lives. As a youngster I of course put faith in my parents reassurances about all things, they didn't steer me wrong as they explained things in a way a child could understand. As an adult Christian I depend on God to expand all aspects of life,death and eternity as I grow closer to Him through Faith and empowerment of the Holy Spirit as I follow His will. So far what I have written is what I intended to share in my blog 8 months ago. In my next blog I will continue with my thoughts that have been expanded over these months as things have unfolded after the earthquake. In God's love , steve
No comments:
Post a Comment