I have given a lot of thought recently to mortality and the fact that life here of earth is a fleeting thing. Death is inevitable for each of us. We all know that, but we don’t often stop to think about it. I am going to die. I know without doubt that there is a heaven where God has made all things new and there is no more death. I’m not sure about the details of what eternity with God means, but I do know that heaven is real and that heaven is good.
Tuesday afternoon I spent time with my neighbor of over forty years. His wife died this week. We talked about a lifetime of shared memories. Our children played together in one another’s homes. Our lives are connected by many stories. Now she is gone and he is left with memories and uncertainties about what life alone will be like. He looks forward to heaven.
Yesterday I took a friend to visit her husband. He is in a hospice house in downtown Washington. She is too frail to be able to drive herself to see him. She sat by his bed and watched as he labored for each breath. He would call out for her and she would reply, “I’m here. I’m right here.” He held her hand and said that everything was foggy. He said he was ready to go home. We understood that he did not mean the house they had shared for so many years. He was ready for heaven.
Last night a good friend came over with a stack of pictures of her father. He died this week and the memorial service will be Saturday. The pictures were images to capture the highlights of a long and happy life. My husband will put them into a power point show to be viewed at the service on Saturday. How can fifty pictures tell the story of a man’s life? My friend knows she will see her father again in heaven.
What do you think it will be like in heaven? Does the thought of heaven bring you comfort?
3 comments:
My faith is a bit shakey at times....and I've not lived the best life that I could have. So, I wonder if there is even a place for me in heaven. Believing gives me peace. Redemption may not be within my reach.
No, 50 pictures don't begin to tell the story of a good person's life.
At class last night, a student and I were talking about this very same topic. She is a cancer survivor. She said her biggest hope was that she and her husband would pass together lying like spoons the way they have for the last 30 years. Only she said she would prefer it would be for 50 years...that, to her, would be heaven. And the great end to a great story, she said.
I thought that was a nice picture. I woke up this morning thinking of pictures and after reading your post, the thought came to mind that the pictures are nothing but triggers to our memory--they may not tell the whole story, but they remind us of some of the chapters when we forget.
Rosemary
Fortunately redemption is not based on our behavior, but on the grace of a loving God. God knows your love. There is room in heaven for you.
The memorial service was beautiful. the 50 pictures, along with the stories told us a lot about a man's life.
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